COORDINATION — DEFINITION, NEEDS & IMPORTANCE | MYMCQHUB
Coordination is the Essence of Management.
Coordination is not a separate function of management. It is the force that binds all the functions & thus, called the essence of management. It is needed in all management functions:
Planning — Coordination between the master plan and departmental plan.
Organising — required between authority, responsibility and accountability.
Staffing — Achieve balance between job requirement and qualities of personnel.
Directing — Required between supervision, motivation and leadership.
Controlling — Ensure actual result conform to expected results.
Needed at all levels of management
Top level — needs coordination to integrate activities of the organisation for
accomplishing the organisational goals.
Middle level– Coordination of the efforts of different sections and sub-sections.
Lower level — Coordination in the activities of workers to ensure work progresses
as per plans.
DEFINITION OF COORDINATION
According to Mooney and Reiley, “Coordination is the orderly arrangement of group efforts to provide unity of action in the pursuit of a common purpose.”
According to Henry Fayol, “To coordinate, means to unite and correlate all activities”.
According to McFarland, “Coordination is the process whereby an executive develops an orderly pattern of group efforts among his subordinates and secures unity of action in the pursuit of common purpose.”
On the basis of the above stated definitions, we can state the following as the essential elements of coordination:
1. Coordination implies deliberate efforts to bring fulfillment of goal.
2. Coordination applies to the synchronised arrangement of the productivity of a group and not any individual.
3. Coordination is needed only when there is an involvement of a group over a task. It would not be required if an individual were to work in isolation.
4. Coordination is a continuous effort which begins with the very first action, the process of establishment of business and runs through until its closure.
5. Coordination is necessary for all managerial functions. In organising work, managers must see that no activity remains unassigned. In staffing, managers must ensure the availability of competent people to handle assigned duties. In directing organisational activities, managers must synchronise the efforts of subordinates and motivate them through adequate rewards. In controlling organisational activities, managers must see that activities are on the right path, doing right things, at the right time and in the right manner. Thus, coordination transcends all managerial functions.
The need for coordination arises from the fact that literally all organisations are a complex aggregation of diverse systems, which need to work or be operated in concert to produce desired outcomes. In a large organisation, a large number of people process the work at various levels. These people may work at cross purposes if their efforts and activities are not properly coordinated. To simplify the picture, one could decompose an organisation into components such as management, employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. The components perform interdependent activities aimed at achieving certain goals. To perform these activities, the actors require various types of inputs or resources. It may be difficult to communicate the policies, orders and managerial actions on a face-to-face basis. Personal contact is, rather, impossible and formal methods of coordination become essential.
Coordination is important to the success of any enterprise. It helps an organisation in the following ways:
Coordination pulls all the functions and activities together. Waste motions, overlapping and duplication of efforts, misuse of resources are, thus, prevented. Coordination, enables an organisation to use its resources in an optimum way. The resources flow through productive channels, paving the way for required quality and quantity of output. Efficiency is thus improved.
Coordination brings unity of action and direction. Members begin to work in an orderly manner, appreciating the work put in by others. They understand and adjust with each other by developing mutual trust, cooperation and understanding. They move closer to each other. In short, it improves human relations.
According to Fayol, where activities are well-coordinated, each department works in harmony with the rest. Production knows its target; maintenance keeps equipment and tools in good order; Finance procures necessary funds; Security sees to the protection of goods and service personnel and all these activities are carried out in a smooth and systematic manner. Coordination, thus, creates a harmonious balance between departments, persons and facilities. This in turn, helps in meeting goals efficiently and effectively.
The importance of coordination, largely lies in the fact that it is the key to other functions of management like planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. The different elements of a plan, the various parts of an organisation and phases of a controlling operation must all be coordinated. Coordinating makes planning more purposeful, organisation more well-knit, and control more regulative and effective.
