Controlling is a part of the management process and has a lot of importance. Controlling is a pervasive function which means it is present at all levels of management and is performed by all types of managers. It is even used in all concerns related to the management process. Controlling is a forward-looking and dynamic process which changes at every stage in every situation. It might be the same or different for various kinds of problems and is majorly dedicated towards the correction of past problems and following up with the actions of the employees and managers. It is closely related to the planning function of management and is useless and meaningless without it. There are various steps associated with the controlling process. The steps start with the establishment of standards for an organization. The standards are the plans and targets that are to be achieved in the course of action and are used to judge the performance of an employee. The standard should be tangible or intangible in accordance to the performance that is measured. This could be associated with the cost of output, expenditures or even the attitudes of various workers. Next step in the process of controlling is the measurement of performance which is used to find out the deviations of the actual performance from the standard performance. This measurement could be done in terms of units, cost, money or in the qualitative attitude of workers and communication with superiors. The next major step in the course of controlling is the comparison between the actual and standard performance.
This is usually done to detect the extent of deviation and the cause of deviation between the two as these deviations are the reason for the lack of performance. Deviations occur because of many reasons as defaulted planning or implementation, loose coordination or ineffective supervision. A manager is required to take remedial measures in accordance with the deviations that are found in the process. Managers must also revise the targets and set standards according to the performance which is required and follow up at regular time intervals.
It is through this process that a manager is able to exercise control in the organization. Controlling holds importance in the management process because of the following reasons. It helps in accomplishing the organizational goals as well as make the use of resources efficient in the long run. It helps the manager in judging the accuracy of standards and then justify those objectives. It plays a major role in improving employee motivation and assuring order and discipline in the organization at the same time. It improves coordination among the
employees and their actions and helps in achieving the overall objective of the organization. There are some problems associated with controlling process that could not be denied. A manager must make sure that these problems are minimized and the planning process is accurately carried on. These problems are asymmetry of information and lack of
communication among the employees and managers. Quantifying human behavior is another problem that a manager must tackle as human behavior is sensitive and subjective. The manager must also try to reduce the delay in the feedback system in order to improve the efficiency of the planning process. It is also important that the manager motivates the employees’ personal goals to come in accordance with the goals of the organization as a whole. It is difficult to create a plan which is perfect, realistic, feasible and economic at the same time but controlling helps in creating more flexibility and can able the system to operate as predicted.