Management is a concept that has been built over time and became one of the major concepts in the modern business world. Management consists of four main functions that help to identify the management flow. Apart from that, management functions help to secure the smooth floor of management activities and completion of necessary tasks at each functional level.
Management of an organization is a responsible task. The success of the entire organization can rely on the success of the management team. For every decision made by the managers, there are certain procedures they have to follow to get the expected benefit from the decision. As a help to coordinate the necessary management activities and to maintain a smooth flow of management activities, four main management functions were identified. The management functions were initially introduced in 1916 by Henri Fayol who was a French engineer.
In this article, we will have a better look at the four main functions of the management which help managers of any organization to drive the organization towards success.
01 Planning
Planning is the initial function of the management process. To achieve any expected output, the managers should plan the activities of the business function. Planning is the most important function of the management process as it carries a huge weight of the success of the given activity. Planning should be done based on the type of organization, type of resource availability and based on the expected output. Managers should plan the entire process of the business activity including change management. Planning always should be practical and achievable within the set period.
02. Organizing
Once the planning is done successfully, the managers should organize the available resources to take the maximum utilization. This includes organizing the physical as well as human resources. The managers can recruit, terminate, promote or demote employees based on the requirement, arrange training sessions and empower employees based on the need for the planned activity.The organization helps to place the right resource at the right place of the business process as well as it makes sure the employee job fit. Proper organizing helps the managers to make their future tasks easy and it helps to reduce unnecessary costs being occurred.
03. Leading
This is the third of the four management functions. Once the resources are organized accordingly, the manager should lead the employees to complete the expected target successfully. They have to guide employees, provide necessary skills and clear the doubts. Apart from that, they have to motivate employees to provide their maximum potential for the successful completion of the activity. Managers use various financial and non-financial benefits to motivate the employees. The leading function is important as it helps to carry out the planned and organized business activity in a successful manner. The concept of leadership also developed under this management function as it is very important for the success of any business.
04. Controlling
Once the plan is implemented by the managers and the subordinates, there should be a method to measure the success of the implemented plan and to correct any activities that have not been performed according to the plan. The controlling function has been implemented due to this reason. Controlling is making sure the flow of the business activity according to the plan and achievement of the expected outcome. The managers should measure the actual output and compare it with the expected output. If any areas need improvement, the managers should encourage them to correct those till they reach the expected output.
If all four management functioned mentioned above are followed properly, the managers can easily drive any organization towards their goal attainment. It takes a proper implementation of the management functions for the success of any business.