One of the first questions we had to answer in our management classes was, “Is Management an art or a Science?” And then we read about Fayol and Taylor’s principles which brought the science to managing offices. Henri Fayol is known as one of the founders of modern management methods. He had laid down 14 principles of management for organizations, which means he had spelt out how organizations should operate. More often than not, I have actually seen them being implemented by organizations and hence truly believe in the practical application of these.
However, what I also know is that these principles are not restricted to office alone, but can also help us manage our homes! So, for all of you-here’s how you should implement these 14 principles to have a successful home!
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Division of labor: Fayol presented work specialization as the best way to use the human resources of the organization.
Home Version: Absolutely! You need to divide work amongst your spouse, your in-laws, your kids and whoever is living with you-including pets! It’s not at all humanly possible for one person to do everything. So, while one does the cooking, the other takes the responsibility of taking the kid to the park. While one does the dishes, the other cleans the bed. While the pet dog manages the security of the house, the kid ensures there is some ruckus inside! Use the specialization of each of the members and divide tasks. If your wife is good at planning and time management, let her run family events, while you manage the finances. If your husband is good at socializing, you take care of the back-end work of cooking and dishes! It works wonderfully well, even if you had been doing exactly this at your work, try doing it more consciously now.
Authority – Managers must be able to give orders. Authority gives them this right.
Home Version: Ladies, isn’t this something we already know? The lady of the house won’t be able to take decisions for the well-being of the family, if she is not given the authority to do so. If you gag her freedom, ask her to consult you for everything she does, then you are restricting her from taking her own decisions. You could be a controller; however the authority to take actions can easily rest with individuals. Authority to decide on financial matters, husband can do this. Authority to choose which dishes to cook today, which maid to keep, which shop to go to, which friends the kid can be-friend- easily the wife could do. Adding more work with the wife is something that comes naturally to me 🙂
Discipline – Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization. Good discipline is the result of effective leadership.
Home Version: Discipline in any house is as important as it is in school or office. Elders of the house should set the ground rules very clearly. Most houses have it:the un-said rules and all members obey them. We all will eat dinner together. No talking while eating. The tv will be switched off at 10pm. You should finish your homework as soon as you reach back home. These are many such things are what we set for our houses and we all obey them. A good home will have members being disciplined to these.
Unity of command – Every employee should receive orders from only one superior.
Home Version: Now this is one principle I love. How often have you been in situations when you are getting caught up between different versions of the same stories? Or figuring out the tasks given to you by more than one elder? Or the worst, when you have to prioritize whose work to do first-husband or mother in law? Ever since having a kid, I have also realized that the kid feels really cornered if everyone in the house starts shouting at her for doing something wrong. Poor child doesn’t know who would rescue her! We quickly switch roles when this kid thing happens at our home. If one of us is scolding, the other becomes the savior. So, the point is, to avoid confusions at home, there has to be one person only giving orders. By orders, we don’t mean strict orders, it is demanding any work or expecting any behavior or prescribing any action. By default, it is the eldest member of the house-everyone listens to him/her. However, the situation becomes difficult, when people down the seniority order also start playing that role. Your response in such situations should be “I shall take orders from only one person-and I choose who that is (the one who ordered you first/the one who is the senior most/the one you like etc.)”
Unity of direction – Each group of organizational activities that have the same objective should be directed by one manager using one plan for achievement of one common goal.
Home Version: This is a classic one, especially where there are more than one family units. A family unit basically means the husband-wife and kids. E.g: 3 sons having their own families, living together or in 3 different houses, however all being connected to their parents. They all individually can have different ways of living;but their family values would be largely same. That’s what the elders of the family do. They drive the various family units together towards a common happy family. Trouble starts coming, when no one takes charge to take the different families together and they all then tend to part ways and become their own small unit, and then this rule ceases to exist.
Subordination – The interests of any one employee or group of employees should not take precedence over the interests of the organization as a whole.
Home Version: The kid wants to go for a summer vacation to Disneyland because her friends are also going. However, you are saving money because you need to buy a new car/house/tv etc. The trip has to wait because this financial expenditure needs to be done first. This is the simplest example of subordination. The husband gets a great international offer at the location you were praying for, but his mother needs to get her heart surgery done next month. As a wife, you send him first, saying you would take care of the mother and join him when she is healthy again. That’s subordination. At home, we often use the term “sacrifices” for this.
