Essential Managerial Tasks
The job of management is to help an organization make the best use of its resources to achieve its goals. How do managers accomplish this objective? They do so by performing four essential managerial tasks: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
Planning
To perform the planning task, managers identify and select appropriate organizational goals and courses of action; they develop strategies for how to achieve high performance. The three steps involved in planning are
(1) deciding which goals the organization will pursue,
(2) deciding what strategies to adopt to attain those goals, and
(3) deciding how to allocate organizational resources to pursue the strategies that attain those goals.
How well managers plan and develop strategies determines how effective and efficient the organization is—its performance level.
Organizing
Organizing is structuring working relationships so organizational members interact and cooperate to achieve organizational goals.
Organizing people into departments according to the kinds of job-specific tasks they perform lays out the lines of authority and responsibility between different individuals and groups.
The outcome of organizing is the creation of an organizational structure, a formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates members so they work together to achieve organizational goals.
Leading
An organization’s vision is a short, succinct, and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become and the goals it is seeking to achieve—its desired future state.
In leading, managers articulate a clear organizational vision for the organization’s members to accomplish, and they energize and enable employees so everyone understands the part he or she plays in achieving organizational goals.
Leadership involves managers using their power, personality, influence, persuasion, and communication skills to coordinate people and groups so their activities and efforts are in harmony.
Controlling
In controlling ,the task of managers is to evaluate how well an organization has achieved its goals and to take any corrective actions needed to maintain or improve performance.
For example, managers monitor the performance of individuals, departments, and the organization as a whole to see whether they are meeting desired performance standards
The outcome of the control process is the ability to measure performance accurately and regulate organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
- Career development
- What Are the 4 Basic Functions of Management?
By Indeed Editorial Team
Updated June 1, 2022 | Published January 3, 2020
Updated June 1, 2022
Published January 3, 2020
Related: Top 8 Leadership Styles - Definitions & Examples
Jenn, an Indeed Career Coach, explains the top leadership styles in management and how to identify the one that's right for you and your team.
Regardless of the type of company, all managers perform the same four basic functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. If you take on a managerial role, it may be helpful to familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of management.
In this article, we look at the basic functions of management and their importance in achieving organizational objectives.
Looking to Hire? Post a Job on Indeed.com.
What are the four basic functions of management?
There are four generally accepted functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. These functions work together in the creation, execution and realization of organizational goals. The four functions of management can be considered a process where each function builds on the previous function. To be successful, management needs to follow the four functions of management in the proper order.
Managers first need to develop a plan, then organize their resources and delegate responsibilities to employees according to the plan, then lead others to efficiently carry out the plan, and finally evaluate the plan’s effectiveness as it is being executed and make any necessary adjustments.
Planning
Organizing
Leading
Controlling
1. Planning
In the planning stage, managers establish organizational goals and create a course of action to achieve them. During the planning phase, management makes strategic decisions to set a direction for the organization. Managers can brainstorm different alternatives to achieve the objective before choosing the best course of action. While planning, managers typically conduct an in-depth analysis of the organization’s current state of affairs, taking into consideration its vision and mission and evaluating what resources are available to meet organizational objectives.
While planning, managers usually evaluate internal and external factors that may affect the execution of the plan, such as economic growth, customers and competitors. They also establish a realistic timeline for achieving the goal or goals based on the organization’s available finances, personnel and resources. Managers may have to take additional steps, such as seeking approval from other departments, executives or their board of directors before proceeding with the plan.
There are several approaches to planning:
Strategic planning: This type of planning is often carried out by an organization’s top management and usually creates goals for the entire organization. It analyzes threats to the organization, evaluates the organization’s strengths and weaknesses and creates a plan of how the organization can best compete in its environment. Strategic planning usually has a long timeframe of three years or more.
Tactical planning: Tactical planning is the shorter-term planning of an objective that will take a year or less to achieve. It is usually carried out by an organization’s middle management. Tactical planning is usually aimed at a specific area or department of the organization such as its facilities, production, finance, marketing or personnel.
Operational planning: Operational planning is the process of using tactical planning to achieve strategic planning and goals. Operational planning creates a timeframe for putting a portion of the strategic goal into practice operationally.
2. Organizing
The purpose of organizing is to distribute the resources and delegate tasks to personnel to achieve the goals established in the planning stage. Managers may need to work with other departments of the organization, such as finance and human resources, to organize the budget and staffing. During the organizing stage, managers strive to create a work environment conducive to productivity. Managers typically take employees’ motivation and aptitude into account to match employees with roles and tasks that best fit their abilities.
When assigning team member roles, managers should explain and ensure that employees understand their individual duties. To help employees feel engaged and productive, managers should ensure that employees are assigned an appropriate amount of work and an appropriate amount of time to complete their work.
Here are some examples of the organizing function:
If the company’s brand manager works part-time and the organization’s goal is to launch a new advertising campaign for a product, the brand manager may not take on the significant responsibility of managing the campaign besides their regular duties. The company may hire an advertising agency to help with the promotion of the product.
If a company’s sales in a geographic area have grown exponentially, management may plan to split the territory in two and need to divide the current team working in the territory and hire additional staff members as needed.
3. Leading
Leading consists of motivating employees and influencing their behavior to achieve organizational objectives. Leading focuses on managing people, such as individual employees, teams and groups rather than tasks. Though managers may direct team members by giving orders and directing to their team, managers who are successful leaders usually connect with their employees by using interpersonal skills to encourage, inspire and motivate team members to perform to the best of their abilities.
Managers can foster a positive working environment by identifying moments when employees need encouragement or direction and using positive reinforcement to give praise when employees have done their jobs well.
Managers usually incorporate different leadership styles and change their management style to adapt to different situations. Examples of situational leadership styles include:
Directing: The manager leads by deciding with little input from the employee. This is an effective leadership style for new employees who need a lot of initial direction and training.
Coaching: The manager is more receptive to input from employees. They may pitch their ideas to employees to work cooperatively and build trust with team members. This style of leadership is effective for individuals who need managerial support to further develop their skills.
Supporting: The manager decides with team members but focuses more on building relationships within the team. This style of leadership is effective for employees who have fully developed skills but are sometimes inconsistent in their performance.
Delegating: The leader provides a minimum of guidance to employees and is more concerned with the vision of the project than day-to-day operations. This style of leadership is effective with employees able to work and perform tasks on their own with little guidance. The leader can focus more on high-level goals than on tasks.
Related: 15 Leadership Qualities That Make a Great Leader
4. Controlling
Controlling is the process of evaluating the execution of the plan and making adjustments to ensure that the organizational goal is achieved. During the controlling stage, managers perform tasks such as training employees as necessary and managing deadlines. Managers monitor employees and evaluate the quality of their work. They can conduct performance appraisals and give employees feedback, providing positive remarks on what they are doing well and suggestions for improvement. They may also offer pay raise incentives to high-performing employees.
Managers may need to make adjustments such as:
Budget adjustments
Managers monitor the budget and resources to ensure that they are using the resources available and not going over budget. For example, a manager may notice that she is going over budget on a project but be unsure what is causing the project to go over budget. In this situation, she will need to identify whether there is a general problem with overspending or whether one department, in particular, is going over budget. Once the manager identifies the source of the overspending, she must take action to curb overall spending and make cuts as necessary to balance the budget.
Staffing adjustments
Managers may need to make challenging decisions such as whether to reassign an employee who produces low-quality work to a different task or dismiss them from a project. They may also need to add additional team members to meet an organizational goal if they conclude that the team is understaffed. If this is the case, they may also need to consult with organization executives to secure more funding.