Directing is one of the principal elements of management along with planning, organising and controlling. Directing is a very essential function which helps ensure that the employees perform to the best of their abilities and achieve the organisational goals effectively.

The lack of a direction in an organisation will result in the employees being clueless about what to do next and will increase inefficiency, thereby resulting in a devastating impact on the business and revenue generation.

Meaning of Directing

Directing is defined as that management function that provides the guidance and direction to the employees of the organisation that enables them to perform effectively and efficiently for the development of the organisation.

Elements of Directing

Directing as a management function comprises the following elements.

1. Communication

2. Supervision

3. Motivation

4. Leadership

Communication: Communication is one of the most basic functions of management, it is the process by which a piece of information is transferred from one person to another in an organisation. The person who conveys the information is known as the sender and the one to whom the information is conveyed is known as the receiver.

The purpose of communication in an organisation is to send across any set of instructions, orders or information related to the improvement of the operational efficiency.

Communication is essential for conveying the state of performance of the employees and ways to improve them. Proper communication occurs when subordinates understand what was conveyed to them by the supervisor and act accordingly, whereas miscommunication occurs when the information conveyed is not clear and understandable, leading to misunderstanding and loss of performance.

Communication can always be two sided, where the flow of information is from supervisor to subordinates and vice versa.

Supervision: Supervision is the next step after information is conveyed by the supervisor to the employees regarding the work that needs to be done. It is that stage where the supervisor oversees if the subordinates are following what has been instructed to them.

Managers act as supervisors and they ensure that the work is going as per their instructions. It is the duty of a supervisor to make sure that all instructions are properly followed and the subordinates are doing as they are instructed.

Supervisors act as problem solvers of the subordinates regarding any issues with the instructions or the process.

Motivation: Motivation is one of the key elements of directing. Issuing of order to the subordinates by the supervisor does not guarantee that it will be followed exactly as was asked for.

For getting the desired outcome, the employees need to be motivated by the managers which leads to the task being completed efficiently. Motivation is a force that makes an individual perform to the best of his abilities in order to complete a set of tasks or instructions.

Motivation can be in the form of monetary gains such as incentives or bonus, it can be non-monetary such as appreciation or growth.

Leadership: Leadership is that element of directing that involves motivation and persuasion in order to achieve the desired goals. A leader is defined as a person who is able to influence other people and inspires them to follow the instructions provided.

In other words, leadership is the act of leading, guiding and motivating the subordinates to achieve the organisational goals.

This concludes the topic of Elements of Directing, which is an important topic of Business Studies for Commerce students. For more such interesting articles, stay tuned to BYJU’S.