The Manager’s Job

By now I’ve made so many comments about managers doing their jobs (and failing to do so) that some of you are probably wondering what it is that a manager is actually supposed to do. Asking around the office won’t help; your supervisor will probably start going on about making schedules, wrestling with budgets, writing reports, making sure that key operations do not become fouled up, and lot of other specific duties that won’t tell you anything about the science of management. Asking a management professional probably won’t help either; most of us would claim to make the sun rise and the crops grow if we thought anyone would believe us for a moment.

All of this contributes to management science appearing to be much more complex than it really is, and helps to keep the salaries of people trained in it from plummeting any farther than they already have. As a result, too many people are intimidated by the idea of studying management, and wind up either faking it and hoping for the best, or staying out of management positions altogether. The truth, however, is far less grand. The science of management is comprised of four (and only four) main parts: Planning, Organizing, Directing and Controlling.

Planning includes Strategic Planning, Operational Planning, Daily Planning, and a variety of more specialized planning functions. Some companies actually maintain a Strategic Planning (or Forward Planning) department, usually reporting to the President or General Manager, specifically to help the various senior managers keep their plans straight. So if you’ve ever felt that a manager who refuses to plan things out in advance is derelict in his/her duty (as well as incompetent), you are quite correct…

Organizing is probably the least understood of the functions – and consequently, the one most often done incorrectly or ignored altogether. If the Planning function is the means by which we determine what we want to accomplish, then the Organizing function could best be described at the means by which we determine HOW we will accomplish these things. This will mean determining which personnel will perform which functions (organizing the company into departments, workgroups, and teams), how much time and money and other resources will be devoted to each task (the scheduling and budgeting functions), and what processes will be used to insure performance, quality, proper supervision, and so on.

Directing is the function most people associate with active management: telling your subordinates what you want them to do. Managers of a strict and hierarchical nature may see this as “giving orders” while those of a more artistic bent may see it as directing a play or conducting a symphony. Some people are so uncomfortable with this concept that they will give it a less forceful-sounding name (such as “leading” or “coordinating”); true failures may actually refuse to do it, and let the employees just do as they will.

Finally, Controlling is the feedback part of the process, whereby the manager monitors the progress being made toward goals and performance targets, corrects problems, adjusts plans, rewards those exceeding expectations, and brings those who are failing back into line. It is important to note that the Controlling function must be part of the manager’s daily responsibilities; limiting the Controlling functions to annual reviews or the occasional disciplinary action is every bit as incompetent as limiting the Planning function to a few days each year when the budgets and sales targets are formulated.

Of course, any specific manager may also be tasked with additional functions by higher management, and many professionals serving in the manager’s role will also have work of their own to complete. But the manager’s job itself remains the same – and has, in fact, since the first group of people began working on a project together. The only real questions facing the management professional are “Are you performing all four of these functions?” (you’d better be!) and “How do I perform all of these functions?”

Which is a topic for another day…