UNIT 5

Directing and Controlling

5.1 Meaning and importance of directing

Directing is the heart of management function. All other functions of management such as planning, organizing, and staffing have no importance without directing. Leadership, motivation, supervision, communication are various aspects of directing.

Directing refers to a process or technique of instructing, guiding, inspiring, counselling, overseeing and leading people towards the accomplishment of organizational goals.  It is a continuous managerial process that goes on throughout the life of the organization. Main characteristics of Directing are as follows:

1. Initiates Action

A directing function is performed by the managers along with planning, staffing, organizing and controlling in order to discharge their duties in the organization. While other functions prepare a platform for action, directing initiates action.

Directing takes place at every level of the organization. Wherever there is a superior-subordinate relationship, directing exists as every manager provides guidance and inspiration to his subordinates.

It is a continuous function as it continues throughout the life of organization irrespective of the changes in the managers or employees.

Key Takeaways

1. Directing refers to a process or technique of instructing, guiding, inspiring, counselling, overseeing and leading people towards the accomplishment of organizational goals. 

5.2 Principle of directing

1. Principle of Maximum Individual Contribution:

According to this principle, management should adopt that directing policy through which the employees get motivated and give their maximum individual contribution for the achievement of organisational objective.

According to this principle, there must be full coordination between organisational and individual objectives. Employees work in an organisation with an objective to get better remuneration, promotion, etc. On the other hand, organisational goal can be to earn more profits and to increase market share.

Sometimes it is seen that there is a conflict between the objectives of both the parties, e.g., organisation wants that it should get a major share of profit whereas employees perceives that as they work directly on the job, so more profit must be shared among them in the form of bonus.

Management here must establish coordination between the objectives of both the parties/factors by adopting suitable method of direction.

According to this principle, a subordinate should get directions from one officer at a time. If the subordinate gets directions from more than one officer, the subordinate will be unable to priorities his work.

As a result, situation of confusion, conflict and disarrangement is created. By following this principle, effective direction takes place.

According to this principle, appropriate direction techniques should be used, e.g., to supervise effectively, to provide able leadership, to adopt free communication and to motivate through right medium.

According to this principle, it should be monitored by the management that the subordinates get the same meaning for what has been said. This simplifies the job of the subordinates and they need not go to the managers repeatedly for enquiring.

According to this principle, there must be a free flow of information between the seniors and the subordinates. The success of direction depends upon effective exchange of information to a great extent.

Information should be given both through formal and informal mediums. Special attention should be given to the informal organisation. This strengthens the formal organisation.

According to this principle, while giving directions to the subordinates a good leadership must be provided by the managers. By this, subordinates get influenced by the managers. In this situation, subordinates act according to the wish of the managers.

According to this principle, it must be monitored by management as to what extent the policies framed and issued directions have been enforced. Thus, it must be seen whether the employees are following the management or not.

If yes, then to what extent. As per this principle, the job of managers is not to sit idle after framing policies or issuing directions but to continuously take feedback. The advantage of this will be that if there is any problem in implementing a policy or a direction it can be removed then and there.

Key Takeaways

1. Management should adopt that directing policy through which the employees get motivated and give their maximum individual contribution for the achievement of organisational objective.
2. Employees work in an organisation with an objective to get better remuneration, promotion, etc. On the other hand, organisational goal can be to earn more profits and to increase market share.

5.3 Leadership trails and styles

Definition- Leadership captures the essentials of being able and prepared to inspire others. Effective leadership is based upon ideas—both original and borrowed—that are effectively communicated to others in a way that engages them enough to act as the leader wants them to act.

A leader inspires others to act while simultaneously directing the way that they act. They must be personable enough for others to follow their orders, and they must have the critical thinking skills to know the best way to use the resources at an organization's disposal.

Alternate definition- Leadership may also refer to an organization's management structure.

Leadership trails

This quality separates them from managers. Having a clear vision turns the individual into a special type of person. This quality of vision changes a “transactional manager” into a “transformational leader.”

While a manager gets the job done, great leaders tap into the emotions of their employees.

One of the more important qualities of a good leader is courage. Having the quality of courage means that you are willing to take risks in the achievement of your goals with no assurance of success. Because there is no certainty in life or business, every commitment you make and every action you take entails a risk of some kind.

Among the seven leadership qualities, courage is the most identifiable outward trait.

In every strategic planning session that I have conducted for large and small corporations, the first value that all the gathered executives agree upon for their company is integrity. They all agree on the importance of complete honesty in everything they do, both internally and externally.

The core of integrity is truthfulness.

