Management Functions

Members of management must have effective and efficient management skills to achieve goals. Management occurs when an individual directs one or more individuals to accomplish organizational goals. There are four functions of management that helps one accomplish goals. The function of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The understanding of these four functions is essential to those in management positions. Understanding these functions will allow management the opportunity to become better organized and focused.

Planning allows an individual the chance to gather his or her thoughts. In the planning process management makes decisions towards the goal that he or she wants achieved and organizes the ideas being careful that the best decisions are made. An individual must take one step at time to make sure none of his or her ideas are left out and to make sure that he or she covers all information needed. The plan should be clear and concise. The plan should state the purpose, task assigned, how the goals will be reached, and when the goal should be completed. Management should put themselves in the team shoes when planning they should think of all possible questions that could be raised and answer them in the notes. When thinking of all the possible questions that could be raised it is important to think about problems that may arise and solutions to those problems. If this is done management will be a step ahead if something goes wrong. Erven (n.d.) has proclaimed that "The planning function provides the goals and standards that drive the controlling function" (para. 1). Once the plan is set it is important to organize being sure everyone understands the goal and that they are able to carry out the plan.

Organization allows individuals to stay in sync. Organization is important because it gives individuals the opportunity to communicate, coordinate, and interact. When organizing the plan, roles are assigned based on each individual's skill. When organizing an individual will read over the plan and ask each member of the team if he or she understand the assignment. After each member has a clear understanding of the plan roles will be assigned. When assigning roles it is important to keep in mind that no individual is the same and that no is perfect, everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Each individual should be assigned a billet that he or she can handle. No one should be set up for failure. When assigning the billets each individual should be assigned a due date and dates should be set to check up on individuals to see their progress. A team meeting can be made as well. Management should designate one day of the week that the team will meet. On that designated day members should come prepared to tell what they have done and what they plan to do over time. When management has organization it allows them to have better leadership skills.

Management must have exceptional leadership skills if they want the goal to be a success. Leaders should always be willing and ready to step in when needed. During team meetings management should observe the assignments and make changes where needed. When making changes management should be able to explain to the