Big picture
Planning, organising and staffing only prepare the ground. Directing gets the work started: it means instructing, guiding, communicating with and inspiring people so they work towards the organisation's goals.
Directing has four elements: supervision, motivation, leadership and communication. This is one of the longest chapters and one of the most heavily tested, especially Maslow's hierarchy, incentives, leadership styles and barriers to communication.
Learning goals
Explain the meaning, features, importance and principles of directing.
Explain supervision and the role of a supervisor.
Explain motivation, Maslow's need hierarchy, and financial and non-financial incentives.
Explain leadership, the qualities of a good leader and the three leadership styles.
Explain the communication process, formal and informal communication, barriers and ways to overcome them.
Core ideas
1. Features, importance and principles of directing
Features: directing initiates action (it starts the work); it is pervasive (found at every level, wherever there is a superior–subordinate relationship); it is continuous; and it flows from top to bottom.
Importance:
It initiates action by people towards the goals.
It integrates employees' efforts, so individual efforts add up to organisational performance.
It helps employees realise their potential through motivation and leadership.
It facilitates the introduction of changes, by explaining and persuading.
It brings stability and balance to the organisation through good communication and leadership.
Principles of directing
Principle | Meaning |
|---|---|
Maximum individual contribution | Directing techniques should help each person contribute fully |
Harmony of objectives | Individual objectives and organisational objectives should be aligned |
Unity of command | A subordinate should receive instructions from only one superior |
Appropriateness of direction technique | Use the motivation, leadership and communication technique that suits the people and situation |
Managerial communication | Communication should be clear and two-way |
Use of informal organisation | Managers should use informal groups to support directing |
Leadership | Managers should influence subordinates without causing dissatisfaction |
Follow through | Managers should keep checking whether instructions are carried out and help where needed |
2. Supervision
Supervision means overseeing what is being done by subordinates and giving instructions to make the best use of resources and achieve targets. The supervisor is the link between management and workers.
Role of a supervisor: maintaining day-to-day contact and friendly relations with workers; acting as a link (conveying management's ideas to workers and workers' problems to management); maintaining group unity; ensuring work is performed to targets; providing on-the-job training; providing good leadership; analysing work performed and feeding back to management.
3. Motivation
Terms
Motive: an inner state that energises behaviour towards a goal (hunger, the need for respect).
Motivation: the process of stimulating people to act towards desired goals.
Motivator: the technique used to motivate (pay, bonus, promotion, recognition).
Features of motivation: it is an internal feeling; it produces goal-directed behaviour; it can be positive (rewards such as pay rise and recognition) or negative (punishment such as stopping an increment); and it is a complex process, since people differ.
Motivation process: unsatisfied need → tension → drives → search behaviour → satisfied need → reduction of tension.
Importance of motivation: improves performance; changes negative or indifferent attitudes into positive ones; reduces employee turnover and absenteeism; helps managers introduce changes smoothly.
4. Maslow's need hierarchy theory
Maslow said people's needs form a hierarchy. A higher need becomes a motivator only when the lower ones are reasonably satisfied, and a satisfied need no longer motivates.
Level (lowest to highest) | Need | Workplace example |
|---|---|---|
1 | Basic physiological needs | Basic salary for food, clothing and shelter |
2 | Safety and security needs | Job security, stable income, pension, insurance |
3 | Affiliation or belonging needs | Friendly colleagues, being part of a team |
4 | Esteem needs | Recognition, status, respect, a title |
5 | Self-actualisation needs | Growth, achieving one's full potential, challenging work |
Assumptions: people's behaviour depends on their needs; needs form a hierarchy; a satisfied need cannot motivate; a person moves to the next level only when the lower need is satisfied.
5. Financial and non-financial incentives
Financial incentives (directly or indirectly measurable in money)
Incentive | Meaning |
|---|---|
Pay and allowances | Basic pay, dearness allowance, regular increments |
Productivity-linked wage incentives | Extra pay for higher output, such as piece-rate wages |
Bonus | An incentive over and above the salary |
Profit sharing | Employees get a share of the organisation's profits |
Co-partnership or stock options | Employees are offered shares at a price lower than market price (ESOP) |
Retirement benefits | Provident fund, pension, gratuity |
Perquisites | Car, house, medical aid, children's education |
Non-financial incentives (meet psychological, social and emotional needs)
Incentive | Meaning or example |
|---|---|
Status | A higher rank, designation or cabin |
Organisational climate | A culture of autonomy, rewards and consideration |
Career advancement opportunity | Chances of promotion and skill development |
Job enrichment | Designing jobs with greater variety, autonomy and challenge |
Employee recognition programmes | "Employee of the month", certificates, appreciation in meetings |
Job security | Stability of employment and income |
Employee participation | Involving employees in decisions on matters that affect them (joint committees, quality circles) |
Employee empowerment | Giving employees more autonomy and power to decide |
6. Leadership
Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of people so they strive willingly towards group goals.
