Management Process:(PDF inside) Elements, Nature & Features

In this article, you’re going to know everything about the process of management.

Management as a process emphasizes that all managers, regardless of their specialized skills, act in certain interrelated activities in order to reach their desired goals.

Definition: Management process is basically a process of setting goals, planning, organizing, controlling and leading the execution of any type of activities, such as a project or a process.

Management process comprises these functions:

1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Staffing
4. Directing
5. Coordinating
6. Controlling

Nature Of Management Process

Management is a process where human resources and material resources are brought together to fulfil the objectives of an organization. It is an ongoing series of interrelated activities.

A process is a systematic way of getting things done. It converts input into output. An analysis of the management process will enable us to know the functions in which managers perform the actions.

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Features of Management Process

Social Process:

The entire management process is considered a social process because the success of the organizational efforts depends on the cooperation of the people involved in it.

Managers guide, direct, influence and control the action and the employees perform as directed by the managers.

Continuous Process:

The process of management is continuous and ongoing. Managers continuously observe the functions of this process. This cycle is repeated over and over, each managerial function is categorized as a sub-process of the total management process.

Universal Process:

The manager has to perform the management processes irrespective of the nature and size of the organization, in that sense, this is a universal process. Each manager has to perform the same functions according to his rank and position in the organization.

Composite Process:

All management functions are integrated and composite. There cannot be any sequence that can strictly follow to perform the several functions. A newly started business always follows a particular sequence. So, the sequential concept may be true for newly started businesses. Many functions may be taken up at the same time or any particular function may be taken up first.

Key takeaways:

1. The management process is a social process because success depends on the cooperation of the people involved in it.
2. It is a continuous and ongoing process.
3. It is a universal process because each manager has to perform the same functions.
4. Management functions are composite and integrated.

Elements or Functions of Management Process

The management process is all about planning, making policies, finalizing the strategies, making important decisions for different situations, motivating the human resources to achieve the organizational goals and objectives.

Management actions are taken to utilize the resources of men, materials, machines, money effectively and efficiently.

Process 1: Planning

Planning is the base of management. Planning is done with the considerations of all the elements of business organizations associated with its functioning for the intention, it has been set up. It helps in determining the course of action to be followed for achieving organizational goals.

Planning is basically deciding in the present about the future objectives and the processes for their acquirements. Planning depends on the mental state of the manager. It is a process that involves thinking before doing something.

Planning is the process of looking forward. The most common objective of planning is to achieve better results. It involves developing policies, programmes, strategies, budget, procedure and making decision, etc. It is a continuous process that locates at all levels of management.

Steps of Planning:

• Collecting information.
• Fixing the long-range objectives.
• Developing policies, procedures, rules etc. for the implementation of strategies.
• Evaluate the action patterns.
• Finding out the limitations.

Key takeaways:

1. What to do?
2. How to do?
3. When to do?
4. Who to do?

Process 2: Organizing

Organizing is the management function associated with effective utilization of the resources like men, machines, materials and money for achieving the objectives of the organization. The purpose of organizing is to guide, direct, arrange, coordinate and control the activities related to production.

The process of organizing is a key to a managerial job and the basic function of management authority. Appointment of authority is the key to organization. The organizational structure itself is a tool for accomplishing enterprise objectives.

Steps of Organizing:

• Identifying the work to be performed.
• Classifying the work.
• Assigning the groups or the individuals to work.
• Delegating authority and fixing responsibilities.

Key Takeaways:

1. It the key to a managerial job.
2. organizing is a basic function of management.
3. To identify, classify and assign activities.
4. Coordinate relationship.

Process 3: Staffing

Staffing is a constant and fundamental step in the management process. After determining the strategies, objectives, programs, policies and procedures, managers select a group of people by evaluating their knowledge and skills to work on that project. This process is called staffing. It has been recognised as a distinct function of management.

Staffing is the key to the efficient performance of other functions of management. Without competent personnel, an organization cannot perform the management functions like planning, organizing and control etc.

Functions of Staffing

• To obtain qualified personnel for different jobs position.
• Staffing leads to maximum productivity and higher performance.
• Promoting the optimum utilization of human resources.
• It promotes the continuity and growth of the organization.
• It increases the job satisfaction of the employees.
• Associate with promotion and training.

Key Takeaways

1. Utilizes and promotes manpower.
2. Selecting and recruiting suitable personnel.
3. Placement of manpower development.
4. Determination of employee remuneration.
5. Training and development of employees.

Process 4: Directing

Directing is a process in which managers guide, instruct and oversee the performance of the employees to achieve predetermined goals. It is said to be the heart of the management process. If directing process does not take place then functions like planning, organizing and staffing have got no importance.

The actual work starts from directing. It initiates action. It is said to be consisting of human factors. If you want to describe it in simple words, it is actually providing guidance to the workers. It consists of those activities which are designed to encourage the subordinates to work efficiently and effectively.

Direction helps the subordinates to perform to the best of their abilities and capacities. It is a continuous function and it is acted in all levels of management.

Importance of Direction

• It initiates action.
• It ingrates efforts.
• It means motivation.
• It provides stability.
• Coping up with the chances.
• It promotes the efficient utilization of resources.

