The four functions of Management
Leaders and supervisors have the pivotal roles of not just goal setters but also enablers and supporters, helping their teams navigate through challenges to reach the finish line.
Do not take me wrong, few “C-Class” know that Management is divided into four core responsibilities, and those 4 points every leader should fulfil.
The first person to introduce the Four Core Responsibility functions was Henri Fayol in the early 1900s, actually, there were 5 functions but over the years;
Fayol’s functions were combined and reduced to the following four :
Planning
Organizing
Leading
Controlling
Henri Fayol
Henri Fayol, born on July 29, 1841, and passing on November 19, 1925, was a distinguished French mining engineer and executive, as well as a prolific author and director of mines.
He is renowned for devising a comprehensive theory of business administration, commonly referred to as Fayolism; developed in parallel but independently from the scientific management movement, his work intersects with the contributions of his contemporary, Frederick Winslow Taylor, positioning Fayol as a pivotal figure in the foundation of modern management practices.
Fayol threw the base of Management that we still have today dividing the Organisation into those 5 points:
Fayol divided the range of activities undertaken within an industrial undertaking into six types:
Technical activities
Commercial activities
Financial activities
Security activities
Accounting activities
Managerial activities
In his original work, Administration industrielle et générale; prévoyance, organisation, commandement, coordination, control, he identified five primary functions
Planning
Organizing
Commanding
Co-ordinating
Controlling
Obviously the word “commanding” is a bit “too much” for today's world and a way to Manage in our upper class, and the “commanding + co-ordinating” becomes “Leading” (really more cool to read :) )
Regardless of the industry you find yourself in, the core functions of management remain universal and relevant across all fields.