Coordinating

Processes of Scientific Management Coordinating

All the activities are divided group-wise or section-wise under organizing function. Now, such grouped activities are coordinated towards the accomplishment of organizational objectives and goals. The difficulty of coordination depends upon the size of the organization. It increases with the increasing size of the organization.

According to Knootz and O’Donell, “The last coordination occurs when individuals see how their jobs contribute to the dominant goals of the enterprise. This implies knowledge and understanding of enterprise objectives”.

Coordination is the management of interdependence in work situations. It is the orderly synchronization or fitting together of the interdependent efforts of individuals. For example, in a hospital, the activities of doctors, nurses, ward attendants, and lab technicians must be properly synchronized if the patient is to receive good care. Similarly, in a modern enterprise, which consists of a number of departments, such as production, purchase, sales, finance, personnel etc., there is a need for all of them to properly time their interdependent activities and to effectively reunite the subdivided work. To coordinate is to keep expenditure proportional to financial resources; equipment and tools to production needs; stocks to the rate of consumption; sales to production. It is to build the house neither too big nor too small; adapt the tool to its use; the road to the vehicle; the safety precaution to the risks.

In a well-coordinated enterprise, the following facts are observed

• Each department works in harmony with the rest. Stores know what has to be supplied and at what time; production knows its target; maintenance keeps equipment and tools in good order.
• Each department, division, and subdivision is precisely informed about the share it must take in the common task.
• The working schedule of the various departments is constantly tuned to the circumstances.

The example of the process: Coordinating is a horizontal function. It creates linkages between different verticals. Coordination is a choice whereas directing is a compulsion of the job. Not many people like to coordinate the activities between various sections. It involves talking to persons across the line to get certain things done. It creates linkages between dissimilar functions. It unifies the work of one section with some other section.

Notes:You will come to know the definitions of all the seven Processes of Scientific Management; Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Motivating, Controlling.