Functions of Management Paper

Functions of Management Paper

In this paper I will be defining the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Each area will be defined with explanations of how the area relate to the management functional area in my organization. Although all four functional areas are imperative for a business to thrive, in this paper I will be focusing on the one thing that can make or break the organization I am in.

Planning is a major key to the success of any organization. Without planning an organization can be unorganized and the one thing he or she can plan on is planning to fail. In my organization planning takes a great deal of hard work to stay ahead of the game and the way we stay ahead of the game is by planning. My organization has a team of planners in each level of the business. These planners allow for the organization to better itself from the inside out.

Since organizing is part of organization it is only natural think of an organization being organized. In this function they are allocating and configuring resources to accomplish the goals and objectives. When we have a specific outcome to achieve in a certain amount of time we start organizing our thoughts and forming the objective for the goal at hand.

The next function of management is leading. Leading is establishing direction and influencing people to follow that direction. This function involves the manager's efforts to stimulate high-performance by employees. In my organization we have many different types of leaders and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. As my boss says, "Sometimes you can have too many chiefs and not enough Indians". She said this because we have some many managers in upper management that think they know the answer. They take what they know and put it into play as the plan of action, but when one has 5 different managers doing what they think is right you get 5 different outcomes. To be a good leader not only means to lead your own people into following your direction, but to also lead those that are your leader to have them follow your direction.

Last, we have the controlling function of management. This function is monitoring and changing resources and processes to achieve goals and objectives in a highly effective and efficient way. Control provides feedback by which daily activities can be directed toward achieving goals and objectives. In my organization I monitor all edits that are made in our payroll system. When watching and waiting for managers to send in corrections or pay issues I provide feedback to managers. Sometimes managers are out of the office or