FUNCTIONS OF THE MANAGER
Function of the manager can be considered as a circle of actions wherein every component leads to the next level. The functions are separate sets of actions for analysis purposes and the manager perform these actions in a complex situation and integrated within the entire managing process. Based on the earlier work of Henri Fayol, the old-style functions of a manager were identified by Gulick and Urwick. Chester Barnard brought together the significant essential principles about the role of the manager in his classic work The Functions of the Executive.
CLASSIC MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
Management functions characteristically include;
● Planning—the objectives selection, the goals establishment, and the accurate determination of the existing circumstances and the future desired state.
● Decision making— is a part of the planning process since a commitment to one of several decisions need to be made. Decision making is the pleasure and burden of managers, even if others help in planning. Decision making comprises the development of alternatives, aware choice, and commitment.
● Organizing—the roles of individuals and relationships that contribute to the goal. Roles are allocated, responsibility are defined, and provision is made for organization. Organizing process usually contains the development of the job descriptions, organization chart, and declarations of work flow.
● Staffing—the identified of staffs needs, direction, training, and continuing evaluation of the entities who hold the required positions recognized in the organizing process.
● Directing or Actuating—the leadership and the performed work is goal-oriented in any organization. It is the implementation of the manager’s effect, teaching process, training, and motivating workers.
● Controlling—the determination of what is being accomplished, the assessment of performance as it relates to the accomplishment of the organizational goals, and the initiation of right actions. In modern and current management practice, the larger concepts of performance enhancement and total quality management include controlling.
For more clarification see below Figure, it summarizes the classic functions of managers and their relationship to each other.
Furthermore, managers must frequently establish and maintain internal and external organizational relationships to achieve an effective working relationship. They must monitor the organization’s environment to predict change and bring about the selective responses required for the institution’s survival. At different stages of the organization circle, one or another management function may be leading. For example, in the early stages of organizational development, planning is the manager’s primary function. When the organization is mature, however, controlling functions are emphasized.