Aprendizagem informal: ex-técnicos administrativos x novos gerentes municipais

The purpose of this article was to understand how administrative technicians of the municipal administration learn to be managers. The theoretical framework was constructed based on two main axes: manager and informal learning. In the methodological aspect, a qualitative descriptive research was used, and 10 new municipal pharmacy managers were interviewed. The analysis of data was based on content analysis, according to the thematic categories proposed by Hill (1993): learning what it means to be a manager, developing interpersonal judgment, acquiring self-knowledge, dealing with tensions and emotions, and managing transformation. In the results, we verified that the new managers developed the managerial skills mainly through the process of informal learning. The following factors of greater relevance were observed in the informal learning process: previous experiences, day-to-day experiences, reflection of actions, self-analysis, interaction and group collaboration.