Functions of Management

Functions of Management

Functions of Management

Paulo Fraga

University of Phoenix

Functions for effective management; what is the one most important resource a company needs to run efficiently? The answer to that question is management. Without effective management and an order of hierarchy companies would strain to get daily activities completed. A management position may seem like a do nothing job to subordinates but this is not the case. A manager has four main functions; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Many of today's managers are also coaches and mentors. Not only does a manger need to implement these functions on a day to day basis but they need to excel and master these functions. This may not seem like much responsibility but as you dissect each function the importance and value will stand out.

Planning

Mangers work daily with different people and resources in order to meet an organizations goal. In order for a manager to complete this enormous task they need to be both efficient and effective in their role. There are four functions that a manger brings to the table and the first function is planning. This is a task that has many variables depending on what level of management you are branded; executive, high level management, mid level management or lower management. The manager needs to determine goals and objectives for individuals or groups to achieve the firms' goal. With the goals and objectives come unforeseen situations that a manger will need to plan for. In a way they need to anticipate the future and come up with strategies prior to hitting a road block. The main objective for planning is to save the company money and time. This is why they need to plan all the action steps and resources they will need in order to meet their deadline before jumping in the deep end of the pool. Planning falls into a big part of my industry. In the mortgage industry there is constant planning and forecasting for the future products we will offer to our clients. We need to have products that make sense for today's market. Our products need to be attractive to our clients and be profitable to the firm. With the market constantly fluctuating this is no mediocre task.

Organizing

Another role of the manager is to be an organizer. I think that (Gemmy A. 1998) says it best, "organizing is to make the best use of the organizations resources and time to achieve the organizations goals." Basically the manager has to organize all the activities and resources to get the task completed within a specific amount of time. This is the area where jobs and responsibilities are grouped and coordinated. The organization process can involve many other aspects such as information and finances. Plans need to be organized so every task is being tackled and not duplicated by another team member. As for the mortgage industry, if jobs weren't carefully designated there would be many holes in our organization. For instance say we needed a hundred files to be looked at. Would it be wise for a manager to have everyone review loans? If so who would be attending the phones to answer our clients' questions or assist our outside sales team. Let's say that organization is a car and that car has a little hole with rust. If this isn't taken care of the hole will get bigger and bigger and become harder and more expensive to fix. This is why organizing is very important. The manager has to try and make sure that every hole in the operations is being sealed.

Leading

When you think of a manager what is one word that comes to mind? The word I think of is leader. This is essentially what most people see in a manager; that they are leaders. It is one of the most important jobs one can have as a manager. They need to motivate and mentor their subordinates to bring out their best performance. I was reading an article on the (Zimmerman & Lehman) website. They provide non-profit organizations with support and information for success. The key word I saw in the article was Empower. An effective leader needs to empower their subordinates. How would a leader empower their employees? (Zimmerman & Lehman) say, "Tell people what you expect from them, give them the tools they need to succeed, and then get out of their way. Learn to listen; nothing is more empowering than being heard."