Management Basics and Functions

CCDF Administrators play a vital role in the management of the CCDF program, acting as a spokesperson, making important decisions, delegating authority and responsibility, coordinating staff activities, and directing organizational systems to accomplish goals.

Basics of Managing

Author and educator, Prachi Juneja, wrote a series of articles on management basics. Juneja posits “that management is a purposeful activity.”[1]   Something that directs the various efforts of individuals and groups toward a defined purpose.  Management is the process of working with and through others to effectively achieve the goals of the program and organization. 

In the article, Functions of Management, Prachi Juneja describes management as a dynamic process consisting of various elements and activities.  According to Juneja, the five most widely accepted functions of management, provided by Harold Koontz and Cyril J. O’Donnell, co-authors of the book Principles of Management “planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.”[2] These activities are common to every manager within an organization irrespective of level or status.   

Functions of Management[3] 

• Planning: “Planning is the basic function of management. It deals with mapping out a future course of action for achievement of pre-determined goals. According to Koontz, “Planning is deciding in advance - what to do, when to do and how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are and where we want to be.”[4] It is an exercise in problem solving and decision making. Planning is necessary to ensure proper utilization of human and non-human resources. As an activity, planning helps to avoid confusion, uncertainties, risks, and duplication. 
• Organizing: “It is the process of bringing together physical, financial, and human resources and developing productive relationship across them for achievement of organizational goals. This involves organizing the key materials in a coordinated and coherent fashion and aiming them in a set strategic direction based on resources available for the project or organization.”[5]
• Staffing: “It is the function of staffing the project or organization. Staffing has assumed greater importance in the recent years due to advancement of technology, increase in size of organizations, and complexity of human behavior etc. The main purpose of staffing is putting right number of people, right kind of people at the right place, right time, doing the right things for which they are suited for the achievement of goals of the organization.”[6]This means selecting appropriate staff for the work, assessing staff progress, and providing necessary training to support success.
• Directing: “It is that part of managerial function which actuates the organizational methods to work efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes. It is considered life-spark of the enterprise which sets it in motion the action of people because planning, organizing, and staffing are the mere preparations for doing the work. Direction is that inert-personnel aspect of management which deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating staff for the achievement of organizational goals.”[7]
• Controlling: It implies measurement of accomplishment toward organizational and program goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure there is a continuous quality improvement system in place as you work toward goals. An efficient system of control helps to assess progress and predict any adaptions necessary for achieving your goals.”[8]

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