Coordination is at management’s heart and an essential component of all managerial responsibilities. It also helps to tie together all of the managerial activities. This post will look at several Types of coordination and what they entail.
Coordination – Introduction
Coordination has been considered to be different by many management professionals. Coordination, according to Henry Fayol, is a managerial role. Louis A. Allen considers coordination to be a distinct managerial activity. According to James D. Mooney, the fundamental principle of organization is coordination. According to Ralph C. Davis, coordination is a critical step in controlling.
A business is formed to achieve predetermined aims. Several actions are carried out for this objective. These events are appropriately organized. For example, a manufacturing company’s activities are classified as production, finance, marketing, people, etc. Various workers operate under different supervisors to conduct activities about different groupings.
Keeping the nature of the job in mind, these managers execute managerial activities such as planning, organizing, directing, and so on. As a result, fluctuations in task performance may occur, which may impede the process of goal attainment.
As a result, unity of action is critical in diverse managers’ performance of managerial responsibilities, necessitating adequate coordination. Organizational goals can be achieved with the assistance of coordination. Indeed, a concerted act makes the impossible possible.
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Definition of Coordination
- “Coordination is a part of the administrative duties of planning, organising, staffing, leading, and regulating,” writes George R. Terry and Theo Haimann. It is a critical component of the management process that supports the overall management process. As a result, it is at the heart of management.”
- “Coordination deals with the challenge of mixing efforts to ensure the effective realization of a target,” says Terry. It is achieved via planning, organising, acting, and controlling.” Coordination, as a coherent process, aids in synchronizing administrative activities such as planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.
- Mooney and Railey define coordination as “the ordered structuring of collective efforts to produce unity of action in the pursuit of a single goal.” It aids in the orderly execution of various activities of the various component elements of the organization, allowing the objectives to be met with the least disruption and in the most pleasant atmosphere possible. Coordination is considered a separate role of management by several management gurus, including Fayol, L.A. Allen, and Ordway Read.
Types of Coordination
The efficient coordination of internal and external components of an organization aids in the reduction of complications (both internal and external).
As a result, the organization gains efficiency, easier integration of micro and macro level organizational dynamics, a more vital linkage of responsibilities across intra- and inter-organizational groups, trust among competing groups, and defining organizational tasks.
Coordination is classified into two types: internal coordination and external coordination, which are discussed further below.
Internal Coordination
Internal coordination entails building relationships among all managers, executives, departments, divisions, branches, and employees or workers. These partnerships are formed to coordinate the organization’s actions. Internal coordination is divided into two groups:
Vertical coordination – A senior authority coordinates his work with his subordinates in vertical coordination and vice versa. A sales manager, for example, will coordinate his responsibilities with his sales supervisors. On the other hand, all sales supervisors ensure that they are in sync with the sales manager.
Horizontal coordination – Employees of the same status build a relationship for improved performance in horizontal coordination. Coordination between department leaders, managers, coworkers, and so forth.
In other words, an employee in internal coordination reports vertically to the supervisor and/or subordinates and horizontally to peers and/or coworkers.
External Coordination
External coordination, as the title indicates, is about building contact between the organization’s employees and those outside it.
These interactions are formed to better understand outsiders such as market agencies, the general public, rivals, consumers, government agencies, financial institutions, and so on.
Typically, corporations entrust a Public Relations Officer (PRO) to develop amicable ties between the organization’s workers and outsiders.
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Coordination – The Essence of Management
Coordination is at the heart of management since it is inextricably linked to the following managerial functions:
- Planning – Coordination helps a manager determine what he must include and/or eliminate in a solid plan. Planning also makes coordination easier by combining multiple strategies through mutual dialogue and idea exchange.
- Organizing – Coordination is essential while organizing. When management allocates tasks or activities to people or groups, coordination enables them to coordinate them effectively.
- Staffing – Coordination in staffing assists in specifying the sort of employees necessary and its sensible deployment. To improve coordination, management always hires the proper amount of personnel with the relevant abilities and qualifications. This also guarantees that the appropriate guys are in the correct jobs.
- Directing – Coordination helps the management focus when directing. In reality, providing orders or instructions to subordinates serves little use unless there is a sense of coordination and harmony amongst them.
- Controlling – Coordination allows for more realistic reporting. Management guarantees that absolute performance is as near standard performance as feasible through coordination.
Coordination – Top 5 Features
Coordination has the following features:
- Coordination is essential for collective activities, not individual ones. It entails an organized structure of collective activities since a person operating in isolation has no effect on the functioning of others and hence no requirement for coordination.
- Coordination is a dynamic and ongoing activity. It is a continuous process, accomplished by performing functions, a continual phenomenon. It is a dynamic process because the functions for which context coordination is used are dynamic and might vary over time.
- The essence of coordination is the emphasis on the unity of efforts. This entails fixing the time and way in which various operations in the company are performed, and it integrates individual efforts with the overall process.
- The greater the degree of synchronization in the performance of various functions by diverse people in the organization, the greater the degree of coordination, and the greater the likelihood of achieving organizational objectives.
- Every manager in the company is responsible for coordination because he seeks to coordinate the efforts of his subordinates with those of others.
Conclusion
Thus, we can say that types of coordination is the key to successful management. It ensures that all activities and resources are aligned and integrated toward achieving the organization’s common goal. Good coordination allows for effective communication and utilization of resources, leading to higher productivity and smoother operations. Managers must be aware of the different coordinating mechanisms available to them to choose the most appropriate one for their organization and situation.
