WHAT IS MANAGEMENT?

When broken down, the word management boils down to two things. Manage(men+t)- where men implies people and ‘t’ stands for things. In simple terms management is being able to manage people and things. People are usually the employees in an organization and things could be an event or a situation.

When looked at from a more sophisticated point of view, management is a process that involves five steps, namely- planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling in an organization. The person performing these tasks is referred to as a manager in general. But specialization has made it necessary to have different titles for people performing different tasks. For example, a manager who performs financial tasks will be referred to as a finance manager. And the senior most position in this field in an organization is that of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

The first step in the process of management is planning. In this step, a manager needs to identify specific organizational goals and set standards that need to be conformed to. Next, the manager needs to create a detailed action plan and implement it. The plan should be aimed at achieving the set targets. Lastly, the manager needs some kind of follow-up action to make sure that that the plan was successfully executed. In the words of Alan Lakein, “Failing to plan is planning to fail”.

The second step in the management process is organizing. This part of the process is where the manager ensures that everyone and everything is brought together. This means that physical, financial and human resources are consolidated to be able to develop a relationship amongst that enables them to collectively achieve organizational goals in harmony. Organization involves identification and grouping of activities, assignment of duties and a clear hierarchical structure, delegation of authority and creation of responsibility, and coordination.

The third step is that of staffing. Simply put, staffing is finding the right people for the right job at the right time. ‘Finding the right people’ would mean making sure the people that a manager hires for an organization are well qualified for the job. ‘For the right job’ means that the person is well suited for the job. And ‘at the right time’ means that the person is hired at a time when there is a job opening; there should not be any overstaffing.

The fourth step in the process is called directing. It is the part of management that ensures the organizational objectives are being accomplished effectively and efficiently. There are four elements of directing; supervision, motivation, leadership and communication. Supervision means a superior oversees the work of his/her subordinates. Motivation involves stimulating the desire and energy of employees and inspiring them to be committed to achieving organizational goals. Leadership is where the manager guides and influences an employee to stay on the right path. Communication is where information is exchanged in order to be coordinated.

The fifth and final step in the managerial process is called controlling. Controlling refers to the process of measuring results with pre-set standards and correcting deviations, if any. It is a process that looks at the past as well as the future. It looks at the standards that were set (past) and if there are any deviations, it takes corrective action before the next plans are carried out (future).

In summary, management is a five-step process where each step is equally important. Ignoring a step or giving it less attention might not lead to the accomplishment of organizational goals; at least not with the same efficiency. Hence, in order to be able to manage men (people) and things the five steps are integral.

In the words of Henri Fayol, “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control.”

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