Functions of Management

Functions of Management

The process of working with resources and people in an organization to accomplish a goal can be defined as management. "The traditional functions of management--planning, organizing, leading, and controlling--continue to be the key activities used to enable the organization to accomplish its goals and objectives. Though significant changes have occurred in all organizational structures, processes, and managerial styles, these traditional functions remain a constant." (Anderson & Pulich, 2002, para 1) To be effective in any organization a manager must posses these skills.

Planning is the first function of management. The decisions made in this in function determine the future of the company. "Planning is specifying the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions needed to achieve those goals." (Bateman & Snell, 2007, p 16). The company must always be evolving and ever changing if it wishes to stage on the forefront of the competition. The planning stage is an early development function, but also a necessity to continue to improve and revamp previous plans to ensure the longevity and future of the company.

The second function of management is organizing. "Organizing is assembling and coordinating the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals." (Bateman & Snell, 2007, p 17). In organizing you are creating job duties and grouping teams up in workgroups, defining employee roles and allocation resources. Although this function seems to be mainly a part of human resources, it also is necessary for direct managers utilize this function. Managers must have this attribute to enlist potential new employees but also to aid them in their success. The managers must take time out and train the employee and show them the matrix on which their performance is measured and merit increases are based.

A manager's effort to stimulate high performance by its employees is the function of leading (Bateman & Snell, 2007). This seems to be a very logical step in the functions of management. After all you have a company and mangers that have spent countless hours planning for it's success and future, they've identified the various parts of which an employee can be successful now they must motivate and encourage that employee so that they might offer the most benefit to the company and it's profitability. Within the company that I work at, the management team is forever trying to motivate its employees. They are always holding competitions and then once a month they also recognize those top performers with awards and plaques in front of the entire department. They also lead by example, which is huge moral booster. They tend to ask anything of you that they wouldn't or have not done themselves. My company is a big proprietor of promotions from within, so most in management know what it's like to be "low man" on the rung and they are always conscious of that and do what they can to make sure the employees are working in a fun yet professional atmosphere.

The final function of management is the function of controlling. A major component of controlling is monitoring. When