Line managers are Line and functional managers

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

Each organization has its own organizational structure, which is a framework within which issues are resolved about the distribution of tasks, the use of company resources and the coordination of the work of existing departments.

Factors influencing organizational structure

• Organization size. Large enterprises have a more complex reporting structure than small ones, in which one manager is enough to manage.
• Age of the organization. Every year the structure of the enterprise becomes more complicated.
• Strategy and objectives. The goals and objectives that are set for the leader and subordinates have a significant impact.
• Staff. The organizational structure depends on the leadership qualities and activities of each employee.
• The direction of the company. An enterprise that provides one service (for example, a hairdresser) needs one manager to organize normal work, but a large factory that produces several types of products needs a more complex organizational structure.
• Culture and environment. National culture and mentality.
• Management style. It can be authoritarian or democratic.

Summary of organizational structures

• Linear - there is a direct impact of the leader on subordinates. He is entrusted with all the functions of managing the activities of the company. The leader in line structures is independently responsible for all questions regarding the productive work of the system's links.
• Functional - it is characterized by the subordination of functional managers to the linear one, who is entrusted with the overall management of the organization. In addition, he is responsible for all decisions made. There is a specialization of functional managers depending on the managerial functions they perform.
• Linear-functional (linear-staff). This structure is characterized by the fact that the organization has line and functional managers. The first work on the principle of unity of command. The second manages the work of departments. The main tasks are carried out by the heads of line functional units, who report to the chief line manager.
• Matrix - the project manager can manage subordinates of any department. After the work on the project is completed, the performers return to their units.

Let's take a closer look at who line managers are, what functions and tasks are assigned to them. We will also discuss what are the advantages and disadvantages of operating such an organizational structure.

Linearexecutives: entity

Line managers are the heads of organizations or departments that are engaged in the main activities of the enterprise. They are responsible for achieving the goals that the firm faces.

Line managers are the dominant faces of enterprises. The necessary information is provided to them by direct reports. Based on it, they make decisions and issue appropriate orders.

In a linear-functional organizational structure, the line manager plays a slightly different role. Its powers are limited to decision-making issues. That is, line managers are bosses who work on the principles of unity of command, but perform the tasks of managers for individual functions. As a result, the quality of decisions made is significantly improved, because the chief boss does not have to follow the heads of departments.

Functions of the line manager

• Setting the main goals and objectives of the organization and monitoring their implementation.
• Creating an efficient team: evaluate the productivity of staff, participate in the selection of new employees, conduct interviews, make decisions on dismissal, make a work schedule.
• Control of employee discipline.
• Providing staff development, organizing training, rewarding and punishing.
• Motivating employees, evaluating the performance of each person.
• Formation and maintenance of corporateculture, conflict resolution.

Tasks of line managers

• Help the firm achieve its goals.
• Search for the enterprise of qualified employees who are interested in working for the result.
• Efficient use of knowledge and experience of employees.
• Improving the motivational system.
• Improvement of the employee training system, timely professional development.
• Creating a favorable climate in the organization.
• Schedule promotions and other rewards.
• Activation of the creative activity of workers.
• Improving staff performance evaluation methods.
• Creating decent working conditions for employees.

Line manager performance criteria

Not every boss can become a worthy leader. Effective work on the organization of the company's activities is everyday work. Line managers are persons with certain competencies. Their effectiveness can be assessed using the following parameters:

• The result of the main activity of the organization.
• The presence of appropriate motivation from the authorities. The manager must regularly support and develop his desire to work further.
• Development of competence for working with personnel. The leader should strive to understand all the subtleties of managing employeeshis organization or the unit entrusted to him.
• The ability to form a commitment among subordinates to a common main goal.

The core competencies of a leader to ensure the effective functioning of an organization

• Significant professional experience (skills and abilities in solving various professional problems).
• Leadership (helps to form a worthy team and inspire it to achieve its goal).
• Effective communication and interaction with employees (knows how to argue his point of view and correctly expresses his thoughts).
• Planning and coordinating work (planning is essential for a good result).

Benefits of a linear organizational structure

• Unity of subordination (all employees report to one boss);.
• The full responsibility of each employee in accordance with their workplace.
• The simplicity of the system, as all powers and responsibilities are clearly distributed.
• Decisions are made quickly.
• Creating the necessary discipline in the team.

Disadvantages of a linear organizational structure

• A line manager cannot be competent in all areas.
• The rigidity of the system and the difficulty in adapting it to changing conditions.
• Focuses on a small amount of information passing between levels of the hierarchy.
• Restriction in initiativelower-level employees.
• As production scales up, division of labor becomes difficult.

So, line managers are the main link in the line structure of the organization, which is entrusted with the task of achieving the organization's main goal and who are responsible for the fulfillment of the tasks set. On the one hand, such a system greatly simplifies the management of an enterprise, on the other hand, it slows down its development and prevents it from quickly adapting to changing environmental conditions.