Four Functions of Management
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Each company has their own process of management, whether it is in the form of training programs, DVDs, handouts, etc. Within those techniques that each company may use to train their employees are the four basic functions of management; Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling.
The first of four functions of management is Planning. Planning implements and identifies goals, objectives, and resources that would be needed to execute the missions and goals. By executing the proper planning it will be easier to meet the dates that are set forth for completion of the goals. Within the planning genre, you can use strategic planning, business planning, and staff planning. Along the lines of planning you may come across a time that you will need advertisement, marketing, and promotional ideas. Planning can also be looked at as the ongoing process for developing the business mission and objectives and trying to determine how they will be accomplished. Planning includes the broadest views of the organization in its mission for accomplishing a specific goal.
Organizing is the function of achieving goals in an optimum fashion. You need to optimize all new departments, human resources, all working systems, both office and file systems. It is also important that you establish the internal organizational structure of the establishment you are starting. You should put focuses on coordinating each group properly and control the flow within the organization. Overall, organizing establishes the internal organizational structure of the business. The focus is on dividing and coordinating the flow between managers and the job holders.
Leading is being able to influence behavior through motivation and being able to communicate. You need to form group dynamics, define what type of leadership that is being looked at. The purpose is to direct the behavior of all personnel to accomplish the organizations mission and objectives while continuing to help accomplish their own objectives. The leading or directing function gives managers many responsibilities. Some of them may be, employee performance and helping employees in the organization accomplish their individual career goals. By doing so, you help build your business; at the same time you are building future leaders for your company. The leading function of management plays the part in he motivational realm as well.
Three easy ways to look at motivation are need, rewards, and effort. If yu are able to fill the needs of an individual, that will drive positive behavior. Being able to establish the needs of an individual you are pulling out the best in each person, therefore your productivity will increase. Upon productivity being at a high level, you are then inclined to reward the employees with a small but significant bonus type reward. The effort part of motivation is an assumption hat the employer is fair and that effort is recognized and rewards.
Controlling is an organizations systems, processes and structures to reach effectively and efficiently reach goals and objectives. A collection of feedback that includes monitoring and adjustment of systems, financial controls, policies and procedures, performance management and measures to avoid risks are examples of controllable issues. The control process is cynical which means that it will never finish. Controlling leads to identification of new problems that in turn need to be addressed through establishment of performance standards and measurements. Employees may sometimes view controlling to be negative. By its very nature, controlling often leads to management expecting employee behavior to change. No matter how positive the changes may be for the organization, employees may still view them negatively.
It is hard for me to believe that after reading the chapters and doing my research that I physically use all four functions of management on a daily basis. Sometimes you dont realize how much that you utilize these functions in day to day operations.
In my position as Chef Manager for a hospitality company, I play the role of the Chef and a Manager. Within the role of the Chef I write all the menus, daily, and weekly specials, and catering menus. I need to make sure that all menus are making money for the company in which I need to cost the menu out so I get the correct price for each menu item. In my other role, the Manager, it is my responsibility to do the entire hiring, firing, staff training, inventory, ordering, and most importantly, budgeting. Within all of those areas it takes a lot of planning to make everything go smoothly. In my view I always start with the end first. Meaning, if I am going to write a budget, I need to know what the bottom lie will be. If my goals are to net 60k at the end of the year, then on average I need to net 5k each month in profit. With that knowledge in my head, I can then go and forecast and plan my yearly budget. I usually take my projected sales and then minus out my costs. There are 3 major costs in budgeting a kitchen; food costs, labor costs, and direct costs. The first 2 are self explanatory and the direct costs will cover utilities, paper goods, maintenance, laundry, etc. Once I have all of those variables I am able to make a true budget and start to organize my kitchen.
If I had a bad month or 2, thats fine, all I would need to do is to document as to why. Sometimes as much as you plan or organize there are still some variables that you cannot control. Plans are made to be altered to a point. Within