Coordination in management is one of the most significant elements which make an organisation run effectively.
Coordination involves aligning various departments and teams towards common goals, enabling them to function effectively. Without coordination, organisations face chaos, confusion, and ineffectiveness.
This article explores the concept of coordination, its nature, types, principles, techniques, barriers, and the vital role management plays in effective coordination.
What is Coordination?
Coordination is the way in which an organization orders and harmonizes the collective actions of various different individuals and groups to deliver common goals.
It is not merely informing everyone; instead, it creates one unit where all the parts work in harmony with each other.
Practically, this means that all the operations or efforts related to marketing, finance, human resources, and others would be performed to achieve the organization's mission.
Importance of Coordination
1. It helps minimize conflicts:
Coordination defines roles and responsibilities and prevents conflict between departments.
2. Increases efficiency:
Coordination of activities allows organizations to cut down on redundancy and optimize processes for better resource utilization.
3. Ensures good communication:
Proper coordination always opens communication channels and gets all players up to speed and in agreement.
4. Aids change:
Organizations dealing with change, new strategies, or market conditions are helped adjust quickly through the activity of coordination.
Nature of Coordination
Coordination cannot be understood without knowing the nature of coordination.
Now, to understand how important coordination is in management, it is pertinent to discuss what it is.
Key aspects include the following:
1. Continuous Process
Coordination is not something that happens overnight. It would be a continuous process where continuous communication and collaboration exist among different members of an organization.
The coordination needs of organizations change as the organizations themselves do.
2. Integrative Function
Coordination is an integrative function which unifies various elements of an organization. It aligns different types of activities in a way that they support one another.
3. Objective Based
Coordination of activities should contribute towards the objectives set by the organization.
Every activity or process of coordination should focus toward achieving the ultimate goal of the organization.
4. Dynamic in Nature
Coordination also varies depending on what goes on as organizations change with regard to the business environment, technology, and market demands.
This dynamic process requires individuals to be versatile and accommodate changes from all angles.
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Types of Coordination
Coordination can be categorized in the following manners where each has its own organizational function:
1. Horizontal Coordination
Horizontal coordination occurs between departments or teams at the same level.
For example, a marketing team will most likely work closely with a sales team to ensure that there is launch of a product.
Horizontal coordination is very important in promoting the cooperation and synergies between peers.
2. Vertical Coordination
Vertical coordination is one where the communication and alignment take place within an organization at various levels of management.
For instance, in a holistic organization, top management could offer or express strategic goals that are then cascaded down to middle management who further communicates and directs teams.
The advantage of this coordinating mode is that none in the organization will be misled to which way and strategies the organization is using.
3. Interdepartmental coordination:
Facilitating cooperation between various departments in the organization, such as finance, production, and human resources.
This makes it such that there should be a meeting point from all sides in the organization.
4. External Coordination
External coordination refers to cooperation with external players, such as customers, suppliers, and regulation bodies.
Those in top-level organizations are very critical, as suppliers and customers can influence business operations and strategy.
Principles of Coordination
The following are the doctrines to make coordination effective:
1. Unity of Purpose
All members of the team must be well aware of the goals of the organization.
When all people have one purpose to unite together, it is easier to work harmoniously with the people.
2. Crystal Clear Communication
Effective coordination deals with clear and open communication channels.
This will ensure that the members of the team will arrive at appropriate times on issues, especially responding to change.
3. Mutual Trust and Respect
Building trust among the members of the team could provide a collaborative environment.
If the members respect each other's inputs, they can work together easily.
4. Flexibility
Organizations should be able to be flexible with changing circumstances.
This requires flexibility in terms of new ideas or approaches to coordination with regard to changing environments.
Proper coordination ensures that all available resources, whether time or money or man-power, are employed in the most efficient way. Coordination of activities helps organizations avoid waste and become productive.
Techniques of Coordination
There are several techniques that may be used to increase coordination in an organization:
1. Meetings and Conferences
One of the most basic coordination techniques is the holding of regular meetings.
This is a platform whereby members of the team can discuss the progress being made regarding the level of attainment, problems encountered, and future actions that they will take. These may include:
2. Team Meetings:
Regularly scheduled interactions amongst the team members for reviewing assignments and progress updates.
3. Cross-Departmental Meetings:
Involvement of representatives from other departments to foster collaboration on specific projects across different departments.
4. Strategic Planning Sessions:
Higher-level meetings for coordination of long-term goals and strategies.
Communication Tools
In the modern digital world, many kinds of tools can facilitate coordination:
1. Emails:
Efficient for reporting updates and documentation.
2. Instant Messaging:
Rapid communication tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams help facilitate a real-time discussion.
