7 Functions of Management

To understand the management functions, we must first examine what management is about. Management is a dynamic process in an organization. It consists of various elements & activities. These activities are different from the operative functions of other departments. It includes responsibilities to achieve and fulfil organizational purposes with the help of effective planning and regulation. Another purpose of management is to ensure that focus is placed on the right path to meet the organization’s mission & vision. Management functions differ depending on which organizational level they would take place. For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to separate the activities into 7 functions. Each function blends into the other & each affects the performance of others. Mainly there are four basic functions in management but we can elaborate these functions into more sections.

7 Functions of Management

Planning

Planning is the basic and first step of the management function. It is a future course of action like how to do the work, when to do a work, who will do the work and by whom it will be done etc. it is a process of developing, establishing and achieving goals. According to KOONTZ, “Planning is deciding in advance – what to do when to do & how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want to be.” It is a proper way to utilize the human and non-human resources of an organization in achieving goals.

Organizing

Organizing is the next step of the management function. This function uses the plan to bring the financial, physical and other resources together under one umbrella and use them to achieve organizational goals. Henry Fayol mentioned, “To organize a business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning i.e. raw material, tools, capital and personnel’s.” In this function, managers make different departments and mix all the departments for better work.

Staffing: Staffing is one of the important functions in business management. Here, the focus is on employees and labour workers with organizational objectives. this function ensures that the organization has the right person in the right place and the right position of the organization. Staffing also makes sure efficient and sufficient employees are present in the organization. besides these, staffing involves:

⦁ Training & development ⦁ Remuneration ⦁ Performance appraisal ⦁ Promotions & transfer

Directing

This function is very important to achieve success. Direction consists of supervision, motivation, leadership communication etc. It is the most leading & influencing function of all the management functions. It also looks after the company’s productivity and it makes sure the productivity level is going up instead of decreasing. It is a continuous process that runs its functions from the top level to the bottom level of the organization.

Motivating

Motivation needs to carry out the whole work. In management function, motivation refers to how managers will motivate their employees to complete the mission and goals. This is the managers’ job to motivate their employees. Managers can make the employees feel that the work is important for the company, they will be rewarded if they complete the task properly & also make them believe that they will be treated fairly. These are some kinds of motivation process which managers may follow.

Co-ordination

There are different departments and different types of employees belong to one organization. different types of works are also performed in one organization. An organization cannot achieve goals unless these works are coordinated together. In this case, the co-ordination management function plays a vital role. It ensures to unite the work as a whole and monitor all the activities to achieve the goals of the company.

Controlling

It is the last step of the management function. Managers control all the activities of the organization to determine whether the organization is meeting the goals. The purpose of this function is to ensure whether everything occurs according to the plan with maintaining the level of standards. Controlling requires measurably examining the objectives. Controlling is about quality monitoring and make sure employees achieve the right things for the organization.

Bottom Line

From the above discussion on the 7 functions of business management, we can get ideas about the importance of management functions. Managers can now identify the areas they need to develop and focus. The mentioned functions are required for any managers to do a good job in the organizations and help the organizations to reach their success.

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Reference(s): 1) https://www.slideshare.net/ZohraRubab/functions-of-management-13000244 2) http://samples.jbpub.com/9781449688851/Chapter3.pdf 3) http://www.managementstudyguide.com/management_functions.htm 4) http://bconsi.blogspot.com/2016/03/7-functions-of-management.html 5) https://www.cleverism.com/functions-of-management-planning-organizing-staffing/ 6) http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-motivation-in-management-definition-process-types.html