Importance: it influences people to contribute positively; maintains personal relations; introduces changes and convinces people of them; handles conflicts; trains subordinates for future leadership.
Qualities of a good leader: physical features (health, energy), knowledge, integrity, initiative, communication skills, motivation skills, self-confidence, decisiveness and social skills.
Leadership styles
Style | How decisions are made | Suits | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Autocratic (authoritarian) | The leader decides alone and expects obedience; one-way communication | Quick decisions, emergencies, unskilled or new subordinates | A production head who fixes targets and methods without consultation during a rush order |
Democratic (participative) | The leader consults the group and encourages participation; two-way communication | Skilled, committed subordinates | A manager who discusses a new sales plan with the team before finalising it |
Laissez-faire (free-rein) | The leader gives the group full freedom; acts only as a supporter | Highly competent, self-motivated experts | A research head who lets scientists choose their projects and methods |
7. Communication: process and channels
Communication is the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another.
Elements of the communication process
Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
Sender | The person who conveys the idea |
Message | The content to be conveyed |
Encoding | Converting the message into words, symbols or gestures |
Media | The channel (face to face, phone, email, letter) |
Decoding | Converting the symbols back into meaning |
Receiver | The person who gets the message |
Feedback | The receiver's response, showing whether the message was understood |
Noise | Any disturbance that obstructs communication (a bad phone line, an inattentive receiver) |
Formal communication follows the official chain of command. It may be vertical (upward or downward between superiors and subordinates) or horizontal (between people at the same level).
Communication networks: single chain (each person to their immediate superior), wheel (all subordinates communicate through one superior; the fastest), circular (each communicates with two neighbours; slow), free flow (everyone communicates freely; fast), and inverted V (a subordinate communicates with the immediate superior and the superior's superior).
Informal communication (grapevine) arises from social relations and doesn't follow official lines. Its networks are single strand (passed one by one), gossip (one person tells everyone), probability (one tells others at random), and cluster (one tells trusted people, who tell others). It spreads fast and can distort information, so managers should use it to correct rumours and gauge feelings.
8. Barriers to communication and how to overcome them
Type | Barriers |
|---|---|
Semantic (problems of encoding and decoding) | Badly expressed messages; symbols or words with different meanings; faulty translations; unclarified assumptions; technical jargon; misread body language and gestures |
Psychological (state of mind) | Premature evaluation; lack of attention; loss by transmission and poor retention; distrust between sender and receiver |
Organisational | Restrictive organisational policy; rules and regulations that require communication through prescribed channels; status differences; complex structure with many levels; lack of organisational facilities (meetings, suggestion boxes) |
Personal | Superior's fear of challenge to authority; lack of confidence of superiors in subordinates; unwillingness to communicate; lack of proper incentives for communication |
Example of a semantic barrier. A manager says, "Finish the report at the earliest," meaning by evening; the subordinate understands it as within the week.
Improving communication effectiveness: clarify ideas before communicating; communicate according to the needs of the receiver; consult others before communicating; be aware of language, tone and content; convey things of help and value to the listener; ensure proper feedback; communicate for the present as well as the future; follow up communications; be a good listener.
A reliable approach to case-based questions
If the case mentions a need being satisfied, place it in Maslow's hierarchy: salary (physiological), job security (safety), team (belonging), recognition (esteem), growth (self-actualisation).
Decide whether an incentive is financial (money or money's worth) or non-financial (status, recognition, enrichment, empowerment).
Leader decides alone: autocratic; consults the team: democratic; leaves it to the team: laissez-faire.
For a barrier, ask: is it about words (semantic), state of mind (psychological), structure and rules (organisational) or a person's attitude (personal)?
Connections that matter
Staffing brings in the people who are directed.
Principles of management: unity of command, initiative and esprit de corps reappear here.
Controlling checks whether directed effort produced the planned results.
Common mistakes
Saying a satisfied need motivates. Only an unsatisfied need motivates.
Classifying job security as a financial incentive. It is non-financial.
Calling ESOP a non-financial incentive. Co-partnership and stock options are financial.
Mixing up semantic and psychological barriers. Jargon is semantic; distrust is psychological.
Describing the grapevine as useless. Managers can use it to spread information quickly and counter rumours.
Revision checklist
I can explain the features, importance and principles of directing.
I can explain the role of a supervisor.
I can explain motivation and place examples in Maslow's hierarchy.
I can classify financial and non-financial incentives.
I can explain the qualities of a leader and identify the three styles.
I can explain the communication process, networks, barriers and remedies.