Remuneration – Workers must be paid a fair wage for their services.
Home Version: Honestly, I laughed out loud before penning the home version for this one. We don’t pay wages to our mother or father for their services. But what we do give them is our love, time and attention. And that’s what binds all families together. The service of every member of the house is enormous-pay them back fairly by giving them equal attention and time and love. And yes, technically speaking this principle also applies to your maids/drivers/help at home. Pay them fairly, if you pay one driver more than the other for the same number of hours, you are brewing trouble.
Centralization – Centralization refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision-making.
Home Version: In organizations, there are some key decisions which only the leadership team would take and they are willing to de-centralize some of the operational decision-making. Similarly, at homes, the big decisions should rest with the elders and operational work can be delegated to the children. Finding a match for the daughter of the house, the decision-making is largely centralized (with suggestions taken from the junior members of the house) and the event management of the wedding is de-centralized with specific responsibilities being given to each member. I am sure you would be able to look at your families and have a couple of examples of situations where centralization was not followed and then course correction had to be done. The son taking his own decision to quit work and stay at home; while the father was dependent on that monthly income for his medical expenses is one such example.
Scalar chain – The line of authority from top management to the lowest ranks represents the scalar chain. Communications should follow this chain.
Home Version: This principle, even in corporate has undergone some changes with the recognition of informal chains of communication. However, this is still very evident in families. The decision to tell the daughter that she shouldn’t wear this dress to the party is not told by the father directly- it’s passed on to the mother, who then reasons out with the daughter. A “No” to a bike is passed on to the elder brother by the mother, who is then required to cajole the younger brother.
Order – this principle is concerned with systematic arrangement of men, machine, material etc. there should be a specific place for every employee in an organization
Home Version: This is where you know where your clothes are; which the dustbin for dry waste is and which the one for liquid waste is; where to find snacks in the kitchen when some guest choose to come to your house when your wife is not there! This is the principle which lays down the order in the house. Everything in its place, where it should be and how it should be. Homes, where such work is managed by the helpers/maids, are the ones which spend a lot of time fighting with each other in search of the quintessential remote or the favorite music CD!
Equity – Managers should be kind and fair to their subordinates.
Home Version: If you are getting one gift for the elder kid, then don’t forget to get something for the younger one too! If you are buying something for your mother, don’t forget your wife. That’s the simple explanation of this principle.
Stability of tenure of personnel – High employee turnover is inefficient. Management should provide orderly personnel planning and ensure that replacements are available to fill vacancies.
Home Version: In corporate it means when one person quits, there should be planning done in advance to hire the replacement. In home this means that if one person was supposed to do a task, as per division of work rule above, and that person falls sick/is caught up at work/wants to withdraw, then there should be someone else in the family to fill in the shoes. When the lady of the house falls sick, you can’t order outside food every day, someone takes up the task of cooking. If the father, who was supposed to pick the son from school, gets stuck up in an urgent meeting, the uncle should rush to school! Be available for each other, we all live in an uncertain world!
Initiative – Employees who are allowed to originate and carry out plans will exert high levels of effort.
Home Version: So true, especially for kids. Allow them to be as creative as possible, and they will surprise you! Even for stay at home mothers- don’t stop them from taking initiatives and you will be surprised to see their work as the society chairperson or as the counselor to new mothers in the neighborhood!
Esprit de corps – Promoting team spirit will build harmony and unity within the organization
Home Version: Promote the family values, as the famous Bollywood movie says- the family that eats together, stays together! The unity of your home is completely in your hands!
We all have our own little nests, which we build up with a lot of detail and attention. Very often we see some family units breaking in front of us and we blame either the mother or the father or the daughter-in-law for this and often mention, “She didn’t know how to handle it”. This primarily means she didn’t know the art of it. Let’s try to add the science to it from next time on wards, while we perfect the art ourselves! Do remember & follow these principles, after all, Mr. Henri Fayol did a lot of research before coming up with these!
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