Coordination – Types, Need, Significance and Constraints

What is Coordination?

Coordination is the ability to work together effectively and efficiently towards a common goal. It is the process of bringing together and uniting various organisational components to accomplish predefined goals. It is a planned and rational procedure. The process of coordination is when an executive establishes an organised plan for a team effort among his subordinates and ensures the order of activity with the aim of a single goal. To reduce waste of effort and prevent mistakes, effective coordination requires clear communication, defined goals, shared responsibility, and efficient utilization of resources. Effective coordination enables efficient use of resources, maximizes productivity, and enhances overall performance.

“Coordination is the integration of the activities of individuals and units into a concerted effort that works towards a common aim.” – Pearce and Robinson

“Coordination is the orderly arrangement of a group effort to provide unity of action in the pursuit of a common purpose.” – J.D. Moony

“Coordination is the process whereby an executive develops an orderly pattern of group efforts among his subordinates and secures the unity of action in the pursuit of common purpose.” – McFarland

Coordination might include several techniques and strategies to accomplish the same objective decided by the company while ensuring that everyone is aware of their roles and responsibilities and that the actions and choices of one team do not adversely affect those of other teams. The working hours of the various departments are regularly adjusted to the situation. Coordination is important because it helps to prevent conflicts, duplication of efforts, and inefficiencies. Coordination is important in complex organizations or situations where the work of different stakeholders is interdependent. The ultimate goal of coordination is to achieve the desired outcome in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Types of Coordination

Different forms of coordination are used in various settings and professions. These are a few of the common types of coordination that are used in numerous organizational and different situations. Depending on the circumstance, the following are some of the common types of coordination used-

1. Internal Coordination: Internal coordination is the practice of coordinating operations and efforts within a company to accomplish shared goals. To maximize productivity and accomplish desired results, it involves making sure that all departments, teams, and individuals work well together.
2. External Coordination: External coordination is the management of interactions and relationships with external stakeholders, including clients, partners, suppliers, and governmental bodies. In order to accomplish mutual objectives and maintain positive relationships, it involves coordinating activities with external organizations.
3. Procedural Coordination: Procedure coordination refers to the methods used by various organizations or agencies to coordinate their activities. This includes establishing communication channels, exchanging information, establishing goals and deadlines, developing decision-making procedures, and evaluating growth in performance. 
4. Substantive Coordination: The alignment of procedures, goals, and policies among different organizations or institutions is referred to as substantive coordination. Setting up guidelines for decision-making and problem-solving is also a part of substantive coordination. It can include making sure that rules and practices are uniform across all organizations and resources.
5. Vertical Coordination: This kind of coordination takes place between several organizational levels within a team or an organization. It involves the communication between managers as well as employees in terms of information, instructions, and feedback. Vertical coordination makes sure that tasks and activities fit with the organization’s ultimate goals and strategies.
6. Horizontal Coordination: Horizontal coordination takes place between individuals or departments at the same hierarchical level within an organization. It involves working together, communicating, and sharing resources to accomplish common objectives. Effective teamwork, resolution of disputes, and efficiency all depend on horizontal coordination.
7. Formal Coordination: In any organization, formal coordination is formed by formal systems, processes, and structures. It consists of formal reporting channels, regulations, and procedures. The following are a few examples of formal coordination systems: meetings, documents, job descriptions, and performance appraisals.
8. Informal Coordination: Within a company, networks, relationships, and social interactions all play an important role in establishing informal coordination. It depends on people’s relationships, mutual trust, and understanding. Informal coordination can be flexible and impulsive, and it frequently takes place through social interactions, casual talks, or electronic platforms.
9. Functional Coordination: Functional coordination refers to the coordinating activities among specific functional areas or departments, for example, finance marketing human resources, etc. It makes sure that the efforts of each department are directed towards the same ultimate goal of the organization.
10. Cross-functional Coordination: Cross-functional coordination refers to coordinating activities between different functional areas or departments. To accomplish shared objectives, an organization required contributions from many functions. It needs collaboration, communication, and integration of efforts. For projects, product development, and improvement of systems, cross-functional cooperation is an important element.
11. Inter-organizational Coordination: Inter-organizational coordination is the process by which various organizations or groups collaborate to achieve a single goal. Collaboration, sharing of information, and taking decisions together are all involved. Supply chains, partnerships, alliances, and joint projects all require inter-organizational coordination.
12. Global Coordination: Coordinating activities and operations across different countries or geographical regions is referred to as global coordination. It requires handling various cultural, legal, and operational situations while assuring consistency and compliance with international standards and strategies.

