Line manager: definition, managerial activities, tasks and functions

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Every organization has a management cadre. They include three categories of people: performers, specialists and managers. The latter, in turn, are divided into:

• Functional, which are responsible for specific units that perform certain functions in the field of management.
• Linear, whose activity is based on the principle of unity of command. They are responsible for the development of the entire company, or a separate part of it, for example, a site, workshop, association, and so on.

Definition

Line manager is the head of a separate division, business or production. With the help of the management apparatus entrusted to him, he coordinates the work of subordinate employees, makes key decisions related to the functioning of his department (bureau, workshop, company).

The leader owns one of the main positions in the company. The larger and more complex it is, the higher the requirements will be set for the applicant for this position. A person endowed with certain managerial rights, responsibilities, as well as norms of behavior always behaves individually, so it is important for everyone to be able to control subordinates, make important decisions, and delegate authority if necessary.

Main responsibilities

The managerial activity of line managers implies that they must be responsible for the area entrusted to them. To do this, they must:

• monitor the correct and uninterrupted operation of the unit entrusted to them;
• perform production tasks;
• manage staff properly;
• improve the work of the organization, optimize it.

If a line manager takes his duties responsibly, knows how to effectively manage employees, as well as the production process, then the company has every chance of gaining financial well-being and success.

Tasks and functions

The line manager performs a number of functions and tasks:

1. Monitoring compliance with production processes; Troubleshooting.
2. Ensure that workers adhere to the work schedule and discipline, follow the rules of safety and labor protection.
3. Instructing employees; formation of teams, coordination of their activities, control of their qualifications and professionalism.
4. Implementation of measures for the correct use of available tools and equipment,compliance with industrial hygiene requirements.
5. One of the main responsibilities of a Site Superintendent is the acceptance of completed works.
6. Setting and explaining production tasks to workers, monitoring their implementation, summarizing the results.
7. Analysis of the work of employees, their encouragement, the imposition of pen alties, advanced training; carrying out educational work, team building.
8. Carrying out activities to increase labor productivity, reduce costs, improve working conditions, disseminate innovative experience, and so on.

Management efficiency

The official status of the leader affects his behavior and the sequence of actions in matters relating to the structures of the organization and the distribution of powers. It defines the social and functional role of the manager.

Whether the head of the section is coping effectively with his activities can be assessed using some parameters:

• Evaluation of the final results of the functioning of the organization, as well as the costs of the management process.
• The level of organization and content of the leader's work.
• Rationality of the company's structure, its organizational and technical potential.
• The ability to motivate subordinates, make them make every effort to achieve their goals.

Head of Section

The shop manager is a mid-level line manager. He musthave a higher professional or secondary technical education, as well as work experience of at least three to five years.

This position involves the following activities:

• shop management;
• implementation of production tasks;
• improving the technologies used;
• planning and accounting of work;
• creating safe working conditions;
• equipment maintenance activities;
• recruitment;
• staff motivation;
• creating a favorable atmosphere in the team.

The shop manager should be familiar with production technology, key organizational documents, methods of effective planning and incentives for workers, basic management and economics, labor protection rules.

Human Resource Management

The priority activity of the line manager is personnel development. It is much more expedient to invest not in production facilities, but in improving personnel. To do this, it is necessary to train employees, influencing the amount of skills and knowledge; improve their skills; send people for professional reorientation.

Line manager must:

• support those staff members who are capable of learning;
• implement best practices;
• develop skilled workforce;
• reduce turnover;
• inspire other managers in the importance of staff development.

Thus, linear managers perform important tasks for the rational management of companies or their separate divisions. They are obliged by all means to increase production efficiency not only through the use of innovative technologies, but also through the development of personnel. A good leader knows how to achieve goals in optimal time, motivate employees, plan and make adjustments, and correctly evaluate the results.