Functions of Management
What do you imagine when you hear the word “manager”. For most, a visualization is that of a person who takes the lead with responsibility and supervises the work being completed for the project. Although this is true, there are many more tasks that the manager serves. In this article you will learn more about the five functions of management.
To be a successful manager, one must be familiar with the fundamentals of management. For many management positions, these basic functions remain similar. The five key elements to thriving management are planning, organizing, leading, staffing, and controlling.
Planning is essential for almost everything in life. Whether it is getting directions to reach a destination or deciding what to wear according to the weather, a plan is always there. Especially in management; planning is a crucial component. Planning includes choosing the appropriate goals and actions to pursue as well as what strategies to take. During this phase, management analyzes their current conditions such as their accessibility to resources and their financial state to develop a plan to attain their objectives within a certain time frame. A prime example of this is the United States Postal Service’s financial stability plan. Over the next ten years, they plan to save $160 billion dollars. Instead of just aimlessly trying to achieve that, they set a structure of goals. They are going to cut branch hours, increase their digital platform, increase delivery hours, and invest in 50,000 more vehicles. By tactical planning, the USPS is more likely to reach their goals.
The following step is organizing. Now that the manager knows what needs to be accomplished and what to do, he or she must ensure that they have everything that is needed. As a part of the organizing process, managers will gather all of the necessary resources they need. This can include physical resources like machinery or computers or financial resources like investments for funds. Additionally, the manager will also coordinate what employees will be needed for the job. The manager can decide to work within their own team, seek assistance from other departments, or decide that they need to hire more people. This component is crucial because it ensures that everything is readily available to begin the project.
The third responsibility of management is to lead. Not only is it the manager’s job to oversee what tasks are going on, they have to lead by example. Leading requires taking the initiative to motivate, encourage, and guiding the staff along the correct path. Here, managers must be willing to take charge while helping their other employees out. There are endless examples of this in the workplace; however, one that is striking is Roz Brewer. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer at Starbucks where she implemented many different plans such as reusable cups and putting the emphasis on work diversity. Brewer is currenly the only African American CEO of a Fortune 500 company as the CEO of Walgreens. In a positive and effective manner, she is expanding Walgreens’ digital presence and the vaccine rollout. It is evident that Brewer is taking the lead and is influencing her employees to do the right thing. It is important to acknowledge that employees follow their example, and a good manager leads to more productivity.
The fourth management task is staffing. Staffing goes along with the organizing phase; however, it solely refers to the people that are hired. Staffing enables the company to coordinate who should do what part of the project that best fits their skills and capabilities. This could require hiring more or new people, selecting people from certain departments, or even training/developing the skills of the employees to make sure everyone has a well-suited position. This is of great value because it allows companies to place people where they think they will be to become the most profitable or efficient. Rather than everyone doing equal tasks, specializing different roles and harmazing them together helps to create a unified workforce to meet the needs of the plan. It is important that managers direct, coach, and assist those working on the project. Oftentimes, people will hear about major companies hiring when they are becoming more profitable. This is no coincidence as the more people they have, the more projects a firm can initiate if their company is doing well.
Lastly, the final function of management is controlling. Controlling ensures that all the goals in the plan have been met and evaluating the performance of tasks. Furthermore, a manager is accountable for setting performance standards, measuring actual performance, and comparing the metrics to determine expectations. By doing this, the quality of work is monitored and taken seriously. This makes it certain that the final product or end point is in a high status.
Management is a vital component of any company. How a management team executes their job will have a huge affect on how efficient and effective the business is. Having these five functions nailed down will derive the best results for the company.