Techniques of Directing with Good Characteristics!

Explore the essential techniques for effective directing in management. Learn about consultative direction, free-rein strategies, supervision, motivation, and more, to enhance employee engagement and drive organizational success. Discover practical insights on how to improve communication, delegation, and leadership for a cohesive working environment.

What Are the Best Techniques for Directing?

Direction is a critical management function focused on human relations. It begins after organizational plans are set, structures designed, and personnel are in place. Essentially, it’s the process of guiding, motivating, leading, and supervising subordinates to achieve objectives. Without proper direction, employees become disengaged and inefficient, leading to the underutilization of physical assets.

Here are some key techniques of directing:

1. Consultative Direction:

The superior, while having the ultimate decision-making authority, consults with subordinates before making decisions. This approach encourages subordinate input, fostering commitment and motivation as they feel their viewpoints valued.

2. Free-Rein Direction:

This technique empowers subordinates to make decisions independently within established guidelines. It’s suitable for highly educated, experienced, and competent individuals, as they held accountable for the results and essentially self-direct their work.

3. Autocratic Direction:

In this style, the superior gives clear and precise orders without considering subordinates’ views or suggestions. The focus is on direct command to achieve set goals.

4. Supervision:

Supervision involves overseeing subordinates’ work, providing detailed instructions, and ensuring plans and policies executed. Effective supervision depends on factors like the number of subordinates, the supervisor’s skills, leadership, and the team’s cohesion and relationships.

5. Motivation:

Beyond simply giving orders, motivation involves stimulating desires and wants that drive individuals to achieve desired actions. Motivation can be monetary or non-monetary, and positive motivation generally preferred over negative. It is crucial for sustaining employee energy, efficiency, and morale.

6. Leadership:

Leadership is a manager’s ability to influence subordinates to achieve goals. Effective leaders possess specific qualities and perform functions like objective formulation, initiating action, and influencing followers. Leadership styles vary depending on subordinates and the context.

7. Communication:

Effective communication is vital for an organization to function cohesively. It ensures decisions passed on clearly, and a feedback system is in place for smooth operations. Communication can flow vertically, horizontally, laterally, and diagonally, and organizations must address any barriers to ensure its effectiveness.

8. Delegation:

Delegation involves a superior entrusting a part of their work and authority to a subordinate. It’s essential for organizational growth, preventing superiors from being overloaded, and promoting specialization. While the subordinate is responsible to the delegator, the delegator remains ultimately accountable.

9. Orders:

Orders are directives from superiors to subordinates, instructing them on how to act. Good orders are reasonable, clear, complete, preferably written, appropriately toned, and also have a prescribed timeline. They can be oral, written, general, specific, procedural, or operational.

10. Orientation:

Orientation includes:

• New Employee Orientation: Providing new hires with information about their rights, duties, responsibilities, organizational structure, performance evaluation, and rules.
• Continuing Orientation: Educating existing employees about revised goals, new techniques, machinery, or developments through training, bulletins, and meetings.

11. Follow-Up Orders and Instructions:

Superiors must monitor if orders carried out satisfactorily. This involves addressing misunderstandings, providing resources, resolving contradictory instructions, or also offering further explanations.

12. Standardized Practices and Procedures:

For routine work, managers often rely on established organizational practices and also procedures as guidelines, rather than issuing constant new instructions.

13. Behavioural Pattern:

A superior’s behavioral pattern (autocratic, participative, or free-rein) influences the type of orders and instructions given and the level of subordinate involvement in decision-making.

Detailed Breakdown of Key Directing Techniques:

Consultative/Participative Direction:

This technique involves managers consulting subordinates about the feasibility and content of a problem before making a decision. It can lead to better suggestions, ideas, and understanding of subordinate reactions. While managers retain ultimate decision-making power, a genuine desire for subordinate input is crucial.

This approach fosters cooperation, enthusiasm, motivation, and higher morale, leading to better plans and decisions. However, it can sometimes lead to subordinates undermining authority if they perceive the manager as incompetent, cause confusion, or create disputes if decisions are made without consultation. Improper use can also lead to unhealthy criticism or insubordination.

Free-Rein Direction:

This technique encourages subordinates to use their initiative, independent thought, and ingenuity to solve problems. It is most effective with highly educated, efficient, and sincere subordinates who understand overall objectives, duties, and responsibilities. Managers must trust their subordinates’ willingness and capability to assume responsibility. This approach develops self-confidence, managerial ability, and provides a sense of pride in work. Managers adopting this style must be patient and also allow subordinates to learn from mistakes without excessive criticism.

Autocratic Direction:

Opposite to free-rein, this technique involves the superior giving direct, clear, and also precise orders with detailed instructions. Subordinates are expected to simply implement these instructions without showing initiative. While it allows for quick decisions and implementation, and helps maintain discipline, it can lead to frustrated, unmotivated “Yes Men” who lack self-confidence and managerial development.

Delegation as a Means of Directing:

Delegation entrusts subordinates with rights or powers and assigns them a portion of work. It serves as a valuable directing technique, also offering learning opportunities. However, challenges include:

• Difficulty in precisely defining tasks and duties, leading to job overlaps.
• Vagueness in the extent of delegated authority.
• The need for detailed authority when work assignments are specific.
• Accepting some actions by subordinates beyond explicit authority.
• Rigid delegation stifling initiative.
• Imbalances if delegation is indiscriminate due to varying capacities of individuals.

Supervision:

Supervision is a fundamental part of a manager’s directing function, involving overseeing subordinates’ work to ensure plans and policies are executed. Supervisors are in direct contact with their teams, providing orders and instructions. They act as a link between management and workers, interpreting policies and conveying feedback. Effective supervision involves guiding and also controlling the workforce to ensure work aligns with plans and schedules.

Orders and Instructions:

These are essential tools for managers to direct subordinates. An order initiates, modifies, or stops an activity. Key characteristics of good orders include:

• Clarity and understandability.
• Issuance through the chain of command.
• An appropriate tone to encourage acceptance.
• Follow-up measures.
• Explanation of rationale, if necessary.
• Preferably in writing.
• Reasonableness and enforceability.
• Specified timelines.
• Also Completeness.
• Compatibility with organizational objectives.

Orders can be general or specific, written or oral, and formal or informal, depending on the situation and relationship between superior and subordinate. Timeliness is also crucial, especially for decisions requiring immediate action or those made after extensive planning.