3. Project Management Software:
Organized teams track the tasks, deadlines, and who is responsible for each of those things. Trello or Asana help teams track tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities.
4. Joint Planning Sessions
Having different departments together in joint planning sessions will spur more cohesive strategies.
Team members can freely share ideas, insights, and evolve integrated plans in such sessions.
5. Cross-Functional Teams
The establishment of cross-functional teams aids coordination on specific projects.
Cross-functional teams bring together diverse perspectives with different levels of expertise to create innovation and collaboration.
Barriers to Effective Coordination
While coordination can be important, various barriers may intervene to prohibit its effectiveness:
1. Lack of Communication
It may result in a misunderstanding or misaligned goals.
When people are not informed of things that come about or what is going on, there may be confusion and frustration.
2. Differing Objectives
The departments often work towards departmental goals that contradict with each other.
For example, the sales unit may focus on short-term sales while the production one will be on quality- therefore creating unnecessary tensions.
3. Organisational Silos
These are departments that work in silos. That is, they remain isolated from other departments and do not cooperate or share information with each other.
This makes little innovation and wastes a lot of time that's repeated effort.
4. Cultural Differences
Communicating and coordination might be impacted differently between organizations with different cultures.
It is, therefore, fundamental that one should identify and understand the differences for the sake of effective coordination.
5. Resistance to Change
Employees may resist new coordination practices and tools that they use due to familiar methods.
This resistance requires a firm leadership and the right communication of the clear benefits of change.
Coordination Role of Management
Management mainly promotes coordination within an organization.
The following are several ways in which managers can coordinate an organization very well.
1. Leadership
Effective leadership is fundamental in the process of leading teams toward common goals.
Leaders should inspire their teams, set clear expectations, and model collaborative behavior.
2. Clear Objectives
Managers need to ensure that all the team members understand the goals of the organizations and how they contribute toward attaining them.
Clear objectives provide direction and focus for coordinated efforts.
3. Facilitating Communication
Open communication and easy idea sharing must be encouraged within that team, and people must be made to feel comfortable in speaking up about their ideas and concerns.
This may be done by conducting meetings at certain intervals and the release of steady feedback mechanisms.
4. Monitoring and Feedback
Routine monitoring and constructive feedback inform teams of the needed direction and prevent them from deterring off course.
There must be adequate and proactive resolution of problems that arise concerning coordination efforts.
Conflicts will be inevitable in the life of any organization. The manager has to deal with such conflicts quickly and equitably so that the coordination should not be hindered.
Importance of Coordination in Varied Environments
Coordination is critical in several organizations in terms of the following key aspects of the organization:
1. Strategic Planning
Coordination is very imperative during strategic planning.
In this regard, coordination helps the departments of the organization align their goals with the overall vision of the organization and hence yields an integrated strategy.
2. Project Management
Coordination is an essential factor for effective management of projects.
Teams should work together, share information, and adjust according to feedback obtained towards achieving project objectives.
3. Crisis Management
In case of a crisis, the coordination should be efficient and quick to enable teams to clearly communicate and act fast to find their way through problems and mitigate the impact of damage occurring.
4. Change Management
Coordination, therefore is highly important for organizations that are changing and restructuring or launching new initiatives.
It gives an indication of where everybody is in terms of vision so everybody might adjust to new circumstances.
Case Studies
Successful Example: Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is famous for its proper coordination among multiple departments.
The products that came to hand, from the first iPhone release to the latest iPhone versions, were due to successful collaboration among designing, engineering, marketing, and sales teams.
This culture of good communication and coordination sets up a smooth canvas upon which all departments work harmoniously together and understand the needs of customers and deliver appropriate products.
Failure Example: Kodak
This is the perfect example of poor coordination, and when Kodak did not learn to understand the revolution about digital photography, it became a classic example.
The different departments working within the company could not communicate the need for innovation in the rapidly changing market.
Because of that, the company went down as the opponents of the company roared ahead by embracing the digital technology.
Conclusion
Coordination is one of the management tools without which an organization cannot be really successful.
It fosters communication, which eliminates war and prompts efficiency. Knowing the nature of coordination, using proper techniques for coordination, and removing barriers all increase a more streamlined and effective workplace.
The part of the management has to play a very vital role in coordination through good leadership, defined goals, and proactive communication. Because organizations have to tackle a business environment as ever-changing and complex, successful coordination will certainly pave long-term success.
Managers can lead their respective teams in the pursuit of ultimate goal attainment by keeping all the parts of the organization running harmoniously.
Coordination will usually lead to proper strategies, enhanced collaboration, and a thriving organizational culture.
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