Monitoring and Controlling
WHAT IS CONTROLLING, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
➢ Control is the process of monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance.
All managers should control even if their units are performing as planned because they can’t really
know that unless they’ve evaluated what activities have been done and compared actual
performance against the desired standard.
➢ The Purpose of Control
Effective controls ensure that activities are completed in ways that lead to the attainment of goals.
Whether controls are effective, then, is determined by how well they help employees and managers
achieve their goals.
➢ Why is control so important?
Control is important for three main reasons:
A. Control serves as the final link in the functional chain of management. Planning can be done,
an organizational structure created to facilitate efficient achievement of goals, and employees
motivated through effective leadership. But there’s no assurance that activities are going as
planned and that the goals employees and managers are working toward are, in fact, being
attained. Controlling provides a critical link back to planning. If managers didn’t control, they’d
have no way of knowing whether their goals and plans were being achieved and what future
actions to take. The Exhibit show the planning-controlling link.
B. Controlling is also important to delegation. The development of an effective control system
may decrease resistance to delegation. Control is important, therefore, because it’s the only way
that managers know whether organizational goals are being met and if not, the reasons why.
The value of the control function can be seen in three specific areas: planning, empowering
employees, and protecting the workplace. Many managers are reluctant to empower their
employees because they fear something will go wrong for which they would be held
responsible. But an effective control system can provide information and feedback on employee
performance and minimize the chance of potential problems.
