Regardless of the nature of the industry, all companies and organizations need a defined organizational structure to function. How well the structure is designed will determine the effectiveness of the company employees and functions. A basic organizational structure would typically comprise of the directors, who serve at the back office and define the long term targets that the company wishes to achieve, the overall manager, who oversees the operations of all the other departmental managers, managers and ordinary company officers who are in charge of implementing the duties assigned by management.
Naturally, most employees or college students aspire to become managers at one point or the other in their careers. What really does management involve? This article will provide just an overview of the management process. You can find out more about management from management eBooks on the internet, or in case you are a college student strapped for time, you can always check out this assignment site for experts providing students with assistance at a low cost.
Table of Contents
The management process
Management is simply defined as the process of achieving organizational goals through paper coordination of five specific functions, namely; planning, staffing, organizing, directing and controlling.
Planning
This is the first point of action for any organization. The company has to decide in advance who will carry out what activity, what activities actually are required to be done and how they should be done to ensure effective results. This stage normally involves a lot of forecasting and decision making.
Staffing
Once the company has established the activities to be done, it has to find the appropriate people to carry out the organizational functions. This stage involves recruitment analysis and selection of workers.
Organizing
This stage involves pairing the staff already acquired with the organizational functions that are to be done to achieve company goals and the resources necessary to perform these functions. The end product of this stage is a defined organizational structure that shows all the authority relationships within that organization.
Directing
Here the management of the organization attempt to oversee and ensure that the employees are actively engaged and are doing the right thing at the workplace. It involves giving numerous instructions and orders concerning the operations of the organization.
Controlling
This is the process of monitoring the organization’s and employee performance to ensure that it is according to the accepted company and market standards. It involves comparing the progressive results of the company’s activities with the short term targets of the company to ensure the firm is headed in the right direction.
Why is management so important?
Management generally helps in the growth and survival of organizational practices. Without management, it would be impossible to generate a working organizational structure with a hierarchical authority model that the company employees can work under. The employees of a company would end up with antagonistic instructions from different departments in the organization which would make it difficult to achieve any goal that the company may have. Achievement of targets is even aiming higher than logical; the company would even find it difficult to decide on what the actual targets of the organization should be. Hence, management is a key pillar of organizational practices in every industry.
How does one get to be a great manager?
It is obvious that for you to be given the opportunity to be in a controlling position in your firm you need to have stood out from your colleagues in one way or another. Depending on the requirements and selection process of your company, it can be in terms of superior academic qualifications, work experience or skills. However, generally the skills that all managers require are;
- Adequate technical skills and abilities to use the equipment and techniques that are required to perform the organizations activities.
- Good conceptual skills to understand the organizations different departments and to bring them to work as one.
- Analysis and diagnostic skills to envision the threats, risks, and opportunities of the organization.
- Good interpersonal and human skills to lead employees to work in harmony with the company’s targets.