DIRECTING

Directing refers to the process of instructing, guiding, counselling, motivating and leading people in the
organisation to achieve its objectives
FEATURES OF DIRECTING
(i) While other functions prepare a setting for action, directing initiates action by people in the organisation
towards attainment of desired objectives.
(ii) Directing takes place at every level of management. Every manager from top executive to the supervisor
performs the directing function. Hence It is Pervasive.
(iii) Directing is a continuous process as it takes place throughout the life of the organization irrespective of
the people occupying managerial positions.
(iv) Directing flows from top to bottom through the organisation hierarchy. Every manager can direct his
immediate subordinates and take instructions from his immediate boss.
IMPORTANCE OF DIRECTING

(i) Directing helps to initiate action by people in the organisation towards attainment of desired
objectives.
(ii) Directing integrates employees’ efforts in the organisation in such a way that every individual effort
contributes to the organisational performance. Thus, it ensures that the individuals work for
organisational goals.
(iii) Directing guides employees to fully realise their potential and capabilities by motivating and
providing effective leadership.
(iv) Directing facilitates introduction of needed changes in the organisation.
(v) Effective directing helps to bring stability and balance in the organisation since it fosters cooperation
and commitment among the people and helps to achieve balance among various groups, activities and the
departments.

Elements of Directing

 Supervision
 Motivation
 Leadership
 Communication

SUPERVISION
: Supervision is the process of overseeing the work of the subordinates and giving instructions to ensure
optimum utilisation of resources and achievement of work targets.

Motivation- Motivation means incitement or inducement to act or move. It means the process of
making subordinates to act in a desired manner to achieve certain organisational goals.

Features of motivation-
1. It is an internal feeling as it relates to the urge, drives, desires, or needs of human beings.
2. It produces goal directed behavior.
3. It can be either positive or negative.
4. It is a complex process as the individuals may differ in their perceptions and reactions. expectations,

Importance of Motivation

 Motivation helps to improve the performance of both the employees as well as the organisation.
 Motivation helps to mould negative or indifferent attitudes of employees into positive attitudes for the
benefit of theorganisation.
 Motivation helps to reduce the employee turnover and leads to reduction in the cost to be incurred on
new recruitment and training.
 Motivation helps managers to introduce changes within the organisation smoothly without much
 resistance from their subordinates.

Motivation helps to reduce absenteeism in the organisation as work becomes a source of pleasure and
workers attend to the work regularly
Motivation Process

MASLOW’S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY: The following are the assumptions:-

(i) People’s needs are in hierarchical order, starting from basic needs to other higher level needs.
(ii) A satisfied need can no longer motivate a person; only next higher level need can motivate him.
(iii) A person moves to the next higher level of the hierarchy only when the lower need is satisfied

Abraham Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory of Motivation

 Basic Physiological Needs refer to the needs that are most basic in the hierarchy like hunger, thirst,
shelter etc. which can be fulfilled by basic salary.
 Safety/Security Needs refer to the needs to get security and protection from physical and emotional
harm which can be fulfilled through job security, stability of income, pension plans etc.
 Affiliation/Belonging Needs refer to the needs that relate to affection, sense of belongingness,
acceptance and friendship which can be fulfilled through team work, kindness etc.
 Esteem Needs include factors such as self-respect, autonomy status, recognition and attention which
can be fulfilled by giving praise and recognition, offering promotions etc.
 Self-Actualisation Needs refer to the drive to become what one is capable of becoming which can be
fulfilled by providing challenging work and giving them flexibility and autonomy in their jobs

Incentive: Incentive means all measures which are used to motivate people to improve performance
Types of Incentives

 Financial incentives refers to incentives which are in direct monetary form.

 Non-financial incentives mainly focus on psychological, social and emotional needs.

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
(a) Productivity linked wage incentive involves linking payment of wages of employees to the increase
in their productivity at individual or group level.

