Management is an art and a science, not just a task. As an art, management means you make people more effective than they are without you. The science of management involves the steps and processes of doing that.

What does it mean exactly when a manager makes people become more effective? A team accomplishing more customer service calls with you than without you means you as a manager has value. Or when the store is able to sell more merchandise, or when the group is able to impart knowledge more efficiently. These are some instances of management doing its job well. There are 4 basic pillars of management, and they are planning, organizing, directing and monitoring.

4 Pillars Of Management

• Planning – A management task starts with planning, and good management initializes with good planning. You may be able to get to the goals by luck or chance, but your so- called accomplishment will not be repeatable. You may become an overnight sensation by hitting the jackpot, but you will not be able to create a track record of accomplishment that makes management truly successful. Listen carefully to what your boss says about targets, goals and objectives. What is the best way to attain these? What are your available resources? What are the benefits when you successfully achieve goals. Assess your team members. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• Organizing – This is when you make your plans happen. Are the materials, tools and other resources ready? What about your people? Do they know what to do? Are they trained and motivated? Team members ought to know their roles and the importance of their roles to the overall success of the project.
• Directing – This means turning the switch “ON”. As a manager, compare yourself to an orchestra conductor. Your job is to make the music happen, and it has to be good music. Everybody has their pieces, and positioned in their sections. Your musicians should know their beat, melody and rhythm so that they all play in tune. Do you have the right number of musicians and are they arranged accordingly. You as the manager with your baton will have to tap the podium lightly to get everybody´s attention and they do what they need to do.
• Monitoring – Everything is now moving, and you have to keep an eye on things. Are things going on as planned? You need to ensure this. If glitches happen, then you´d have to find a way to adjust. It is important to develop a contingency plan in case of major setbacks. Plan a fix if things get out of sync. Monitoring means you are always aware of how things are going and make adjustments as needed.