Functions of management:
Managerial functions may be classified as:
- Planning
- Organizing
- Staffing
- Directing
- Controlling
Planning: Planning is primary function of management. It is process of thinking in advance the future course of actions. It involves what to do, when to do, where to do and by whom it is to be done. Thus it is actually thinking before doing. Major activities in planning includes determination of organizational objectives, projects, setting policies strategies and making rules, procedures and budgets.
Organizing: Organizing is process of dividing work into duties, grouping of these duties in the form of positions and grouping of these positions in the form of departments. It is an important activity which brings together the man power and resources for accomplishment of goals. It includes identification of activities, grouping them in logical positions, assigning the duties to individual positions and delegating authority and responsibility to them.
Staffing: Staffing involves manning the positions created by the organizing process. Hiring right kind of people and develop them for well being of organization. Major activities are preparing inventory of available personnel, identifying required manpower and resources from where people can be selected, selecting people training them for the work assigned, fixing compensation etc.
Directing: Directing is called management in action. It is concerned with commanding the people at work for achievement of desired organizational goals. Thus directing involves giving instructions or order to subordinates guiding them motivating them and supervising them.
Controlling: Controlling is process of seeing whether the activities have been performed according to the plans or not. It is checking actual performance against the agreed or given standards. It involves setting the standards, identification of actual results, comparison of actual results with desired or standard results, identification of problems if desired results are not achieved and taking corrective actions so that actual performance match with expected results.