Integrity requires that you always tell the truth, to all people, in every situation. Truthfulness is the foundation quality of the trust that is necessary for the success of any business.

Humility doesn’t mean that you’re weak or unsure of yourself. It means that you have the self-confidence and self-awareness to recognize the value of others without feeling threatened.

This is one of the rarer attributes – or traits – of good leaders because it requires containment of one’s ego.

It means that you are willing to admit you could be wrong, that you recognize you may not have all the answers. And it means that you give credit where credit is due –which many people struggle to do.

Great leaders are outstanding at strategic planning. It’s another one of the more important leadership strengths. They have the ability to look ahead, to anticipate with some accuracy where the industry and the markets are going.

Leaders have the ability to anticipate trends, well in advance of their competitors. They continually ask, “Based on what is happening today, where is the market going?

Because of increasing competitiveness, only the leaders and organizations that can accurately anticipate future markets can possibly survive. Only leaders with foresight can gain the “first mover advantage.”

Leaders always focus on the needs of the company and the situation. Leaders focus on results, on what must be achieved by themselves, by others, and by the company. Great leaders focus on strengths, in themselves and in others.

They focus on the strengths of the organization, on the things that the company does best in satisfying demanding customers in a competitive marketplace.

Your ability as a leader to call the shots and make sure that everyone is focused and concentrated on the most valuable use of their time is essential to the excellent performance of the enterprise.

Your ability to get everyone working and pulling together is essential to your success. Leadership is the ability to get people to work for you because they want to.

Leadership styles

Let’s now examine some of the most popular leadership styles-

1. Lewin’s Leadership styles-

Psychologist Kurt Lewin developed his framework of leadership styles in the 1930s, providing the foundation for many other styles following later. According to Lewin, there are essentially three core leadership styles, each of which is shortly summarized below.

Autocratic or authoritarian leadership style emphasizes the role of the leader in terms of the decision-making process. The leader won’t involve or even consult the team when it comes to deciding the next course of action.

The style is efficient in terms of making decisions, and can often be effective in crises or in circumstances where the leader has access to knowledge the subordinates don’t. Nonetheless, autocratic leadership style can also lead to high staff turnover.

Lewin’s second leadership style was the democratic model. Lewin’s style saw leaders under this framework still in charge of the final decisions, but instead of rejecting input from the subordinates, the leader seeks and encourages engagement. Therefore, the subordinates are more involved with the tasks or courses of action, even though they might not have actual power to decide.

The democratic style can remove the issues of low morale and high turnover through the more participative approach. On the other hand, decisions can take a long-time to make and the subordinate’s ability to comprehend the intricacies of certain circumstances might not be equal.

The final leadership style Lewin identified was the laissez faire leadership. Under this framework, the subordinates are given the ultimate power to decide how they want to achieve the vision set forward by the leader. The leader’s role is essentially to provide the subordinates with the right resources and advice, if needed.

Like the democratic leadership style, this can help increase job satisfaction, but the lack of structure can create problems within the organization. It also needs experienced and enthusiastic employees to work efficiently.

5.4 Motivation- Importance and factors

Meaning- Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes you to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior. In everyday usage, the term "motivation" is frequently used to describe why a person does something. It is the driving force behind human actions.

Importance- Effective managers have the ability to motivate those they work with to behave in a specific, goal-directed way. Motivation is defined as energizing, directing and sustaining employee efforts.

A motivated team should be energized and excited about performing tasks. They should be focused on doing what is important for the organization. Managers want a sustained effort from their employees so that they work hard whether or not the boss is present.

It is equally important that effective managers understand how to influence people to perform specific behaviors and tasks they are likely to find mundane. A manager needs to be able to persuade workers to stay with the organization. Managers want workers to complete mundane tasks at times and always perform at a high level and be a good organizational citizen.

With an effective motivational scheme in place, managers are much more likely to retain the most talented workers and dissuade them from leaving and going to a competitor.

There are several reasons why employee motivation is important. Mainly because it allows management to meet the company’s goals. Without a motivated workplace, companies could be placed in a very risky position.

Motivated employees can lead to increased productivity and allow an organisation to achieve higher levels of output. Imagine having an employee who is not motivated at work. They will probably use the time at their desk surfing the internet for personal pleasure or even looking for another job. This is a waste of your time and resources.

Process of motivation

1. Identify Unsatisfied Needs and Motives

The first process of motivation involves unsatisfied needs and motives. Unsatisfied needs activated by internal stimuli such as hunger and thirst.

They can also be activated by external stimuli such as advertisement and window display.

2. Tension

Unsatisfied needs to create tension in the individual. Such tension can be physical, psychological, and sociological. In this situation, people try to develop objects that will satisfy their needs.

