Role of Effective Communication in Planning Function Free Samples

Question What Is The Role Of Effective Communication In Planning Function? Answer: Introduction The purpose of this report is to understand the functions of management and the role of communication for these functions. The study aims to understand how managers with better communication can benefit an organisation. Background Management involves administration of the various function of an organisation. This organisation can be a business, not for profit or a Government organisation (Raduki, 2016). Management involves setting up organisational objectives, setting strategies and coordinating resources to archive the objectives. Organisational communication helps in performance of basic functions of an organisation. Communication helps in coordination and planning (Eskelinen, Rajahonka, Santti, Villman, 2016). Management functions provide a sense of direction and a roadmap to an organisation and communication makes travelling on that road easier. Therefore, managerial communication is essential to management functions. Scope The scope of the report covers the importance of four functions of management and the role of communication in these functions. It also includes recommendations to the CEO for importance of management communication for effective managers. Assumption and Limitations This report is based on the assumption that the management of an organisation depends on four functions and communication skills can be acquired. The limitation of the research is that management may have other functions like staffing which are not discussed. Additionally, communication may also be dependent on the internal environment of the organisation which has not been considered. Discussion The management functions Managers drive an organisation towards the attainment of goals and objectives through the management functions. According to thinkers in management there are four elementary management functions which a manager needs to conduct. These are planning, organising, directing (leading) and controlling (Conkright, 2015). Planning entails designing the objectives of an organisation and making strategies and processes to achieve these objectives. Organising involves mobilising financial, technical and human resources to make sure that the planning is executed. Directing or leading entails ensuring that the organisational goals are achieved through employee motivation and guidance with the help of role allocation. Controlling is the fourth organisational function which involves assessment of achievement of goals and objectives. It involves giving feedback and taking corrective actions so that objectives are achieved. Importance of Communication in Management Communication helps in information sharing with in an organisation which makes conduct of management functions easier (Ainsworth, 2013). Managers need effective communication in order to perform the management functions effectively. Communication can make it easier to explain things to the employees. According to Katz managers need three types of skills to perform their functions. These are technical skills, human skills and conceptualisation skills. Technical skills are required to organise the activities and manage the technical staff. Conceptual skills are needed for executing all these skills effectively (Peterson Van Fleet, 2004). A manager with good communication will be able to conceptualise better and he will be able to execute his human side more effectively. Additionally, he will be able to understand technicalities in a better way. Human skills are needed to motivate and guide the staff. Through effective communication managers can perform their duties properly. Communication helps the managers in articulating all the functions. It also helps in gathering information and conveying this information to different levels in the organisation. Effective communication skills can assist managers to plan the strategies in an organised manner. It can help managers in explaining roles to the employees. . Through effective communications managers can also direct and guide the employees (Langdon, D. G. 2016). Therefore, effective communication can help attain all the management functions. The Planning Function Planning involves creating processes and activities to attain organisational objectives (Mirela, 2016). Designing a business plan or a marketing plan is a part of the planning function of management. Planning is aimed at giving directions to the strategic objective of the organisation. It involves conceptualisation skills, talked about by Katz (Chen Huang, 2010). Basic questions that are answered through the process of strategic planning are what the organisation does, for whom they do it and how differentiation is created. By answering these questions the manager can create a well formulated plan for the achievement of objectives. Planning also involves a choice between alternative courses of action. This involves evaluation of all courses that are available to the organisation. These can be choice between two types of products to be produces, choice between markets or segmentation. Planning stage adopts one alternative and then plan is made for that alternative (Krush Makaliuk, 2014). Therefore, planning is the careful assessment of all aspects of the organisation and then designing its objectives and strategies to achieve these objectives. Role of Effective Communication in Planning Function Communication acts as a source of information for an organisation (Hawes, 2017). If a manager is well versed in effective communication methods he will be able to understand all types of information pertaining to the organisation in a better way. Additionally, if the managers know how to write and draft various plans, he will be able to articulate and convey the strategic plans in a better way. Effective communication can help in better understanding of planning by the employee. If the plan of objectives and strategies are conveyed to various departments effectively with the help of communication skills, the organisation will be able to run smoothly and work in the direction of achievement of objectives (Hawes, 2017. Lack of effective communication can lead to chaos, disorder and lack of clarity of goals. Organising Function of Management Organising is the second core function of management. Under this functions manager undertakes combining of various resources in a synchronised manner in order to attain the planning needs. These resources can be physical, financial or human resources. In this function manager needs to have technical and human skills (Nothhaft, 2010) . Through the organising function the organisation allocates role to various resources and decides how they will work towards the goals achievement. Organisation function involves various steps (Kumar, Yadav Chowdhary 2010). First among them is identification of different activities that need to be undertaken for example, making a list of activities like accounting, keeping records, quality management, sales management etc. Next step is to allocate various activities to different departments like brand management, marketing, sales, operations etc. Further, under the organising function the line of authority under each department is decided. In the organising function all the employees get a clear idea of their roles and the resources at their disposal to achieve this role objectives (Nunhes, Motta Barbosa de Oliveira, 2017). Therefore, the organising function of management helps in coordinating all resources and allocating the tasks to them so that organisational goals are achieved. Role of Communication in the Organising Function For effective administration under the organising function, managers need to have proper business communication skills (Cyphert, Dodge Duclos, 2016). Effective communication can help the manager in giving proper direction to employees regarding their roles and tasks. Manager can also collate all the activities and document processes in a better way if he has knowledge of good written and oral communication. Proper verbal and nonverbal communication can also help in improving and changing the attitude of human capital towards the tasks so that they work in a more coordinated manner for goal achievement. Communication can help the manager in organising and allocating activities to different department in an effective manner. If the manager is well versed with communication skills, he can better articulate the