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Lesson 1: Being an Exceptional Manager
Four Functions of Managers
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In today's competitive environment, it has become increasingly important for businesses to be efficient and effective. Efficiency focuses on using resources wisely to achieve goals, while effectiveness aims to make the right decisions to attain goals. It is important not only to keep costs under control but also to provide a product or service that the customer desires. Organizations that set themselves apart from their competitors have a better chance of surviving in both the short and long runs. Managers are responsible for planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in a way that achieves the goals and objectives of the organization.
Generally speaking, there are three levels of managers: first-line, middle, and top. Each level will have responsibilities related to the four fundamental functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. All managers perform all functions, but depending on the level, greater time, energy, and detailed focus may be spent on one function over another. For example, top managers may focus on the planning function because they are responsible for developing the long-range strategic direction of the firm.
First-line managers, on the other hand, may spend more time performing the leading function. First-line managers must act as supervisors because they supervise the nonmanagerial employees who are directly related to the short-term operational aspects of the company's product and/or service.
Most of us tend to think of managers in the role of supervision of employees (human resources). It is important to realize that there are other resources that managers must manage. Resources include people, skills, knowledge, machinery, computers, and information technology (IT), and financial capital. There are financial managers who are responsible for the financial resources of the firm. There are IT managers responsible for the firm's technology. In other words, managers are responsible for managing all of the organization’s resources in a way that achieves the firm's different objectives.
Before reading the next several pages about each of the managerial functions, watch this informational video to put each of the four functions into perspective with respect to one another.
SPEAKER: When we consider the four functions of management, regardless of the industry, they are the same. The four functions of management that we’re going to be looking at, for the purposes of this are, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. One anchor that I’d like you to think about, and keep in mind, throughout each of the given functions of management, is the word, objectives. So let’s first talk about planning. As you can see, when you look at planning, we do this first, because we’re setting a direction for the organization. We’re actually setting up the objectives that will determine our actions throughout the organization. We’ll anchor them to our vision and mission.
We’ll anchor them, and hopefully build strategy to help achieve those objectives. When we look towards organizing, organizing is all about delegating, and organizing tasks and resources to then, wait for it – achieve the objective.
So within organizing, we’re looking at levels of decision making, of delegating, and setting ourselves up so that once we get the people in place, we can achieve our objectives, and we’ll head down the path of being successful as an organization achieving those objectives. So let’s get rid of organizing here. When we’re done organizing, we’re then into the leading process, and I say done, but I want you to think of the four functions of management very much as a process.
So we plan, we organize, and now we’re looking at leading. When we consider leading, it’s all about influencing employees, and their behaviour to what? You got it, to achieve the organizational objectives. So this is where we delve in and when we're thinking about leadership, we’re thinking about communications, we’re thinking about managing teams, inspiring people and, influencing their behaviours. Ironically, not all managers are leaders. Cause it might not be part of their function, or who they are.
But that’s a debate we can have in class. So we’re planning, we’re organizing, we’re leading, and last but not least, we’re controlling. When we look at controlling this will be the function we look at the least in this course. Please don’ t think that there is not importance there though, cause there is great importance in evaluation, in feedback, in identifying performance and performance and performance of appraisal of your people. But for purposes of this course, many of these pieces are covered off in your HR course.
So I want you to think of controlling, as establishing and implementing mechanisms and processes to ensure that the organization achieves its objectives. So there we have it, looks pretty good. Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
Often when you think of management and leadership, you see this leading in controlling as the majority of the tasks. But it’s because these two functions is what we see our managers doing. Often, when they close doors, or go into meetings, equal amounts of their time can be spent in this planning and organizing phases of things. Okay. So there we have it. Our four functions of management. I want you to think about who you’re going to be as a manager. What areas are you strong, where would you like to improve, and where do you see yourself within these given functions? Lots of room to grow, lots of great interesting areas to dig into. Have fun!