Directing
Core rules
- Directing is instructing, guiding, supervising and motivating people to achieve goals.
- Elements: supervision (overseeing daily work), motivation (inspiring effort), leadership (influencing behaviour) and communication (transferring information).
- Maslow's hierarchy: physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. A satisfied need no longer motivates.
- Financial incentives: pay, bonus, profit sharing and co-partnership. Non-financial incentives: recognition, job security, status and career growth.
- Leadership styles: autocratic (leader decides), democratic (consultation) and laissez-faire (free rein).
- Communication is formal (official chain) or informal (grapevine). Barriers include semantic, psychological, organisational and personal barriers.
Worked example
A production team misses targets because workers feel unsafe on old machines. The manager first fixes safety, addressing physiological and safety needs, then introduces a bonus for output as a financial incentive and holds a weekly meeting to improve communication. If the manager still decides alone and merely announces the bonus, that is autocratic leadership. Reasoning: Maslow's lower needs dominate until reasonably satisfied; a bonus alone may fail if safety is unresolved.
Traps
Do not put esteem before social needs in Maslow's order. Self-actualisation is the highest need, not self-esteem. Supervision is not the same as leadership. Grapevine is informal communication, not a barrier by itself. Laissez-faire does not mean no leadership; it means broad freedom with support.