Controlling

The controlling aspect of management is represented by the generally upward movement of the business chart. Controlling implies that the business achieves successive expectations, the Encore.

The Encore is a reality of business. Those who judge us expect successively higher results. Planners and managers must consider this expectation and generally manage to achieve it. It means keeping your powder dry. It means not operating on the razor's edge. It means building elasticity into the business. It means early warning systems and gap planning to make up shortfalls. The ENCORE expectation includes product innovation, customer satisfactions, etc. Thus, the manager must always think, "what do we do for an ENCORE?"

Controlling implies systems that avoid doing the wrong thing and that moves the business toward predetermined objectives through meeting successive expectations—encore after encore. It does the right things and generally does them in the right way.

Control means problem avoidance—putting systems, policies, and procedures in place that minimize problem occurrences. Problem avoidance can be further fostered through delegation. Managers should insist that a good measure of all problems be dealt with as close to the action as possible. A control system starts by setting a standard, then measuring the actual result, and adjusting the standard or actual as required. Excellent managers know the key factors that make their business successful and the key performance indications that tell them when the business is on or off course. They are unabashed believers in the power of goals. Higher goals result in successively higher achievements. They are always out to break records. They understand that every single member of the team impacts customer service and they look for ways to measure and reward individual performance in serving the organization’s customers. I have been blown away by the quality of white glove delivery service from companies like Macy’s department store. Not only do they exercise extraordinary care in delivery and setup, they talk to you as a customer—explain what they are doing. When they leave, they ask you to report to the company. “If you think we did a good job, let our company know.” Why?—because they are being measured and rewarded. They want to do a good job and to be recognized for it.

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Management Cycle

Management Cycle

Management is about achieving objectives—be it at the enterprise, department, or individual level.  It applies to life as well as business.  It is a process—planning, organizing, acting, and controlling.  It is a continuous cycle of processing input, taking action, collecting feedback, and repeating the process.  “Nothing happens until something happens.”  When the action significantly effects the organization, its people, it processes and its customers, it requires the specialized steps of Change Management.  But management is more encompassing and requires more tools and skills than just Change Management.  Management is not the same as supervision.  Supervision may be involved in an individual's managerial role but, again, management is more encompassing.

While many modern day jobs do not involve overseeing the performance of subordinates, they do involve a high degree of individual authority and accountability pushing those jobs into the category of management.  These are jobs where the individual must “manage” relationships with customers and with internally accessible resources and specialty areas to accomplish their assigned objectives.  In order to do their job competently they must plan, organize, act, and control continuously processing input, taking action, collecting feedback, and repeating the process.  Thus management concepts apply to these jobs as much as they do to those responsible for organizational groups, units, departments, divisions, companies, or broad based enterprises.

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