Management: Planning, Organizing, Leading, Controlling

There are many things that need to be done in life. Some of these can be accomplished by one person only. Others require more persons to accomplish them. Whether it is done my one person only or by a group of persons, management is needed. It is composed of Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling.

The need for a good management becomes greater if the group of people working towards the same goal gets larger.

PLANNING is a set of activities done by a group of individuals before embarking or actually  doing a certain task. It is a meeting of minds between members and deciding the things that have to be done in order to accomplish the goal. Planning always has a goal in mind. Without any goal, planning will be impossible to do. Planning is a process which takes into consideration the task to be done, who will do it, the resources needed to do it, and the time schedule to do it. It also takes into consideration the milestones that have to be achieved along the way so that the monitoring of the progress of the task can be objectively evaluated. The more time spent in planning on how to do a project means a higher probability of success. Hence, planning takes precedence over other management functions.

ORGANIZING is another set of activities done by a group in order to effectively carry out what has been planned. This management function provides the resources needed in carrying out the job: human resources, financial resources, raw materials, and systems. A well crafted plan makes organizing an easy step to do. With all the resources made available to the group, it is now ready to actually do the job. This leads to leading.

LEADING is another set of activities which are done in the “battlefield”. It is in this phase where the action happens. The resources are being used, the tasks are being done, and the monitoring of the progress of the work is ongoing. In this part of management function, a leader must be able to influence the members of the group towards actions towards the attainment of the goal. And the instrument that helps him do his job well is a well crafted plan. While the leader works with the group towards the attainment of their goal, some deviations from the actual desired output may come in terms of work delay, lack of resources, or wrong activities done. Any deviation from the plan will have to be corrected. This leads to the last management function which is controlling.

CONTROLLING is another set of activities done in order to implement corrective measures once any deviation from the plan happens. It must be done in order to redirect the work towards the attainment of the goal. A good controlling mechanism must be put in place to make it easy for the leader to monitor diversion from planned goals as well as implement corrective measures. And the instrument that can help him best is a well crafted plan.

Management therefore makes possible the accomplishment of goals at a time when they like it done and in a manner they deem it to be done. Without management, the activities undertaken by the members of a group cannot be orchestrated towards accomplishment. Management, therefore, are the steps undertaken by a group of individuals working towards the same goal or goals.