The Role of a Manager

The Role of a Manager By Lamar W. Coleman September 29, 2014 When talking about the role of a manager, first I would like to look at what is a manager.  A manager is an individual or person that who is in charge of a group of people that work together to complete certain projects or tasks for an organization or company. Most companies I know do not give managers any insights on how to do the job done but just that the job has to be done by a certain time.  Managers are known as the backbone for organizations for them to accomplish their missions or goals. An effective manager will possess all the necessary tools that are needed to be best leader in the organization.  There are problem-solving skills and techniques that will help them be more proficient as managers in accomplishing their mission. In order for a manager to achieve an organization task he or she must put together a plan on how achieve the goals for an organization.  Managers must follow through with the mission of the organization.  Most business managers are responsible for the day to day operation of an organization. To be a successful manager, I think a manager should follow the four management functions to accomplish their organization goals.  The four management functions manager should use are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.  I think these four management function steps are very important for a manager being successful in an organization.  Planning In order for a manager to accomplish goals they must take the time make a plan on how they plan to achieve those goals.  Managers must know the mission of the operation before they can put a plan together.  Developing the strategy for achieving goals takes time and lots preparation.  Managers also must setup a timeline when certain parts of the needs to be done so that the goals can be met. Organizing When setting goals for an organization or company it takes teamwork to accomplish goals.  The next thing a manager should do is organize a team to help accomplish the organization’s goals.  Managers must have good organizing skills.  They must determine what tasks need to be done, what the task is to be met, and how to group the people together complete the tasks.  Managers must put leaders in place on those who can be trusted to get the job done and to get them feedback on how the task is going. Leading Leading comes with being a good leader.  Leading people is a hard job if you do not know what you are doing.  Managers must find a way to motivate their employees to getting the task done.  Managers must know when to step in and resolve any issues that are holding the group back from accomplishing the task.  Managers must be a good communicator.  Managers must encourage their employees to finish the organization goal in a timely manner. Managers must inform the groups that this is a team task and not an individual task.  Make sure the all employees are working together and no issues with behavior.  Managers will be responsible for the work performance of every employee that works under them. Controlling After everything had been put in place, the last function is controlling.  Controlling is the task is not letting the groups complete the tasks but making sure the tasks is getting done to the organization standards.  A good manager should monitor, compare, and correct when needed if they see something is not going according to the plan.  Managers must be able to take charge of the tasks and make sure the task on point and the employees are doing what is needed to get the task done.  Managers must check out the actual performance to make sure that the goals were met and if not, see what went wrong in order to get the group back on track to completing the goals.  Setting benchmark and targets is a good strategy for managers to use to know where they are in the progress of the task.  Managers have to put together a team in order to meet the organization goals. Sometime that is using the some of the employees that works for the company already or go out recruit other people from an outside source.  Managers are responsible for the training every employee to ensure that they have the best person to do the job.  Managers are also responsible for counseling employees because if an employee is not performing to their ability then the manager must step in and get them back on track.  Managers must also be prepared to resolve any disciplinary problems that might occur between employees.  Being able to place supervisors in every area of the organization, the manager will have more time to concentrate the mission.  The manager should not try to be a lone ranger on accomplishing the tasks or goals for the organization but also try to talk to some of the employees and get some ideas from them because some of them might have work on the type of task the organization is doing.  Managers must remind the employees to important of teamwork because everyone has to work together to complete the mission. Managers first should try to hire personnel who are specialized and trained in the areas that the tasks are looking for. Conclusion The role of a manager can be very demanding. Managers are hired to do a job because of the training and the experience that they have achieved over the years. Being a manager can be very stressful for some people that are why employers try to hire those who have a long history of dealing with people. Doing my experience as a manager a lot of people are not going to agree with all the decisions that I had made but they will respect the person I stood for. Taking care and washing out for employee’s welfare are very important in the eyes of employees because it makes them feel like they have a manager who cares about them. Once you get employees to notice that their managers or supervisors will take care of them, sometime they will work harder to get the job done. Achieving organizational goals are a big accomplishment for managers because it shows their boss that they can handle any task that they throw at them. The Role of a Manager Page | 4