Functions of Management

Functions of Management
Management is a process of achieving
organizational goals by engaging in
four major functions of planning,
organizing, leading and controlling
 Planning
• A thinking process to work out
objectives to be achieved for a given
time frame.
• Develop strategies inline with the
objectives and business plan of the
organization.
• It defines who will do what, how,
where, when and with which
resources.
Management
Functions
Monitoring & Controlling
• Measuring of performance in all pre-
determined objectives
• Determining reasons for deviation
and taking appropriate actions, as
necessary.
• Providing ways to ensure that the
organization moves towards
achieving the objectives.
Organizing
• Determine what tasks to be done.
• Effective assignment of resources
• How the tasks are to be grouped?
• Who will implement & coordinate
tasks?
• Who reports to whom?
• Logical & efficient work flow of the
organization
Leading
• Involves motivating subordinates.
• Selecting effective ways of
communication across all tiers
/levels.
• Resolving conflicts,
• Rational DM,
• Directing & guiding others with the
intention of achieving objectives.
3. Leading
 Leading
• It is a process of influencing others to engage in the
work behavior necessary to reach organizational goals.
• After having decided what is worthwhile to do and
organizing the planned activities; leading by motivating
and communicating effectively causes people to take
effective actions.
• Leadership ability of a manager is demonstrated by one’s
abilities to guide and direct the efforts of others to attain
organizational objectives.
• A leader has a vision, sets a personal example, able to
attract and retain good people, motivates and influences
the people to willingly do their best.
 Styles of Leadership
Five major styles of leadership are classified according to
the attributes of either a concern for the people or an
emphasis for the tasks.
1. The Nice Guy - places too much
value on social acceptance while
neglecting technical tasks
2. The Loser - does not obtain
acceptance from others and does not
get the job done
3. The Compromiser - balances the
needs of the people and task factors
4. The Task Master - interested in
getting the job done right without
concern for he human feelings
5. The Ideal Manager - gets the job
done and at the same time makes
everybody happy
 Styles of Leadership
The Nice Guy - places too much
value on social acceptance while
neglecting technical tasks
The Loser - does not obtain
acceptance from others and does not
get the job done
The Compromiser - balances the
needs of the people and task factors
The Task Master - interested in
getting the job done right without
concern for he human feelings
The Ideal Manager - gets the job
done and at he same time makes
everybody happy

Which one is a desirable style of Leadership???

 Leading Activities
Leading includes following main functions;
– Deciding - arriving at conclusions and judgments with respect to
priority, personnel, resources, organizational structure and
strategic directions
– Communicating – creating understanding by sharing information
with others by talking, meeting, or writing
– Motivating – inspiring, encouraging or impelling others to take
required actions and creating workplace conditions to ensure
work satisfaction
– Selecting people – choosing the correct employees for positions
in the organization for specific team activities
– Developing people – helping employees improve their
knowledge, attitudes and skills
 Leading Activities : Deciding
• DM is a key responsibility of a engineering manager.
• Purpose of DM is to align the choices of work / project
priorities, people, financial resources, technology and
relationships with the attainment of organizational
objectives
• As engineering manager gains experience, overall quality
of decisions & DM abilities are expected to increase.
• There are three types of DM processes;
– Intuition / gut
– Qualitative (descriptive & conceptual, can be categorized on traits & characteristics)
– Quantitative (can be counted, measured, and expressed using numbers)

Which is the better option for a multi million$ engineering project

 Leading Activities : Deciding
DM by Gut Instinct
• Problem context & DM domain is very ambiguous and complex for
senior level managers
– top level DM may also focus on gut instinct along with qualitative tools
• Mid-lower tier managers resort to quantitative DM tools as situation
becomes much clearer and there are few variables to focus on and
resolve
• Gut Instinct – our minds process information all the time
– Left brain process conscious and logical thoughts
– Right brain takes care of subconscious, intuitive & emotional thoughts
• Theory of intuitive thinking claims that past experiences with diverse
backgrounds enables one to store vast info, process it into signals and
patterns, and retrieve it from the memory for DM in a unfamiliar
situation

Instincts can at times be wrong. What to do now???

 Leading Activities : Deciding
• Systematic studies and logical analyses of the available
data (qualitative and quantitative) is necessary to make
reasonable decisions
• The typical steps include;
– Assessment of facts and evaluation of alternatives
– Use of full mental resource
– Emphasizes on creative aspects of problem solving
– Consistency in thinking
– Minimization of probability of errors
 Leading Activities : Deciding
DM is usually difficult for following reasons;
– Problems are generally ill defined and wider in scope
– Required data/info may be insufficient or excessive, with little or
no time available to collect info and interpret available data
– Available info is of poor quality, biased, opinions, etc
– Inadequate assessment of facts and evaluation of alternatives
– Involves human behavior – unpredictable in nature
– Nature of problems / issues change continuously -- dynamic
– Perfect solution rarely exists – need compromise
– Implementation needs consensus and commitment of people
– Implementation needs coordination at all tiers
 Leading Activities : Deciding
Guidelines for effective DM;
• Acquire experience – reading, learning from other experiences (case
studies), recognizing patterns and rules (obvious/hidden)
• Prioritize problem that require decision and of significance
• Follow rational process to identify problem, establish options to
remove root cause of the problem
• Involve others (peers – seniors and even juniors), as required
• Make decision based on available info and assumptions introduced –
but validate assumptions during implementation, update as required
• Delay till last allowable moment as problem scenario and available
options may continue to change
• Avoid making decisions on issues that are not pertinent and relevant
to one’s scope of work or that cannot be practically implemented
 Leading Activities : Deciding
How to judge quality of a given decision???
Q1. Did the decision achieve the stated purpose ??
Q2. Is it feasible to implement the decision??
Q3. Does the decision generate noticeable adverse consequence
or risks to the group or company?

