5 Process and Functions of Management

The managerial function includes all managerial activities from setting objectives taking essential steps to ensure and achieve organizational objectives These functions are essential to create a better working environment to achieve predetermined objectives.

PROCESS AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

Following are some of the major process and functions of management :

Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Directing
Controlling

Process and Functions of Management 1 — Process and Functions of Management

Planning

Planning is the primary function of management. It involves selecting the objectives, policies, procedures, and programs to achieve the desired result. It is also the process of thinking before doing anything. Since it is a mental exercise and requires intelligence, skill, imagination, and vision.

Planning gives a solution to various problems, which may arise in the course of functioning. It minimizes future uncertainties and risks. It saves time, effort and cost of the organizations. Planning involves the following:

Setting organizational objectives.
Forecasting the events.
Formulating policies and procedures.
Preparing work schedules and budget.

Organizing

Organizing is the process of identifying the major activities, grouping them into jobs according to nature and assigning the jobs to different departments and individuals. It is concerned with developing the structure and framework and arranging the required resources to perform required activities. These resources include human, financial, physical and information. It defines the authority relationship among the organizational members; it is the root or base of an enterprise.

Thus, it is the framework where all mechanisms involved in achieving the common objective being clarified. The major activity of organizing includes:

Identifying major activities.
Grouping them into managerial units.
Assigning jobs to different departments and employees.
Delegating necessary authority to fulfill given responsibility.

Staffing

Staffing is concerned with recruitment, selection; appointment and placement of the right person to the right job. Staffing is the life-blood of an enterprise which mobilizes all other resources for the achievement of common goals. It also involves determining the size of manpower at different levels.

Staffing is a continuous process for the continuous existence of an organization. Staffing includes:

Determining the total manpower requirement.
Recruitment, selection, and appointment of the right person to the right job.
Organizing the seminar, workshop, and training to develop employees’ skills.
Performance evaluation, promotion, and transfer of employees.
Remunerating employees according to their skill and ability.

Directing

The direction is a complex function that includes all those activities which are designed to encourage a subordinate to work effectively and efficiently. It is concerned with instructing, guiding and inspiring subordinates to achieve organizational objectives. The direction is the instrument to develop a better working environment in the organization. The direction function of management includes:

Supervision
Motivation
Leadership
Communication
Coordination

Supervision

Supervision refers to the direct and immediate guidance to the subordinates to ensure the execution of assigned works. The main motive of supervision is to ensure optimum utilization of human and physical resources to achieve organizational objectives. For this, a supervisor has to guide subordinates so that the latter can perform their work effectively. It is a continuous process until the existence of an organization.

Motivation

Motivation is a psychological and human aspect. It is the process of stimulating subordinates to achieve predetermined goals. It is based on needs and human behavior. As a social being, workers want to fulfill their basic and social needs. They might be motivated both from financial and non-financial incentives.

Leadership

Leadership is the art of influencing the behavior and performance of the subordinates. It is the ability to persuade others to make them work willingly to achieve the desired goal. A person is said to be a leader when he can influence others and they accept his guidance, suggestions, and directions. A manager is said to be a leader of the organization. So, he will be a successful manager only if he can influence the attitude and behavior of the subordinates.

Communication

Communication is the process of transmitting ideas and information from one person to another. It is an exchange of facts, opinions, ideas, and views among two or more persons. Communication is said to be effective when the message is clear. An effective communication system among all the stakeholders of an organization is essential for its successful operation. So, there must be an effective, direct, and clear communication system to follow the information on various management levels.

Coordination

Coordination is the process of integrating all the units of a department of an organization. It is the process of the orderly arrangement of group efforts to provide unity of action for the attainment of common goals. Different departments and people perform different functions in an organization. But the activities of different departments are interrelated to each other. Therefore, coordination among all departments is necessary to bring uniformity in action to achieve organizational goals.

Controlling

Controlling is the process of comparing actual performance achieved with that of planned performance and taking corrective action if any deviation is there in actual performance so that defined goals can be achieved in the defined time.

Controlling is the process of setting a standard, measuring, comparing actual performance with that of planned performance and taking corrective action. It is the main instrument with which uniformity in action is maintained. Taking corrective action is necessary if actual performance is not per the planned performance. The management executes a plan through control to ensure the achievement of predetermined goals.

Therefore, it is essential to have a good controlling system for achieving results according to the plan. Controlling includes:

Setting standards
Measuring actual performance
Identifying deviation, if any, between actual and planned performance
Analyzing the causes of deviation
Taking corrective action to achieve predetermined goals

All these 5 functions of management are closely interrelated. Though, it is necessary to put each function or process of management separately into focus and deal with it.

Also Read:

Reference:

Pouydal, Santosh Raj – Principles of Management, Ashmita Books Publishers and Distributors – Kathmandu
Pradhan, Gopal Man – Principles of Management, Ashmita Books Publishers and Distributors – Kathmandu
Bhandari, Kedar Prasad – Principles of Management, Ashmita Books Publishers and Distributors – Kathmandu