departmental functions and line of authority (Wardrope, 2002). Clear written communication between upper level of management and the department can reduce vagueness and give clarity to team roles. The Contorting Function of Management Controlling is checking and assessing of all the resources are functioning as per plan and all the employees are following the instructions and guidedliness given. (Ahituv, N., Zviran, M., Glezer, 1999). Controlling is an act of monetorung and evaluation of all processes in the organisation. Through proper control mechanism a manager can make sure that all the resources are being used effectively and efficiently (Ege, 2015). Controlling function helps in coordinating the resources through assessment evaluation. It helps take corrective actions and helps in further planning for the attainment of the organisational functions. Controlling also helps in management of performance through feedback mechanism. Control should be adopted by managers at all levels of the organisation. Additionally, the control mechanism adopted by an organisation and its managers should be focused on achievement of the objectives. The control function helps in rewarding high performing employees and taking corrective actions for improvement of employees who are not performing well. Corrective actions can include training plans (Raduki, 2016). Through the controlling function managers can make sure that the plan is being executed in the right manner. Role of Effective Communication for Controlling Communication can be used by managers to effectively control the organisational activities (Ainsworth, 2013). A properly documented policy on performance appraisal and feedback machinima can help the employees in carrying out their duties in a better manner. Through written communication the manager can also give a clear and constructive feedback to the employees. If the manager is well versed with business communication skills he can properly draft letter and memos for the process of control machoism in the organisation (Ainsworth, 2013). Managers who interact more with employees are able to control the employee activity in a better way (Ainsworth, 2013). Therefore, effective communication can help the manager to keep an indirect control on employees through interactive skills. Effective communication can also help the manager in giving clear and precise instruction of the corrective actions if needed. Therefore, through effective communication skills the manager can control the act ivities of the organisation so that organisational objectives are active. The Directing or Leading Function of Management Leading is another very important core function of an organisation. Leading is the act of influencing and motivating the workforce so that they work efficiently in order to achieve organisational goals. The basic aim of leadership in an organisation is to make the employee participate in the activities of the organisation so that organisational goals are realised (Paulien?, 2017). The essence of good leadership in an organisation is to use inspiration and influence so that the employees willingly execute the work. The most important activity of the directing or leading function is guiding the employee properly. The manager gives clear guidelines and instruction to employees so that they can understand the work required from him (Paulien?, 2017). Another major function of a manager in a leadership position is to motivate employees. There are various theories of employee motivation. Most thinkers believe that those leaders are successful who give respect to employees and take care of their personal needs. Therefore, Katz human skills are important for leadership. Giving proper rewards for good performance and feedback for improvement are other motivational activities that a manager in a leadership position must undertake. Many theorists also believe that employees work better in groups. Therefore, forming teams for various roles is also a function of leadership in an organisation (Selvarajah, Meyer, Roostika Sukunesan, 2017). Effective leadership can give proper direction to the organisation. I f the manager is an able leaser he will be able to inspire the employees to work harder. Role of Effective Communication in leading function Effective skill of communication is very important for a leadership position. In fact good communication skills can make or break managers leading initiatives (Mayfield Mayfield, 2017). Effective communication skills can help the leader to show confidence, extraversion and enthusiasm for attainment of the organisational vision. A leader who can articulate his thoughts well and shows energy and enthusiasm is able to inspire and influence the employees more effectively. A good leader should have good verbal, nonverbal and written communication. Good written communication skills will help a leader in producing clear and precise policies for the employees. It will also help the leader in documenting the roles of the employees well (Mayfield, Mayfield, 2017). Through a hold on effective nonverbal communication the leader can control the working environment. Leader can use effective verbal communication to motivate the employees. A word of recognition by the manager can improve employee performance. Therefore, verbal communication can go a long way in improving the effectiveness of the work. Good communication skills can help in relationship building which can improve the effectiveness of the workforce. Through effective communication the leader can work towards better people management (Mayfield, Mayfield, 2017). Communication skills can help the leader speak in a way which inspires trust between the leader and the employees. Additionally, a leader with good communication skills can use his words to inspire the employees to work harder. Communication skills make it easier for manager to create a healthy work culture in the organisation. Therefore, effective communication is very important for a manager in the leadership position. Therefore, the four management functions comprise of the core elements of the organisation. Communication can help in execution of these functions. A firm which takes care of these functions and effective communication can achieve its objectives with efficiency. Conclusion Management functions help in smooth execution of the activities of an organisation. Through these functions the organisation realises their objectives. Communication can help in coordinating all these functions effectively. Through communication managers can interact with all the employees and give directions to them regarding the work they need to do. Therefore, communication helps in smooth conduct of all the organisational activities Recommendation for effective managerial training for communication Managers need effective communication at all levels of the organisation. That is, upper level, middle level and lower level. Following are the recommendations to the CEO with regards to effective communication for managers at all levels of the organisation 1 The planning function is undertaken by the upper level management of the organisation. Hence, communication training can help managers in the upper level to articulate the plan. Communication training can also help in enhancing conceptualisation skills of the managers. Through an understanding of written and verbal communication they can articulate their thoughts regarding the organisation, its goals and vision. Effective communication skills will also make the managers better listeners and they will be able to conceptualise the ideas generated by others. 2 Both organising and controlling are functions of upper and middle level management. At this level the managers need to have an understanding of various activities which need to be done along with a comprehension of control mechanisms. Communication skills training can help the manager in creating policy documents for this purpose. Communication skills can help the managers to give direction to various departments regarding different activities. Hence, it is recommended to the CEO to provide communication skills training to managers who are involved in organising and controlling function. 3 At all levels of management the managers need to lead their teams to perform in the stipulated manner. Communication skills are very important for leadership purpose. A leader who has good communication skills can articulate his vision properly. 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