(b) Bonus involves offering an amount of funds over and above the wages/ salary to the employees.
(c) Profit Sharing involves providing a share in the profits of the organization to employees.
(d) Co-partnership/Stock option is an incentive under which the employees are offered company shares at
a set price which is lower than market price.
(e) Retirement Benefits include benefits such as provident fund, pension and gratuity that provide financial
security to employees after their retirement.
(f) Perquisites include incentives such as car allowance, housing, medical aid and education to the children
etc., which are offered over and above the salary.
(g) Pay and Allowances: Salary is the most basic monetary incentive which includes basic pay, dearness
allowance, travelling allowance and other allowances
NON FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
(i) Career Advancement Opportunity It means providing an opportunity to employees to improve their
skills to be promoted to higher level of jobs. Appropriate skill development programmes and sound
promotion policy provide career advancement opportunity to the employees.
(ii) Job Enrichment
It is concerned with designing jobs that include greater variety of work content and provide the opportunity
for personal growth and a meaningful work experience
(iii) Status: Higher official standing given to a person reflected in his authority, responsibility, perquisites &
recognition which fulfills his psychological, social and esteem needs.
(v).Organisation Climate: Cordial working relationships with supervisors, individual autonomy, reward
orientation, consideration to employees, risk taking etc which differentiates an organization from others
helps to motivate employees.
(v). Employee Recognition:- Recognising the efforts and good work of an employee in front of all other
employees.
(vi). Participation in Management Decision: Participating of employees in decision making related to
them which helps in securing their cooperation
(vii)Employee Participation:- means giving more autonomy and powers to the employees.
 It makes them feel that their jobs are important and this feeling makes them contribute positively to the
use of their skills and talents in the job performance.
(viii) Job Security: It provides both financial & emotional stability related to present and future so that they
work without stress. This induces loyalty among workers and motivates them

LEADERSHIP
Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of people by making them strive voluntarily towards
achievement of organisational goals.

Importance of Leadership

 It helps to bring about a positive change in the behaviour of the employees for the benefit Of the
organisation.
 It helps to maintain good personal relations and also helps the followers in fulfilling their needs.
  It helps to introduce the required changes in the organisation smoothly.
 It helps to resolve the conflicts within the organisation effectively without leading to any disruptions
in working of the organisation.
 It facilitates training of subordinates by the leader.

Features of Leadership

 Leadership shows the ability of an individual to influence others.

 Leadership seeks to bring about a desired change in the behaviour of others.
 Leadership reflects the interpersonal relations between leaders and followers.
 Leadership is an effective tool to achieve common goals of the Organisation.
 Leadership is a continuous process

STYLES OF LEADERSHIP
Autocratic style of leadership is one in which the leader gives orders and insists that they are obeyed. He
does not give the subordinates any freedom to influence his decision. There is only one way communication
with the subordinates only to act according to the command given by the manager. Autocratic style is
effective in ensuring labour productivity and quick decision making is facilitated

Democratic style of leadership is one in which the leader develops action plans and makes decisions in
consultation with his subordinates. He encourages subordinates to participate in decision making.
(i) It carries information rapidly and therefore may be useful to the manager at times.
(ii) It is used by the manager to transmit information so as to know the reaction of his/ her subordinates
‘Laissez Faire’ style of leadership is one in which the leader gives complete freedom to the subordinates and
depends largely upon the group to establish its own goals and work out its own problems. The leader does
not believe in the use of power unless it is absolutely essential.

COMMUNICATION
Communication is defined as a process of exchange of ideas, views, facts, feelings etc., between or among
people to create common understanding.

