Controlling is one of the many functions of management and often planning and controlling are considered as two pillars on which the structure of success of the company rests. In order to understand about controlling better let’s look at some of the important features of controlling –
Controlling Features
Interdependent
The first and foremost feature of controlling is that it is dependent on planning and planning is dependent on controlling so if there is no plan of action then there is no need to control anything and if there is no controlling then chances of plan going haywire increases so in simple words both planning and controlling are interrelated with each other. So for example, if a bank management has planned to achieve 20 percent growth in deposits of the bank over a period of 1 year then it is with the help of controlling by regular follow up meeting with branch managers of the bank regarding their progress a bank will be able to achieve the planned target.
Comparison with Actual Performance
It compares the actual performance with the planned performance and on the basis of that management gets an idea whether it has achieved a success or not. So for example, if a shoe manufacturing plant has planned to manufacture 2000 shoes for a month and at the end of the month during controlling management finds out that there is the production of 2100 shoes then it can be called a success as the actual performance of the plant is better than planned performance.
Dynamic
It is the most dynamic function of management because it is in this stage that management has to make quick and important decisions and one cannot adopt a lackluster approach in the case of controlling. So for example in the case of above example if bank management finds that one particular manager is not doing any work and due to him or her bank is losing the business then bank management can transfer or terminate the services of a nonperforming manager so that bank achieves the target.
Present at all Levels
It is not limited to top management only rather it is present at all levels of the company, so for example if company has made plan to reduce operating expenses by 10 percent then whether the employees of the company are doing their effort or not is the responsibility of not only top management but it is the responsibility of all managers at all levels from floor manager to departmental manager.
Forward Looking
It is forward-looking also because it helps the management in finding out mistakes which can be rectified not only for the present projects but also can be used for future projects so that people in the company do not repeat same mistakes again in the future, hence in a way it not only rectify current mistakes but also helps in making sure that same mistakes do not happen again.
As one can see from the above that controlling has many characteristics and that is the reason why management pays special emphasis on this function of the management.