What could be the answers to the above three Qs for a

good decision taken
A1. Did it correct or change the situation that caused the problem
in the first place?
A2. Is it meaningful with respect to the required resources and the
created value?
A3. Has appropriate Risk assessment and analysis done?
 Leading Activities : Deciding
Rational DM is useful in facilitating DM when an adequate amount of
information is available. It consists of a set of logical steps as below;
– Assess the apparent problem based on observed symptoms
– Collect relevant facts
• Situation (what and how); People (who); Place (where);
Time (when); Cause (why)
– Define the real problem. Find what --
• is a deviation between actual & expected performance?
• are the desired measurable results?
• represents success based on well defined metrics?
• Is a proper method of measurement?
– Develop alternatives to solve the problem
– Select optimal solution
– Set course of action to implement decision and make feedback
mechanism for control and monitoring
Leading Activities : Communicating
• Communicating is to create understanding and acceptance of
the facts, impressions and feelings being communicating
• Communicator must select a proper form of communication and
have clear purpose in his mind while communicating.
• Communicator must ensure that the message is understood
and retained
• Engineer manager must keep available communication
channels open
• The communication process should be straight forward, honest,
truthful, relevant, complete, welcome suggestions, respect
confidentiality of info, etc
Leading Activities : Communicating
There are four actions for successful communication
• Asking
– seek / request for info proactively to enhance understanding.
– Quality of the questions represents questioner’s background, education,
and depth of understanding of the issues involved.
• Telling
– transmitting info (verbally/written, or both) to keep the employees
informed/updated about matters concern to them, developments on a
subject of interests, and to pass info to peers.
– Should decide what and how much needs to the told to avoid overload,
confusion, mistrust, poor productivity, etc
• Listening
– One must enhance abilities to understand both words (spoken/written) and
any possible subtext
– Exercise self control & discipline on one’s erg to talk and interrupt
• Understanding
Leading Activities : Communicating
There are four actions for successful communication
• Asking
• Telling
• Listening
• Understanding
– Ultimate aim of communication is to promote understanding – hear with
the head and feel with the heart
– One must develop abilities to observe and correctly interpret facial
expressions and body language to understand the untold
– Following is also recommended to enhance understanding
• Correct and appropriate interpretations of words and terms
• Avoid selective seeing
• Avoid selective listening
• Overcome emotional barriers
 Leading Activities : Motivating
• Motivation is to excite and drive an individual to act in
preferred ways causing one to apply their best efforts.
• Engineering manager can use following methods to motivate
persons working under him;
– Inspire – infuse spirit of willingness in people by one’s
personality, leadership qualities, personal example,
technical acumen, position, etc
– Encourage – stimulate people by praise, approval, help,
support, etc
– Impel – force people by compulsion, coercion, fear, may be
thru punishment, etc

Which one is the better option??

Leading Activities : Motivating
• McGregor’s Theory of Motivation – based on Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs
• Enhance motivation thru
– Participation
– Communication
– Recognition
– Delegate authority
– Reciprocate interest (mutual interest)

Confucius ‘Reciprocity is the foundation of human relations’

Leading Activities : Selecting Employees
• Long term success of engineering organization depends on
employees abilities and effective use of these abilities
• Dig deep when conducting employee selection and hiring
process
– GPA, Knowledge, simulation skills matter a lot during screening /
short listing process
– but final selection by a panel looks deep in soft skills of an
individual which are related to individual personality, psychological
profile, values and ethics
• includes interpersonal relationships, team work capability and
capacity, mental flexibility and adaptability, leadership quality, etc
• Employee’s job satisfaction has profound impact on one’s
willingness to apply their skills to the best of their abilities
– Make the job interesting, challenging, competitive and progressive
to meet the needs of the employee progressively thru out the
career path
Leading Activities : Developing People
• The purpose of developing employees is to shape their knowledge,
attitudes and skills to enhance their contributions to the company and
to their self growth.
– Knowledge is the cognizance of facts, truths and other associated
information.
– Attitudes are habitual personal dispositions towards people, things,
situations and information.
– Skills are abilities to perform specialized work with defined competence.
• Appropriate training (formal/informal)
• Job rotation and involvement in projects and program
• Groom juniors to become successors
• Institute performance appraisal metrics / system and provide periodic
feedback and counseling
 What is leadership
• Maintain absolute integrity
• Put duty before self interests
• Stay firm, hold nerves and be able to take pressure
• Display unwavering commitment and resolve
• Knowledgeable
• Come out in front
• Declare expectations
• Devise effective performance appraisal and accountability
• Maintain mentoring attitude
• Expect positive results
• Taking care of people