ORDER IN AN ORGANIZATION
The purpose for structure in an organization is to prevent the failure of that organization. Every organization needs an organizational structure so as to prevent organizational failure. “The configuration of organizational structure is as important as the vision of that organization.” The essence of structure is to create order. Order helps to make the organization’s vision clearer. “Until your vision is clear, those who work with you cannot run with it.” Order helps you to arrange or organize things the way it ought to be. Order helps you to regulates and control work and staff members. Order helps you to clarify job description and help make the workers or staffs carry out their responsibility. Order helps to enhance staff member’s performance. Order increases productivity in an organization. But to have order in your organization, you will need to put in place certain structures such as administrative structure.
Most times when starting a business or company, we think it is too early to create administrative structure. Administrative structure needs to begin from onset of the business. Administration is crucial for the enhancement of organization’s effectiveness. “To administer means to have charge or direction of, to manage, to delegate, to regulate, to exercise authority, to contribute towards the attainment of the objective. It also means the management and execution of public affairs.” When you have administrative structure in your organization, it helps you to delegate task and assign duties to the right persons. The right person for any job is the one who has the skills and competence to carry out the job delegated to him or her.
“A duty not delegated is no body’s responsibility.” When you delegate a job to somebody, you must also create conducive atmosphere for the person to carry out the job. “When you fail to create the atmosphere required for the person to do the job, you are assigning the person to fail in that job.” No matter how skillful or competent a person is, once the right environment is not there for him to work, it would lead him to fail woefully. For proper administrative performance, every member of the team must also be given assignment in order to create environments where everyone feels belong. Until that sense of belonging is there, the team members will not put in their best into the work.
DEVELOPING STRATEGIC PLAN
Proper administrative structure helps you to develop strategic plan for your organization. Planning helps you to preventing failure in your organization. “Planning infuses energy into you which increases your ability to work without being exhausted.” Planning helps you to know what to do and what not to do. “Planning helps you to make a proper budget for all that you want to do. And proper budget helps you to avoid wasting your resources and that of your organization.” To maintain proper budget, there has to be accurate documentation of all income and expenditure. Proper documentation helps you to keep track of all that is going on in the organization. Documentation is not just about keeping record of money spent but it covers all areas. “When you keep record of everything happening in the corporation, it makes everybody in the organization accountable.”
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Effective management of any project is anchor on proper administrative structure. “Successful execution of project is parameter for measuring the capacity of your organization.” There are different phases to project management. There is project planning, project delegation and project implementation. These are different phases that any project that will succeed will have to go through.
What is a project? A project can be defined as a scheme, a mission, a job, a venture, a task or assignment. “Project is something you want to do that will add value to your life, family, business, organization, community, state or a country.” A project is an assignment to be carried out in order to accomplish a dream, design or objectives. Every one living has one thing or another which they want to execute or accomplish for the day. This is why we leave our houses every time to travel or to go to work somewhere.
PROJECT PLANNING
The planning stage of anything you are doing is very critical to the successful completion of that project. It has being said that when someone fails to plan, he is planning to fail, which is to say failing to plan is an indirect way of planning to fail. “The failure of any venture is as a result of one’s inability to come up with a detailed plan on how to execute the project at hand.” It is at the planning stage that you can see what is needed for successful execution of that venture or project. “One of the signs of lack of a good plan is that the resources allocated to the project will run out before you finish the project.” When planning for a project, you must also plan how to generate the resources to carry out the project. Who is to do what and when is it to be done.
I have an uncle who is a builder; there was a time someone gave him a contract to build a house. He and his team started the building but at the middle of the building they discovered that they had deviated from the building plan, they had to stop everything else and correct the mistake before they continued with the building. And had they not corrected the mistake, what would have happened? “How did they correct the mistake? I’m sure you will like to know. They corrected it by breaking down the whole portion of the area where they deviated from the plan.” They have to spend more money, time and energy to do it. And correcting the mistakes of any institution or organization is very expensive, because of that, most people would like to carry on with the errors. Later on you would wish had corrected it when it was discovered; because the more you bear with the mistakes, the more expensive it becomes to correct. “It takes a plan to know when you are on track and when you go off track.” An architect can charge a lot of money to draw a building plan, why? Because it is the building plan that show what to do from start to finish. Same goes for every area of life.
PROJECT DELEGATION
Delegation is the sharing of responsibility and authority to others by entrusting them with certain assignment. “Delegation practically means to be assigned and empowered. Assignment here is to be specified and the power measured.” Both the assignment and its power must depend on the capacity of the individuals delegated. When people have been raised, they will demonstrate the following traits. The first thing is that they will be willing and ready to carry out their task. And secondly; they will be eagerly expecting to be assigned to a task. And thirdly; they will be willing to submit to the appropriate authority which is an indication of their preparedness to comply with instructions. “Project implementation can only become realistic through people principally by delegation.” Reasons for the leader to delegate to others
Delegation becomes necessary for good organizational and operational effectiveness. And there are a lot of benefits in delegation. You can live longer and more comfortable if you learn to delegate. “It allows others to make their contribution with you in the execution of the project. And it gives the people working with you the sense of belonging.” When there is a sense of belonging in your staff or team members, it helps to create a bond that will become a culture in the organization in years to come.
Proper delegation is for concentration and efficiency in the organization’s workforce. “If you are enclosed by too many things, you may lose sight of your major assignment.” If you are clamored by too many things, your output may reduce. Proper delegation of project is for general speed. Two or more like-minded people will always be more productive than one. If you want to go quick, go alone but if you want to go far then go with others. “When you work as a team, it helps to motivate you to go at your best speed possible.”
Proper delegation of a project is for wider spread. “The number of people you have that are efficient will determine the number of places you can reach at the same time.” The number of competent people you have in your organization will also determine the number of project you can carry out. The number of people you have that are effective will determine the wide-range of your organization’s growth. Organization will not grow itself, it is people that work to grow the organization to whatever level you want it to reach.
Proper delegation is for transference of your wealth of knowledge, skills and experience. “There is danger in being the only person that knows how to do what you are doing, because if you die, all your wealth of knowledge, skills and experience dies with you.” The nourishment of any organization’s vision is in the communication of the same. Always remember that you will not always be there. “Link your expertise with others and let the chain continue.” This is the secret to building a lasting organization. Things must not stop working because you cannot be reached or because you traveled out of town. If that is happening in your organization then it means you are running a one man show. And any organization that is built on one man show has no generational future; it will die with its owner.
DEVELOPING CAPACITY FOR GREATNESS.
BY.... DANIEL O. EROMOSELE