Need for Coordination

Any action or activity involving several people or organizations requires coordination. It makes sure that everyone is pursuing the same objectives and that their efforts are supportive rather than competitive. Some of the needs or significance of coordination are as follows-

1. Avoids Duplication: Individuals or organizations who work separately without coordination run the risk of duplicating activities, which wastes time, money, and energy.
2. Improves Efficiency: Coordination of activities can provide more efficient and successful outcomes. When everyone is working in unity, organizations and individuals may use each other’s strengths and respond to their differences.
3. Encourages Teamwork: Effective coordination involves effective collaboration and communication. It promotes teamwork, idea sharing, and mutual support for each other’s efforts.
4. Improves Decision-making: In any organization, the decisions of stakeholders are often better than those of individuals. Where there is coordination, there is a unity of stakeholders, who can take decisions more efficiently and informatively.
5. Promotes sharing of Knowledge: When people work together, they share their knowledge and skills. As a result, the team becomes more knowledgeable and can prepare themselves better to handle difficulties and challenges.
6. Enhances organizational Culture: Coordination helps in developing a culture inside an organization that encourages the open exchange of ideas, mutual respect, and appreciation for other viewpoints. This helps employees last longer and stay loyal and motivated to the team.

Thus, coordination is important for successfully achieving organizational goals. It leads to improved efficiency, increased productivity, and better decision-making which makes the functioning of an organization easier.

Significance of Coordination

1. Teamwork: It allows people and organizations to cooperate to achieve a common objective. When people work together, they can share ideas and talents and find different points of view and strategies. As a result, problem-solving is made easier and more effective, which can help people make better decisions.
2. Unity in Diversity: Coordination plays an important role in achieving Unity in diversity. When people with different backgrounds and talents join together to work towards a common objective, good coordination is necessary to make sure that everyone is pursuing the same goal.
3. Conflicting Goals: When different people or groups have different objectives, there is always a possibility of conflict. In such situations, coordination might help to end the dispute by finding a beneficial solution. Coordination can reduce misunderstandings and promote cooperation by establishing clear communication channels and a framework for decision-making.
4. Growth in Size: when an organization grows in size, it gets more complex and challenging to maintain communication and order among different departments in an organization. Coordination helps maintain efficiency and proper communication among different departments.
5. Specialization: Effective coordination enables individuals or teams to collaborate effectively, allowing them to specialize in their fields of expertise while continuing to work towards the organization’s goals. To guarantee that everyone is on the same page, coordination often requires effective collaboration, clear communication, and the use of suitable tools and processes.
6. Synergy Effect: The synergy effect refers to the process where the result of a group’s effort exceeds an individual effort. It promotes teamwork, the exchange of ideas and viewpoints, allowing the organization to reach its maximum potential.
7. Human Nature: Coordination recognizes the subconscious traits of human nature throughout organizations. It understands that to create efficiency and involvement, there must be clear communication, incentive, and a supportive work environment.
8. Empire-Building: Coordination encourages transparency and collaboration between departments, and an overall focus on organizational objectives, all of which help to reduce empire-building habits.
9. Interdependence: Coordination recognises the interdependence of various departments and teams within an organization. It emphasises the need for teamwork and shared responsibility to make sure that tasks and objectives are coordinated, enabling effective functioning and the achievement of desired results.
10. Congruence of Flows: Coordination makes sure that different flows, including those of information, resources, and activities, are smoothly coordinated and timed. Ensuring that these processes are entirely linked and consistent, maximizes efficiency, reduces duplication, and improves overall performance.
11. Differentiation and Integration: Coordination finds a balance between allowing differentiation in roles and functions while promoting integration towards common objectives. It facilitates coordinating and harmonizing various units, teams, or individuals, promoting specialization and organizational unity.

Constraints to Coordination

Coordination surely makes work and management easier but at the same time, it can also have some limitations to it. Following are some of the constraints of coordination:

1. Time Constraints: Coordination becomes difficult when different tasks have to be done within a tight schedule. It could become difficult to make sure that everyone does their jobs on time and that the appropriate parties are informed of all the essential information when there is a lack of time.
2. Communication Barriers: Open and honest communication between team members is essential for effective coordination. However, when there are communication barriers such as language, culture, and geography, it can be more difficult for employees to work together and communicate effectively, which can cause mistakes and delays.
3. Resource Constraints: A lack of funds, personnel, or other resources might make coordinating efforts challenging. Making schedules for the use of equipment for everyone’s use when there is only one available can cause difficulty. 
4. Conflicting Goals: It can be challenging to coordinate activities when various teams have conflicting goals or priorities. Finding a balance that benefits both teams, for example, might be tough when separate teams are focused on difficult objectives.
5. Lack of Trust: Effective teamwork depends on mutual respect and trust. People may be reluctant to share information when there is a lack of confidence, which can result in misunderstandings and errors.  
6. Resistance to Change: Resistance to change also makes coordination tough. Developing new strategies for achieving the goal can become problematic when the team members resist adapting to new processes and technologies.

Effective coordination requires clear communication, trust, and a willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. By overcoming these constraints, an organization can make working and managing tasks a lot easier.