Chapter 16- Management Flashcards
The act of motivating people towards the achievement of a goal or goals.
Management
Achieving the goals of a funeral home through the use of people and resources.
Funeral Home Management
To meet the death-related needs of those grieving families that select the funeral home to serve them.
Primary Objective of Funeral Service
Many financial managers feel this is the primary object (it’s not). It is to ensure that funerals generate enough money to meet expenses, make capital improvements, and generate a reasonable return on investment (ROI) profit.
Secondary Objective of Funeral Service
- Keep the business running effficiently and profitably
- Supervise employees
- Ensure business is adhering to all state and federal laws
- Maintain quality control in all matters dealing with customers
- Accomplished through the 4 functions of management
Funeral Home Managers
- Planning
- Organizing
- Directing (Actuating)
- Controlling (Evaluating)
- Manager must be able to envision the end result at the start of the process
- Develop the ability to think through every project and task and then develop and thorough, complete plan to carry the project to completion.
- Key to the successs of a funeral home is not only good operational planning, but also the ability to think strategically.
- Develop a mission statement
- Set goals and objectives
Planning
Management for funeral services begins long before employees are needed. It starts by determining why the company exists. This is normally not more than 2 sentences and describes the purpose of the organization. It is aimed at enablng all members of the organization to share the same view of the company’s goals and philosophy.
Developing a Mission Statement
- Reason the organization exists
- Products and services offered
- Clientele served
- Nature and geographic marketing territory of the business
- Areas of specialization
The mission statement describes the business and typically speaks to the:
Broad statements about what an organization wants to achieve.
- Developed in the planning process
- Form the basic plan or directrion toward which decisions and activities are focused
- Motivational in nature
- Usually stated in broad, general terms without reference to a time period.
Goals
Specific statements of ends, the achievement of which are contemplated within a specific time period.
- Used in the management control process
- Provide a quantitative and time framework for the organization’s goals.
- Accomplished by a specific date and are stated in specific terms, preferably in such a way that there is some measurable basis for determining the extent to which they have been achieved.
Objectives
The manager must integrate the firm’s employees, work processes, and material resources towards achieving the funeral home’s goals.
- Work to be completed should be divided into manageable units. Specific people or groups of people should be given the responsibility for each unit.
- Manager should remember that when people work closely together as a team, there is a synergistic effect that increases productivity and raises morale.
Organization
In addition to being a good analyst and developer of systems and plans, the mangager must also be part psychologist and part social worker.
- Must have ability to deal with people and their problems
- Involves geting the members of he organization to perform in ways that will achieve the company’s objectives.
- A good manager can inspire employees to do their best
- Removes organizational obstacles hindering employees, establishing an enjoyable work environment, and obtaining sufficient resources.
Directing (Actuating)
- Not only focus on systems and structure, but also on people
- Understand the dynamics of effective human relations
- Insprire trust and loyalty
- Develop employee participation
- Be tolerant of diversity in people
- Create a dynamic working environment
- Look at the present bottom line, have a vision of the future, and be able to communicate and articulate this vision
- Constantly improve service to client families and the community
- Share the spotlight with employees
- Be fair, but firm
- Deomonstrate the worth ethic
- Set and live by high ethical standards
- Challenge the status quo
- Treat other funeral directors as colleagues rather than competitors
- Encourage creative thinking and problem solving
- Demonstrate effective leadership
- Communicate efficiently
The Manager Must (When Directing/Actuating)
Manager must be responsible for results, good and bad.
- Establish standards of performance
- Measure the performance
- Compare the performance to the company’s expectations
- Take action to correct problems if performance is not up to expectations
- Put these skills to use so the manager can control the results and thus know when the firm’s goals have been achieved.
- The word control should not mean power
- Employees should not see manager’s control in a negative way
- Objectives changed as necessary
- Develop new concepts and revise old ones continually
- Project plans into the future, but have the ability to be flexible
Evaluating (Controlling)
