Management is an integral part of an organization as it directly influences organization’s performance. Having an exceptionally authoritative person in the organization is of great essence as he/she will stir the organization in the right direction. Therefore, this post seeks to explore the basic managerial functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling as well as the best practices within these functions in promoting organizational performance.
- Planning
Planning is a management function that entails the setting of an organization’s goals and the determination of courses of action toward the achievement of those goals (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015). One way in which managers can support the organization’s mission and vision through planning is by ensuring that they are aware of the environmental conditions faced by their organization, and they can be able to forecast how these conditions are likely to change in the future (Al-Haddad, et al. 2015). Also, good managers are actively involved in the evaluation of options and ensuring that only the best option for achieving the set goals is adopted. However, most importantly, managers ensure that the set goals and the adopted courses of action are aligned to the organization’s mission and vision.
Key types of planning are strategic, tactical, and operational planning (Al-Haddad, et al. 2015). Managerial participation in all these types is of great essence. Competent managers constantly analyze competitive opportunities and threats based on the strengths and weaknesses of their organization to be able to determine how their organization can attain a competitive advantage on a long-term basis. As for tactical planning, which entails the development of concrete and specific courses of action during the implementation of the strategic plan, managerial participation should focus on empowering middle-level managers such as general managers.
Research indicates that empowered middle-level managers are key actors in driving change in the organization (Giauque, 2015). Operational planning involves the development of short-term courses of action. The management normally ensures that operational plans are implemented within the stipulated time, the progress is following performance measures, and resources are readily available (Al-Haddad, et al. 2015).
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Managers need to establish and track goals and objectives not only for the organization, but also for themselves. Goals are statements of desired outcomes, and objectives are measurable courses of action for the achievement of the goal. Concerning planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, managers ensure that the identified goals are aligned with the P-O-L-C framework in support of the broad mission and vision of the organization. Courses of action are written against established goals and objectives with specific targets and aims to make them easy to track (Dahling, et al. 2016).
- Organizing
Organizing is a management function that entails the development of organizational structure and allocation of resources to achieve the organization’s objectives (Al-Haddad, et al. 2015). Organizations should be designed in a manner that promotes seamless coordination of activities. For clarity purposes, managers usually create an organization chart showing the chain of command in a graphical representation. This ensures that employees can understand the hierarchy of leadership and communication flows systematically (Chirumalla, 2016).
The organizing function is also involved in designing of individual job responsibilities. Managers ensure that decisions about the duties and responsibilities and the way these duties should be executed are well illustrated and the instructions are clear. One way of ensuring that duties and responsibilities are stipulated and understood is through departmentalization (Chirumalla, 2016). The clustering of jobs promotes coordination and efficiency. Departmentalization can be done based on function, customer, or product (Chirumalla, 2016). The aim here is to promote the efficient utilization of available resources through effective coordination.
Also, organizations need to develop and maintain a culture. The organization’s culture refers to behaviors and values that enhance an organization’s productivity (Epstein, 2018). Managers should ensure that the acquired culture is maintained in various ways. First, managers should always talk about adopted values as well as having these values written on the wall to ensure that they are embraced by every employee. Secondly, developed traditions should be maintained even if the organization keeps expanding. Lastly, employee efforts and contributions to the organizations should be recognized and adequately rewarded.
Organizations should also maintain social networks. Social networks are also of great essence for organizations. There are various ways through which organizations can maintain social networks. One way is through the cultivation of a strong network amongst the employees to enhance a relationship of mutual benefits. Also, organizations should establish a good working relationship with similar organizations to share ideas and learn from each other.
- Leading
The leading function of management in the organization entails the utilization of informal and social influence sources in inspiring individuals to perform tasks (Epstein, 2018). Managers are encouraged to be leaders to effectively influence employees. Therefore, this indicates that the productivity of the organization is highly depended on leadership and decision-making processes. Research indicates that managers using a democratic style of leadership are the most effective (Giauque, 2015). Managers should ensure that leadership and decision making-processes are participatory and the subordinates are actively involved. This managerial practice has been attributed to a high level of job satisfaction and promotion of individual creativity hence increasing organizational productivity.
Leadership in an organization is also influenced by communication (Chirumalla, 2016). Therefore, managers are expected to ensure that there is effective communication in the organization at all levels. Some of the best practices that promote effective communication include; active listening. Managers should listen actively as a way of showing respect to their subordinates as well as to be able to provide effective responses. Managers should also repetitively emphasize key points for employees to fully internalize the emphasized message. Lastly, managers should promptly respond to raised questions (Epstein, 2018).
To enhance productivity, managers are also urged to encourage employee collaboration. Working in groups or teams is accompanied by a myriad of benefits such as increased profits. However, to promote teamwork in the organization, managers should ensure that roles are clearly defined (Al-Haddad, et al. 2015).
Studies indicate that ambiguity in roles and responsibilities militates against teamwork (Al-Haddad, et al. 2015). The specification of goals is also key. When managers specify an organization’s goals it makes it easy to keep employees on the same page hence promoting collaboration. Lastly, the organization should reward teams that have excels as a way of building camaraderie in the organization. All these practices also contribute to employee motivation. The close relationship amongst employees cultivated by working in teams is an ingredient for motivation (Valente, et al. 2015).
- Controlling
Another vital component of management is controlling. Managers are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the performance of the organization meets the accepted standards (Dahling, et al. 2016). This managerial function is effective when the performance is properly established and tracked as well as hiring the right personnel. Managers strive to adequately track performance. For proper tracking of performance, the management should adopt an up-bottom approach in the identification of strategic measurement (Epstein, 2018). This approach guarantees departmental uniformity as all departments will be directed by the management on which aspects of performance should be measured (Epstein, 2018). Successful measurement of performance leads to the achievement of superior results. However, some organizations find it difficult to measure their performance due to the complexity of their measurement approaches. Therefore, for effective measurement of performance managers should ensure that measurement of performance is simplified and the focus is on measuring the right indicator of performance.
Lastly, for effective control and coordination of processes in the organization, the management should ensure that it hires qualified personnel. Managers are encouraged to properly define the job and provide a detailed description of the job before hiring. Proper job analysis is of great essence as it informs the recruitment strategy, which will ensure that only the right individuals are hired. Secondly, managers should be actively involved in reviewing the credentials of the applicants. This will lead to the picking of candidates with desirable characteristics. Lastly, successful applicants for the job should be adequately pre-screened (Chirumalla, 2016).
Conclusion
An organization’s performance is greatly influenced by management. Therefore, it is evident that managerial processes should be effective by ensuring that they are tailored toward the achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives. Managers are encouraged to adopt best practices within the four basic four managerial functions; planning, leading, organizing, and controlling.