Importance of Communication
 Acts as basis of coordination among departments, activities and persons in the organisation
 Helps in smooth working of an enterprise as all organisational interactions depend on
 communications.
 Acts as basis of decision making as it provides the information needed for decision making.
 Increases managerial efficiency as it lubricates the entire organisation and keeps the organisation at
work with efficiency.
 Promotes cooperation and industrial peace as the two way communication promotes cooperation
and mutual understanding between the management and workers.
 Effective communication helps to establish effective leadership.
 Boosts morale and provides motivation to the employees and managers to achieve higher goals.
Elements Involved in Communication Process

 Sender refers to a person who conveys his thoughts or ideas to the receiver.
 Message is the content of ideas, feelings, suggestions, order etc., intended to be communicated.
 Encoding refers to the process of converting the message into communication symbols such as words,
pictures, gestures etc.,
 Media is the path through which encoded message is transmitted to receiver through a face to face
interaction, phone call, internet
 Decoding is the process of converting encoded symbols of the sender.
 Receiver refers to the person who receives communication of the sender.
 Feedback includes all those actions of receiver indicating that he has received and understood
message of sender.

NOISE: Any disruption in effective communication process. Ex inattentiveness, too many people talking in
background etc

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Formal communication is the communication which flows through official channels designed in the
organization chart.

Informal communication is the communication that takes place without following the formal lines of
communication. It is generally referred to as the ‘Grapevine’ because it spreads throughout the organisation
with its branches going out in all directions in complete disregard to the levels of authority

CLASSIFICATION OF FORMAL COMMUNICATION

1. Vertical Communication: It flows vertically i.e downward or upward through formal channels.
a) Downward Communication: Refers to flow of communication from superior to subordinate. Ex
Sending notice to employees for a meeting.
b) Upward Communication: Refers to flow of communication from subordinate to superior. Ex
Submission of progress report.
 2. Horizontal Communication: It takes place between one department to another, to coordinate
activities, to resolve inter-related problems. Ex a production manager may contact marketing
manager related to product design, quality etc

Basis Formal Communication InFormal Communication 3

Meaning It refer to communication taking place It refers to communication between
within official chain of command individual & groups which is not official
recognized.
Relation It establishes relation between superior It establishes personal relation among
& subordinate and relation are highly individuals.
impersonal
Nature It is more rigid in nature & cannot be It is flexible & varies from individual to
modified individual
Expression It is mostly expressed in written form. It mostly tends to be oral
Need It serves the need of organization. It serves the need of individual working in
organization
Responsibility It is easy to fix responsibility in formal As the source cannot be traced, it is difficult
communication to fix responsibility
Speed It is usually slow It is usually fast

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

SEMANTIC BARRIERS
Semantic is the branch of linguistics, which deals with meaning of words and sentences. Semantic barriers
refers to problems and obstructions in the process of encoding and decoding of messages into words or
impressions.

1. Badly Expressed Message: Lack of clarity and precision in a message makes it badly expressed. These
badly expressed messages may be on account of inadequate vocabulary, usage of wrong words, omission of
needed words etc.
In such a case, communication becomes ineffective as
intended meaning is not conveyed.
2. Symbols with different meanings: A word may have several meanings. Receiver has to perceive one such
meaning for the word used by communicator.
The same word or symbol may carry different meanings to different people and also convey different
meaning under different circumstances. For eg. Words like value, cell give different meanings in different
contexts.
3. Faulty Translation: Sometimes the communication originally drafted in one language needs to be
translated to the language understandable to the receiver.
If the translator is not proficient enough with both the languages, it may act as barrier in communication,
because mistakes may creep in causing different meaning to the communication
4. Technical jargon: Many specialist experts make use of technical terminology while explaining to persons
who are not specialist in the concerned field. As a result they may not understand the actual meaning of such
words.
5.Unclarified Assumptions: Some communications may have certain assumptions which are subject to
different interpretations. If the sender does not clarify the assumptions about the message, then receiver may
have different assumptions, hence different interpretations.
6. Body Language and Gesture Decoding: The body movement and gestures of communicator matters so
much in conveying the message because every movement of body communicates some meaning. If there is
no match between what is said and what is expressed in body movements, communication may e wrongly
perceived.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS These barriers arise on account of the emotional or psychological status of the
sender and receiver of the message. For eg, a worried person cannot communicate properly and an angry
mind cannot understand the real
meaning of the message

