What is Coordination, Definition of Coordination
Coordination is the pursuit of a common purpose
What is Coordination
Have you ever seen an orchestra? Its conductor stands in front of all the musicians and singers and direct activities of the group in such a manner that it produces harmony and melody in music. In the same way in an organization, a manager (conductor) also directs activities of the group in such a manner that it brings the harmonious and united action to achieve the common objective.
To achieve the business objective, managers have to procure and make the best use of resources like money, machines, materials, and men. Many of these resources and functions which are under the disposal of managers are inter-related. To attain the common objectives of the organization efficiently, different activities and efforts must be planned, organized and carried on in an orderly manner. This is possible through coordination only.
Various activities of a business organization are planned and carried out in different departments. There are divisions and sub-divisions of operation within the departments according to the nature of the task involved. The duty of the coordinator is to harmonize the individual and group activities of the different departments to the common objectives of the organization. Coordination plays a vital role in the smooth function of an organization.
Definition of Coordination
Coordination refers to the orderly arrangement of the group and individual efforts to ensure unity of action in the realization of common objectives. It involves synchronization of different efforts or actions of the various units of an organization to provide the requisite amount, timing, quality and sequence of efforts so that the planned objectives may be achieved with minimum conflict.
According to Brech, “Coordination is balancing and keeping together the team by ensuring suitable allocation of tasks to the various members and seeing that the tasks are performed with the harmony among the members themselves. “
According to McFarland, “Coordination is the process whereby an executive develops an orderly pattern of group efforts among his subordinates and secures unity of action in the pursuit of common purpose”
Theo Haimann defines Coordination as “the orderly synchronizing of efforts of the subordinates to provide the proper amount, timing and quality of execution so that their united efforts lead to stated objectives, namely the common purpose of the enterprise.
From the above definitions, we can understand that coordination is a conscious process of synchronizing, assembling and arranging various kinds of activities with a view to achieving specific objectives. The following points are to be noted:
Avoid conflicts of efforts: There are chances that conflicts of efforts may arise between personal and organizational goals during the working of different departments. Coordination by the managers can prevent such conflicts.
Harmonization of group efforts: Organisation is not merely a collection of machines, methods, men, material or money. All these resources and efforts need to be harmonized to achieve the common objective at the proper time. Timing and quality of execution need to be synchronized to ensure timely delivery of the output. Coordination, therefore, applies to harmonization of group efforts.
Responsibility: Coordination is the most important responsibility of every manager in the organization. He arranges tasks of his subordinates for the common objectives of the organization. Failure of his responsibility of arranging or coordinating tasks or operations may affect the organization's performance and quality which result in loss of money, efforts, time and goodwill of the organization. There arises the need of appointment of special coordinators if the manager fails to do the work of coordination.
Unity of action: An individual may not be related to others in the organization through the structure, but his actions may affect the functions of others in the same organization. In such situations, the unity of actions can be achieved through the coordination of managers of the organization.
Continuous Process: Coordination is a continuous process which starts from the establishment of a business and runs through until its closure. It is a continuous process for achieving unity of purpose in the organization.
The pursuit of a common purpose: It is the most important aspect of coordination. Each individual has a different purpose, goals, values, perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, etc., and makes every effort to achieve his own objective or goal. While working for their own goals, groups and individuals, also contribute something to the achievement of the organizational goals. Managers or coordinators have to persuade individuals and groups to work for the common purpose of the organization which achieving their own objectives.
Coordination
Related Articles
- Delegation of Authority
In any organization no individual can perform all duties and accomplish all tasks by himself. It is physically impossible for a single individual to look after the affairs of a large business. His skill lies in his ability to get thins done.... - Management as a profession
Mr. Louis Allen defined profession as "a specialized kind of work practiced through and by use of classified knowledge, a common vocabulary, and requiring standards of practice and code of ethics established by a recognized body...... - Definition of Management
Management is the art of getting things done through people. In a broader sense, it is the process of planning, organising, leading and controlling the efforts of organisation members and of using all other organisational resources to achieve... - List of Classification of managerial skills
At all levels, Managers require three types of skills. They are: Technical Skills, Human Skill, Conceptual Skills.... - Nature of Management
Management is an universal phenomenon in the sense that it is common and essential element in all enterprises. Managers perform more or less the same functions irrespective of their position or nature of the organization. The basic principles.... - Managerial Functions
The functions which describe managerial job, when put together, make up the management process. This process is analyzed into key functions of management viz., planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. Planning, organizing and.... - Social Responsibility of Management and Responsibilities of managers
The term social responsibilities can be defined as the obligation of management towards the society and others concerned.