3. Action to satisfy needs and motives

Such tension creates a strong internal stimulus that calls for action. The individual engages in activities to satisfy needs and motives for tension reduction.

For this purpose, alternatives are searches and choice are made, the action can be hard work for earning more money.

4. Goal accomplishment

Action to satisfy needs and motives accomplishes goals. It can be achieved through reward and punishment. When actions are carried out as per the tensions, then people are rewarded others are punished. Ultimately goals are accomplished.

5. Feedback

Feedback provides information for revision or improvement or modification of needs as needed. Depending on how well the goal is accomplished their needs and motives are modified.

Benefits of Motivated Employees

Employee motivation is highly important for every company due to the benefits that it brings to the company. Benefits include:

When employees are motivated to work, they will generally put their best effort in the tasks that are assigned to them.

Employee satisfaction is important for every company because this can lead towards a positive growth for the company.

Motivation can facilitate a worker reaching his/her personal goals, and can facilitate the self-development of an individual. Once that worker meets some initial goals, they realise the clear link between effort and results, which will further motivate them to continue at a high level.

Types of motivation

There are four types of motivation that you’ll frequently see in the workplace. Each serves a different purpose and can be useful in unique ways. Here are four types of motivation you might find in the workplace:

Affiliation motivation is the desire to belong to a certain group of people or an organization. If you are motivated by affiliation, you thrive when supporting or interacting with a team of other employees. You find it rewarding when you can contribute to a team effort or when you are considered a valuable member of a particular group. An employee who is affiliation motivated can be a benefit in the workplace because they strive to promote connections and relationships between people. Other positive results of affiliation motivation include:

• Excelling at interpersonal communication
• Cooperating well with both coworkers and clients
• Negotiating well during team discussions
• Noticing the individual skills of team members 

You might want to use affiliation motivation in the workplace when you are working to promote personal relationships, either among coworkers or with customers. Creating a group identity as a part of company culture can encourage employees to be motivated by a need to succeed as a team instead of as individuals.

Examples of affiliation motivation in the workplace include:

• Organizing team-building exercises that encourage the employees to build trust
• Encouraging employees to connect outside of work 
• Providing socialization opportunities in the workplace like holiday parties and baby showers
• Prioritizing small-group projects over department-led or individual campaigns
• Encouraging collaboration and cooperation between different teams

Competence motivation relates to an individual’s need to feel competent or capable. People who are motivated by competence work typically toward goals that involve education, training and knowledge. Competence motivation pushes students to ace classes, employees to achieve certification and professionals to master industry-specific techniques. In the workplace, you might be motivated to learn to operate a new software program not because you will be rewarded for it, but rather because you want to be able to list it as a professional skill on your resume. 

Companies might specifically provide opportunities for individuals who are competence motivated in order to focus on promoting highly-skilled employees. Employees who are competence motivated seek out opportunities to learn in the workplace and might take initiative when it comes to acquiring new skills. If you are competence motivated, you may be able to:

• Learn new equipment and techniques quickly
• Train other employees in the workplace
• Acquire a wide variety of professional skills
• Promote yourself as a highly-capable leader

Examples of competence motivation in the workplace include:

• Implementing continuing education programs
• Funding skill-based training sessions
• Hosting a professional development lectureship
• Rewarding employees who achieve certification
• Tasking highly-skilled employees with training new hires

Achievement motivation involves the satisfaction that you gain when reaching a goal. Typically, the goal involves some sort of award or professional acknowledgment. People who are achievement motivated are not satisfied with a completed project unless it earns them some level of recognition. Achievement motivation is an extrinsic form of motivation because it requires outside sources in order to provide a sense of accomplishment. 

In the workplace, achievement motivation drives individuals to be goal-oriented in their work. Employees who are achievement motivated need to be able to anticipate future acknowledgment in order to remain engaged throughout a process or project. 

Examples of achievement motivation in the workplace include:

• Promising public recognition of employees who exceed expectations
• Guaranteeing acknowledgment of all team members who contribute to a project
• Offering an award or certificate for a job well done
• Implementing some sort of “Employee of the Month” program
• Supplying opportunities for individuals to be considered for industry awards and acknowledgments

Incentive motivation involves working to earn predetermined compensation for above-average performance. Incentive motivation drives you to pursue a worthwhile reward in exchange for your time and effort. People who are incentive motivated work best when they know they will be appropriately compensated. Incentive motivation is an effective form of positive motivation that encourages success instead of punishing failure.

