Principles of Management

Module 6: Occupational Health Management - Section 7: Principles of Management

OHM 7.1: Introduction to Management

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

To introduce students to broad management concepts that can be applied to an Occupational Health setting.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Identify characteristics of a good manager.
Develop skills in time management.
Identify management problems and develop plans to address these problems./li>
Initiate, plan, implement and monitor “projects” within an occupational health setting.

ACTIVITY

What do managers do? From your experience list what you think managers ought to do and what in practice managers are actually doing. Are they the same thing?

In your own situation what are the key managerial problems facing you?
What managerial skills do you think are required to manage these problems?

What does a manager do?:

Traditionally managerial functions have been divided into four functions. These functions are based on the writings of Henri Fayol in the early 20th Century. He classified managerial functions into:

Planning and Co-ordinating: setting objectives, forecasting, analysing problems, and making decisions about what should be done;
Organising: determining what activities are necessary to achieve the objectives, classifying the work, dividing it and assigning it to groups and individuals.
Motivating: they inspire their staff to contribute to the purpose of the organisation and be loyal to the aims of the organisation and engage in staff development.
Controlling: managers control what is done by checking performance against plans.

Over time different management theorists have adapted these functions and today we tend to distinguish managers' functions into "deciding what to do" and "getting it done" (usually getting other people to do it!). These distinctions imply that managers spend their time in organised and well-sequenced tasks. However all studies of what managers do in practice show that a manager’s day is typically fragmented: most managers have to switch their attention frequently from one person to another talking or listening for three quarters or more of the day. The research gives a picture of a hectic day that contrasts with the theorists’ calm description of a manager who plans, organises and controls. With this in mind Henry Mintzberg argues that there are three divisions in a manager’s work:

the interpersonal - negotiating and managing relationships between people,
informational, and
decision making.

For the purposes of this module, we will examine two aspects of management:

Managing ourselves and others. This examines the qualities of a good manager and on a practical level looks at issues of time management.
Managing a service with particular emphasis on project management.

References:

Stewart R. The Reality of Management 3rd Edition Oxford. Butterworth Heineman 1997.