Directing

About this unit

Directing is the management function of instructing, guiding, communicating with and inspiring people so that they work towards organisational goals. It puts plans into action through people. This unit covers the meaning, importance and principles of directing and its four elements: supervision, motivation, leadership and communication. It draws on ideas from psychology, such as Maslow's need hierarchy and styles of leadership.

Key ideas

• Directing initiates action, takes place at every level, is continuous and flows from top to bottom.
• Its elements are supervision, motivation, leadership and communication.
• Maslow's hierarchy runs from physiological needs up to self-actualisation.
• Incentives can be financial or non-financial.
• Leadership styles: autocratic (authoritative), democratic (participative) and laissez-faire (free-rein).
• Communication can be formal or informal and faces semantic, psychological, organisational and personal barriers.

How to prepare

• Memorise the five levels of Maslow's hierarchy in order, with an example of each.
• Prepare lists of financial and non-financial incentives.
• Practise classifying barriers to communication and identifying leadership styles from short cases.