In the workplace, incentive motivation involves managers or supervisors providing opportunities for employees to earn specific awards. This usually fosters a predominantly goal-oriented atmosphere. In some cases, each task that an employee accomplishes each day may count toward earning a certain reward. In other situations, employees might actively exceed expectations in order to qualify for compensation beyond their usual paycheck.

Examples of incentive motivation in the workplace include:

• A weekly bonus that is awarded to the employee who worked the most hours
• Awarding an additional day of PTO to the employee with the highest sales numbers
• Providing free lunch to the departments that reduce their budget by 10% before the new fiscal year
• Allowing the entire office to clock out an hour early if the weekly customer satisfaction scores average 85% or higher 

Motivational Factors

1. Reward and recognition 

Reward and recognition come hand in hand. Recognition for good work has a limited shelf life; praise begins to lose its impact if not accompanied by reward. Exceptional work deserves reward and while recognition is sufficient in certain cases, employees begin to lose motivation if they are not rewarded for extra effort.

There are many ways to reward employees. Rewards can vary in both cost and impact and it is best to offer a portfolio of rewards, examples include once in a lifetime trips and experiences, vouchers or something as simple as an extra day off. The aim of rewarding and recognising employees is to encourage and motivate them to exceed within their roles and promote positive behaviours.

2. Development

Development is very important for motivating employees; studies have shown that 20% of employees prefer career development opportunities and training to monetary reward. Development makes an employee self-dependent and allows them to contribute more effectively in the workplace, it also helps employees to enhance their input to your business.

When an organisation invests in their employees, it breeds loyalty, retention and motivation. A study in the Harvard Business Review found that employees are appreciate and value when managers take a genuine interest in their development; it demonstrates to the employee that the organisation believes in them and wants them to progress within the company. Development inspires employees to work harder so as not to let down the company that has invested in them.

3. Leadership 

A study by Gallup found that, only 2 in 10 employees strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work – this clearly displays how much a good leader motivates employees. A good leader has the knowledge of what truly inspires loyal and motivated humans to perform at a high level. It is important that a good leader has reasonable expectations, gives credit where credit is due and appreciates their staff.

4. Work life balance

Providing a good work life balance nurtures employees. Motivated employees are less likely to take sick days, leave the organisation and will be more prepared to work longer hours. Equally these same employees are more likely to ‘burn out’ and will feel less motivated if there is not a healthy work life balance. Whilst motivated employees will go above and beyond for the company, wanting to do their best, if exhaustion strikes they may start to lose the passion for their job. As an organisation, it is important to ensure that employees are working reasonable hours and are combining work with activities that promote health and wellbeing.

5. Work environment

Motivated employees thrive in a positive work environment. This refers to the physical and non-physical environment – the physical environment is the office space and surrounding areas. Employees work better in open spaces that stimulate the senses, look at Google, they are known for their extraordinary office spaces that focus on employee wellbeing – with green spaces, quiet areas, beach volleyball, to name but a few! Google spare no expense on the employee environment believing that the space you work in greatly affects employee motivation. Google’s philosophy is that “life at Google is not all work”, therefore they promote casual collusion between employees, demonstrating how collaboration promotes creativity, drives production and increases motivation.

Key Takeaways

1. Motivation is defined as energizing, directing and sustaining employee efforts.
2. A manager needs to be able to persuade workers to stay with the organization. Managers want workers to complete mundane tasks at times and always perform at a high level and be a good organizational citizen.

5.5 Co-ordination- meaning, importance and features

Coordination is the function of management which ensures that different departments and groups work in sync. Therefore, there is unity of action among the employees, groups, and departments.

It also brings harmony in carrying out the different tasks and activities to achieve the organization’s objectives efficiently. Coordination is an important aspect of any group effort. When an individual is working, there is no need for coordination.

Therefore, we can say that the coordination function is an orderly arrangement of efforts providing unity of action in pursuance of a common goal. In an organization, all the departments must operate a part of a cohesive unit to optimize performance.

Coordination implies synchronization of various efforts of different departments to reduce conflict. Multiple departments usually perform the work for which an organization exists.

Therefore, synchronization between them is essential. Lacking coordination, departments might work in different directions or at different timings, creating chaos.

Features of coordination

Coordination is the integration, unification, synchronization of the efforts of the departments to provide unity of action for pursuing common goals. A force that binds all the other functions of management.

The management of an organization endeavours to achieve optimum coordination through its basic functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.