Activities involved in the direction Process

1. Leadership: Leadership is a quality of a manager which helps to issue orders, instructions and guidance to the workers.
2. Communication: It considered an important function of management. Without proper communication skills, a manager cannot direct his workers properly.
3. Motivation: Motivation provides the energy to work hard and efficiently. It inspires employees to contribute their best towards the achievement of organizational objectives.
4. Supervision: It is the most important element of detecting function. without proper supervision, there could be a lot of errors in the work. It performs after issuing instructions.

Key Takeaways

1. It is management in action.
2. it involves leadership, communication, motivation and supervision.
3. It initiates action and ingrates efforts.
4. It is a continuous function.

Process 5: Coordinating

in every organization, various departments perform different types of work to reach the organizational goals. In this case, it is important that the activities of different departments and workgroups of the organization are harmonized. This function is called the coordinating function. It ensures the unity of action among workgroups, individuals and departments.

The concept of coordination only applies to group efforts and there is no need for coordination in case of a single individual is working. To achieve the organizational goal, all department must operate in an integrated manner. This function has strictly involved the synchronization of different efforts of the various departments to achieve the planned objectives with minimum conflict.

This function prevents conflict and overlapping so that the unity of the action remains unchanged. Achievement of goals in some departments may run counter to that of the other departments without proper harmonization. It consists of interrelating the various parts of the work as well as the work of different departments.

Sub-functions of Coordination

• Clear explanation of authority-responsibility relations.
• Unity of command.
• unity of direction.
• Effective communication.
• Effective leadership.

Key Takeaways / Features

1. It is relevant for group efforts.
2. Not applicable for individual efforts.
3. Continuous and dynamic process.
4. The management can always make special efforts to improve it.
5. It emphasizes the unity of efforts.
6. Coordinating is the responsibility of every manager.

Step 6: Controlling

Controlling is a primary objective-oriented function of management. It is basically the comparison between actual performance and the standards of the company to ensure that the taken action was correct.

Every manager should keep an eye on the activities of his subordinates. It can be defined as determining what is being accomplished, deciding the performance, if needed, applying corrective measures to take place the performance according to plans.

Control is essential for achieving the goals of an organization. It is the process that allows management to get its policies implemented and take corrective actions to fix the performance if that is not according to the pre-determined standards.

Planning is the beginning of the management process while controlling is said to be the final stage of the management process. If planning is looking forward, controlling is looking backwards. Controlling isn’t possible without planning, on the other hand, planning is insignificant without control.

steps of Controlling

• Establishing the standards of performance.
• Finalized the plans based on corporate plan, objective, mission and vision of the organization.
• To intimate the ultimate plans to the heads of all the departments.
• To monitor the actual performance.
• To create a regular report as per the performance.

Features of Controlling

• It helps in fulfilling organizational goals or objectives.
• It promotes optimum utilization of resources.
• It decides the accuracy of the standard.
• It is also responsible for setting disciplines and orders.
• By revising standards, it ensures future planning.
• It increases the overall performance of an organization.
• It is also responsible for minimizing errors.

Key Takeaways

1. Establishing standards.
2. Measuring actual performance with respect to the standard performance.
3. Essential for achieving the goals of an organization.
4. The final stage of the management process.
5. Controlling is looking backwards.

Terms Related to Management Process

Risk Management Process

It is a framework for the actions that need to be taken. Here are 5 steps that are taken to manage risk; these steps are considered as the risk management process. It starts with identifying and analyse risks and ends with monitoring the risks.

It requires some investment of money and time. It will be more likely to be employed and maintained if it is executed gradually over time. With a simple structure, formalization and a strong understanding, the risk management process of an organization can be rewarding.

The steps in risk management are;

1. Identifying the risk.
2. Analyze the risk.
3. Evaluate or rank the risk.
4. treat the risk.
5. Monitor and review the risk.

Project Management Process

project management is the application of tools, processes and methodologies to successfully execute a pre-planned project. Wheather some projects like launching an application, constructing a building or rolling out a marketing campaign, every time it requires a series of processes to make the successful execution.

There are 5 project management processes:

1. Initiation
   • Define project goals
   • Create a Business Case
   • Complete the project charter
   • Draw up the list of stakeholders.
2. Planning
   • Define scope
   • create a project plan
   • Set a budget
   • Define roles and responsibility
3. Execution
   • Allocate project resources
   • Manage project resources
   • Build the product or process
   • Fix issues
4. Monitoring & Control
   • Track effort
   • Monitor project progress
   • Ensure adherence to plan
   • Prevent any chance for disruptions
5. Completion
   • Handover deliverables
   • ReviewGet project result approved
   • Document project learnings.

Leadership VS Management

What are the main differences between leadership and management? While many of us may think that manager is also a leader so, these two terms denote the same thing, but actually not. The terms “management” and “leadership” are frequently used interchangeably.

Maybe there is some overlap among the work that managers and leaders do but these two terms have different sense and they shouldn’t be used interchangeably. Both imply a unique set of skills, characteristics and functions that share a few similarities.

They also show some clear differences in some circumstances. For example, some people lead without a managerial role while some managers do not study leadership. read more>>>>