Management is defined as the process of getting things done, effectively and efficiently, through and with other people to achieve specific goals and purposes. Controlling is one key practice in successful management. Controlling involves ensuring that performance does not deviate from standards, and requirements. Controlling consists of three steps. These three steps include, establishing performance standards, comparing actual performance against standards, and lastly, taking corrective action when necessary.
Performance standards are often stated in levels of quality or service. The measurement of performance can be done in several ways, depending on the performance standards, results, and principal satisfaction. Teams at all levels engage in the managerial function of controlling to some degree. The managerial function of controlling should not be confused with control in the behavioral or manipulative sense. This function does not imply that managers should attempt to control or to manipulate the personalities, values, attitudes, or emotions of their subordinates. Instead, this function of management concerns the manager’s role in taking necessary actions to ensure that the work-related activities of subordinates are consistent with and contributing toward the accomplishment of organizational and departmental objectives.
The second step in the control process is the comparing step and in this step managers measure the degree of variation between actual performance and the standard. To determine what is acceptable managers must establish a range of variation which is the acceptable parameters of the variance between actual performance and the standard. Effective controlling requires the existence of plans, since planning provides the necessary performance standards or objectives. Controlling also requires a clear understanding of where responsibility for deviations from standards lies. One traditional control technique is performance evaluations. An...