Therefore, coordination is not a separate function of management because management is successful only if it can achieve harmony between different employees and departments. Here are some important features of coordination:

•    It is relevant for group efforts and not for individual efforts. Coordination involves an orderly pattern of group efforts. In the case of individual efforts, since the performance of the individual does not affect the functioning of others, the need for coordination does not arise.
•    It is a continuous and dynamic process. Continuous because it is achieved through the performance of different functions. Also, it is dynamic since functions can change according to the stage of work.
•    Most organizations have some sort of coordination in place. However, the management can always make special efforts to improve it.
•    Coordination emphasizes the unity of efforts. This involves fixing the time and manner in which the various functions are performed in the organization. This allows individuals to integrate with the overall process.

Key Takeaways

1. Coordination is the function of management which ensures that different departments and groups work in sync.
2. The management of an organization endeavours to achieve optimum coordination through its basic functions of planning,   organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.
3. Coordination involves an orderly pattern of group efforts.

5.6 Meaning and steps in controlling

Control is a primary goal-oriented function of management in an organisation. It is a process of comparing the actual performance with the set standards of the company to ensure that activities are performed according to the plans and if not then taking corrective action.

Every manager needs to monitor and evaluate the activities of his subordinates. It helps in taking corrective actions by the manager in the given timeline to avoid contingency or company’s loss.

Controlling is performed at the lower, middle and upper levels of the management.

Features of Controlling

• An effective control system has the following features:
• It helps in achieving organizational goals.
• Facilitates optimum utilization of resources.
• It evaluates the accuracy of the standard.
• It also sets discipline and order.
• Motivates the employees and boosts employee morale.
• Ensures future planning by revising standards.
• Improves overall performance of an organization.
• It also minimises errors.

Controlling and planning are interrelated for controlling gives an important input into the next planning cycle. Controlling is a backwards-looking function which brings the management cycle back to the planning function. Planning is a forward-looking process as it deals with the forecasts about the future conditions.

Process of Controlling

Control process involves the following steps as shown in the figure:

• Establishing standards: This means setting up of the target which needs to be achieved to meet organisational goals eventually. Standards indicate the criteria of performance. Control standards are categorized as quantitative and qualitative standards. Quantitative standards are expressed in terms of money. Qualitative standards, on the other hand, includes intangible items.
• Measurement of actual performance: The actual performance of the employee is measured against the target. With the increasing levels of management, the measurement of performance becomes difficult.
• Comparison of actual performance with the standard: This compares the degree of difference between the actual performance and the standard.
• Taking corrective actions: It is initiated by the manager who corrects any defects in actual performance. Controlling process thus regulates companies’ activities so that actual performance conforms to the standard plan. An effective control system enables managers to avoid circumstances which cause the company’s loss.

Key Takeaways

1. Control is a primary goal-oriented function of management in an organisation.
2. Every manager needs to monitor and evaluate the activities of his subordinates.
3. Controlling process thus regulates companies’ activities so that actual performance conforms to the standard plan.

5.7 Essentials of good controlling system

1. Simplicity:

A good control system must be simple and easily understandable so that all the managers can apply it effectively. Complicated control techniques fail to communicate the meaning of control data to the managers.

The standards of performance should be objective and specific, quantified and verifiable. They should be based on the facts so that control is acceptable and workable.

The control system should provide information soon enough so that the managers can detect and report the deviations promptly and necessary corrective actions may be taken in proper time. Corrective measures are of no value if those are taken too late.

The control system must justify the expenses involved. In other words, anticipated earnings from it should be greater than the expected costs in its working. A small organisation cannot use the expensive control technique applied in large enterprises.

Internal goals and strategies must be responsive to the changes in the environment and the control system should be flexible enough to adapt the changing conditions or unforeseen situations. It should be adaptable to the new developments. Flexibility in control system can be introduced by making alternative plans.

The control system should encourage accurate information in order to detect deviations. The technique of control used should be appropriate to the work being controlled.

Control must reflect the needs and nature of the activities of the organisation, the control system should focus on achieving the organisational goals.

The control system must be directed towards the future. It must pay attention on how the future actions can be conformed with the plans adopted.

The control system should focus attention on strategic or critical deviations. Only exceptional deviations require the attention of the managers.

A good control system should pay due attention to the human factor, It should be designed to secure positive action from the workers. Self-control tends to be motivated. Direct contact between the controller and the controlled also helps in making the control system motivational.

Key Takeaways

1. The control system should focus attention on strategic or critical deviations. Only exceptional deviations require the attention of the managers.
2. Internal goals and strategies must be responsive to the changes in the environment and the control system should be flexible enough to adapt the changing conditions or unforeseen situations.

References-

1. Principles & Practices of Management: L. M. Prasad
2. Principles of Management: P. C. Tripathy & P.N. Readdy