Management Tips

Management skills in the leader are very important for the success of any organisation. The Management Tips

success of the organization depends to a large extent on the ability of its leaders to manage it effectively. No matter how good the staff and equipment, the organization will most likely fail if the leader provides poor leadership.

That is why you must master the art and science of management.

Last Updated - 15th October 2005

What is management?

Management is a science, which deals with harmonizing and utilizing the available men and material resources of an organization in their proper and economic proportion to accomplish objectives.

Management entails the art and science of getting things or work done through people.

It is a process of getting things done through other people, so as to achieve the goal of an organization.

It is the process of planning, organizing, decision making, motivating, communicating, coordinating, staffing, directing, controlling the activities of an organization in order to achieve its objectives.

The success or failure of any organization -business, social, religious etc. - is determined by the quality of its management. In other to manage an organization successfully, the human and non-human resources of the organization must be well planned, directed, controlled and organized.

The principles of management

The principles of management are set of conditions that enable an organization to maximize its efficiency and effectiveness in the business system.
These principles include: objectives, span control, inter-related function, chain and unity of command, parity of authority and responsibility, division of labor, work assignment, employee participation, delegated authority.

Objectives - Objective means the object, the aim, of the organization to be won; the purpose of the organization's plan. The common objective of the organization must be clearly defined, expressed, understood and accepted by each individual who is concerned with the achievement of the objective. Every member of the organization must work towards the achievement of this objective.

Tip : If you are just setting up your organization, you must know from the planning stage the objective you want it to achieve. Don't even begin to make / draw up a plan until you have in mind a clear object towards which the organization will be directed.

Span contro l - There is a limit to the number of staffs a person, however capable, can effectively supervise. Supervision of too many people working for an organization may lead to ineffectiveness and inefficiency.

Tip : Make sure that people you are to supervise are not so many that they task your managerial strength. If you find yourself over more people than you can effectively supervise, employ the tool of delegation of authority. Let capable persons have charge over a certain number of the organization's workers. These leaders will report to you and you will supervise all your workers or staff through these few leaders.

Inter-related function - An organization should be made up of inter-related functions. For example, Administration/personnel, Finance, Production, Marketing, Mechanical/Electrical, etc.

Tip : The functions of your organization should inter-relate to facilitate easy achievement of the organization's objective.

Chain and unity of command - Chain of command is the specification of who should report to who. Officers should know their immediate boss to whom they are responsible and answerable. The principle of unity of command states that a subordinate officer should not report or be made directly responsible and answerable to more than one superior officer in the organization, to prevent conflicts and confusion.

Tip : Make sure that every staff understands, on resumption of duty, who his immediate boss is.

Parity of authority and responsibility - According to this principle, a staff must be given authority to carry out the specific task he is given. Responsibility for the execution of a work must be accompanied by the authority to control and direst the means of doing the work.

Tip : The observance of this principle will not permit other members of the staff of your organization to disturb or hinder in some ways the work of a staff by unnecessary interference.

Division of labor - This is the process of breaking down a piece of work, which a group of people are to do, into several and smaller units, and assigning a single unit to individual in the group.

Division of labor -
- prevents the problem of daily distribution of jobs to the organization's workers
  " prevents the need for your workers to learn new skills whenever new tasks are assigned to them
- prevents wasting of time, since a lot of time will be necessary for distribution of new tasks to workers daily
- minimizes wages and salaries because of lower skill requirements, since the process brings about specialization and acquisition of considerable skill
- helps the organization's leader to know easily who to hold responsible if a job is poorly done or undone
Tip : division of labor is a principle you must put into practice as soon as you hire your staff, to enjoy the above and other benefits of the process.

Work assignment - Before an employee is given an assignment his discipline, aptitude, interest, capability and talent must be taken into consideration. The characteristic or personal traits of each employee must match with the job to be assigned to him.

Employee participation - The participation of employees in the decision-making process should be sought and utilized. A manager called a meeting of all his organization's employees and told them a problem the organization's management and experts have not been able to solve. Surprisingly, some members of the laborer unit suggested an idea that worked well.

Tip : Don't underestimate the ability of any group of your employees to contribute to the success of your organization at the managerial level of decision-making and plan-making.

Delegated authority - According to this principle, authority should be delegated for effectiveness. The leader of the organization should consider some of his responsibilities for delegation to his immediate subordinate officer

Copyright © TipsAndTreats.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole
or in part in any form or medium without written permission is prohibited.
Usage of this web site is subject to terms and conditions.
Broken links? Problem with site? Send email to admin@tipsandtreats.com