Supervisory Chapter 13/ Exercising Control

Steps in control process

1. Identify your department's major goals. 2. Identify those factors most crucial to accomplishing your department's major goals. These may be items such as properly running machinery and equipment, availability of raw mate- rials, availability of key personnel, or a balanced demand for your department's services. 3. Determine the most likely problems or circumstances that could prevent the items in (2) from occurring. These could be factors such as machine breakdown or absence of key personnel. 4. Develop a plan for preventing the problems listed in (3). You might consider input from employees, staff personnel, your immediate supervisor, peers, and others in arriv- ing at your preventive control plan

how to measure

1. Personal observation. 2. Written or oral reports by or about employees. 3. Automatic methods. 4. Inspections, tests, or sample

standard

A unit of measurement that serves as a reference point for evaluating results

Feeback controls

Controls that measure completed activities and then take corrective action if needed

Feedforward control

Preventative controls that try to anticipate problems and take corrective actin before they occur

measuring performance

Setting standards is an essential first step in control, but by itself, it doesn't go far enough. A supervisor must monitor performance to ensure it complies with the estab- lished standards. Two issues the supervisor must deal with are (1) how often to measure performance and (2) how to measure performance.

Concurrent controls

Sometimes called screening controls, these controls are used while an activity takes place

how standards are set

Standards can be set in many ways. A supervisor frequently sets standards based on familiarity with the jobs being performed by his or her employees. The supervisor is generally knowledgeable about the time required to perform tasks, the quality necessary, and the expected employee behavior. This is especially true of supervi- sors promoted through the ranks. If you are not technically knowledgeable about the work performed in your department, there are a number of ways to become familiar with stan- dards. You can gain insights from past records of performance, if available, and from fel- low supervisors, employees, and your own boss. Exhibit 13-5 presents some types of stan- dards for a variety of positions. For many jobs, various staff departments strongly influence the standards set. The industrial engineering department, for example, may utilize systematic studies of move- ments and speed to set quantity and time standards. The quality control department may establish standards for finish, luster, or precision. Cost accounting may develop stan- dards for material costs or scrap. Thus, many standards may already be established for the people you supervise. Staff departments may also have a hand in setting standards for supervisors. For example, the budget department may help determine standards regarding material and payroll costs. Personnel may establish standards regarding the quantity and quality of grievances and turnover in a department. The ability to meet your departmental standards, in turn, deter- mines the amount of control your own boss exercises over your activities

strategic control point

a performance measurement point located early in an activity to allow any corrective action to be taken

Tangible standards

clear, concrete, specific, and generally measurable

Controlling

defined as the management function that compares actual performance with planned performance and taking corrective action, if needed, to ensure objectives are achieved. Basically, control has three phases:\\ (1) anticipating the things that could go wrong and taking preventive measures to see they don't, (2) monitoring or measuring performance in some way to compare what is actually happening with what is supposed to be happening, and (3) correcting performance problems that occur. This last step is the therapeutic aspect of control.

monetary standards

expressed in dollars

numerical standards

expressed in numbers

time standards

expressed in terms of time

Characteristics of effective control systems

ocus on appropriate activities. Effective controls must focus on critical factors that affect both the individual's and the organization's abilities to achieve objectives. These critical objectives should include the essential areas of production and personnel activities, as well as related costs. 2. Controls should be timely. Information needed for comparisons and control purposes needs to be in a supervisor's hands for him or her to take effective corrective action. Therefore, delays in generating, gathering, or disseminating information can prolong the occurrence—and extent—of deviations. 3. Controls must be cost-effective. The benefits of using appropriate controls should be worth the cost of their installation and operation. Too much control can be worse than too little. Controls should be appropriate for the situation and provide savings greater than the costs involved. 4. Controls should be accurate and concise. Controls must provide information about operations and people in sufficient quality and quantity to enable managers to make meaningful comparisons to operations standards. As with control, too much infor- mation can be as bad as too little. 5. Controls should be accepted by the people they affect. Controls and their applicabil- ity to specific situations should be communicated clearly to those responsible for implementing them and to those who will be governed by them. Although all of these characteristics are important, a given control system need not have all of them in order to do the job for which it is designed

physical standards

refer to quality, durablility, size, and weight

intangible standards

relate to human characteristics and are not expressed in terms of number, money, physical qualities, or time