1. Lack of Attention: The pre-occupied mind of the receiver and the resultant non-listening of message acts
as a major psychological barrier.
2.Premature Evaluation: Some people have tendency to form a judgement before listening to the entire
message. They evaluate the meaning of the message before sender complete it.
Such premature evaluation may be due to prejudices or pre conceived notions against the communicator.
3. Loss by Transmission and Poor Retention: When communication passes through various levels in the
organisation, successive transmissions of the message results in loss of, or transmission of inaccurate
information. Loss of information is more in case of oral communication.
Poor retention is another problem. Usually people cannot retain the information for a long time if they are
inattentive or not interested.
4. Distrust: Lack of mutual trust between the sender and the receiver acts as a barrier to effective
communication. When the parties do not believe each other, they can not understand each other's message in
its original sense.
ORGANISATIONAL BARRIERS Barriers due to organisation structure, authority relationships, rules and
regulations etc..

1.Organisational Policy: Organisational policies determine the effectiveness of communication. If the

policy is not supportive to the free flow of communication, then it may hamper the communication process.
2. Rules and Regulations: Rigid rules and cumbersome procedures adversely affect the process of
communication. Similarly communication through prescribed channels may result in delays
3. Status: Status relationships may create psychological distance between superior and his subordinates. A
status conscious manager may not allow his subordinates to express their feelings freely.
4.Complexity in Organisation Structure: The effectiveness of communication largely depends on the
nature of the organisation structure. If the structure involves a large number of managerial levels,
communication gets delayed and distorted due to large number of filtering points.
5. Organisational Facilities: If facilities for smooth, clear and timely communications are not provided,
communication may be hampered. Facilities like frequent meetings, conferences, suggestion box, complaint
box, social and cultural gathering, etc. will encourage free and timely flow of communication. Lack of these
facilities may create communication problems.

PERSONAL BARRIERS:-Personal factors of both the sender and receiver have influence on effective
communication.

1. Lack of Confidence of superior on his subordinates: Communication process is hampered when

superiors do not have faith on the competence their subordinates. In such a case superior may not seek
advice or opinion of the subordinates
2. Fear of Challenge to Authority: A superior always aims to maintain a higher position and prestige in the
organisation. If he fears that a particular communication may adversely affect his authority, then he may
withheld or suppress such communication
3.Unwillingness to communicate: Sometimes, the subordinates are not willing to communicate with their
superiors because they believe that if information is not correct, it will adversely affect them.
4. Lack of proper incentives: If there is no motivation or incentive for communication, subordinates may
not take initiative to communicate. For example, if there is no reward or appreciation for a good suggestion,
then subordinates may not be willing to other useful suggestions.

MEASURES TO OVERCOME BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

(i) The manager should clarify the ideas before communicating to the subordinates. The entire problem
should be studied in depth, analysed and stated in such a manner that it is clearly conveyed to the
subordinates.
(ii) The manager should adjust his communication according to the needs and understanding level of the
subordinates.
(iii) The manager should consult others before developing a plan for communication. Participation and
involvement of subordinates may help to gain ready acceptance and willing co-operation from them.
(iv) The manager should be aware of the languages, tone and content of the message so that it does not
offend the sentiments of the listeners.
(v) The manager should know the interests and needs of the people with whom the communication is being
done so that he/ she can convey things of help and value to listeners.
(vi) The manager should ensure proper feedback by asking questions regarding the message conveyed.
(vii) The manager should communicate for present as well as future goals of the enterprise.
(viii) The manager should do a regular follow up and review of the instructions given to the subordinates.
(ix) The manager should be a good listener as patient and attentive listening can solve half of the problems