REC 375: Leadership and
Management of Parks and
Recreation Services
Jim Herstine, Ph.D., CPRP, CPSI
Assistant Professor
Parks and Recreation Management
UNC-Wilmington

Management and the
Management Process
REC 375—Leadership and Management of
Parks and Recreation Services

Why is it important to learn and understand leisure service management principles and practices?
1. To get the most out of our time and performance
2. To get the most out of our employees
3. To have our organization run effectively and efficiently
4. To compensate for any reduction in tax support, investments and consumer spending

Why is it important to learn and understand leisure service management principles and practices?, continued
5. To increase our ability to compete for the remaining tax dollars, investment dollars and consumer dollars
6. To obtain our personal and organizational goals and objectives

What do we mean by a “Leisure
Service Organization?”
Public Organization
Private/Membership Organization
Private/Non-Profit Organization
Commercial/Entrepreneurial

Goals of Leisure Service
Organizations will vary accordingly to meet the needs, desires and expectations of the organization’s constituents and customers

Types of Leisure Service
Organizations
Service Organizations—Scouts, YMCA, YWCA
Economic Organizations—Spas, Resorts,
Health Clubs, Bowling Centers
Religious Organizations—Church Camps,
Church Recreation
Governmental Organizations—Local, State and Federal Parks
Social Organizations—Country Clubs, Tennis
Associations

Small Group Exercise
Define “Management”
Define “Administration”
What is the primary purpose/duty of a manager?
What is it that successful managers do?
What roles do managers play?

Defining Management
Working with and through individuals, groups, and other resources to accomplish organizational goals and objectives

Defining Management, continued
A process of planning, organizing,
directing and controlling organizational behaviors to accomplish a mission through division of labor and utilization of resources

Successful Managers Are Able To:
1. Provide direction
2. Make and implement decisions
3. Identify trends
4. Recognize problems
5. Utilize opportunities
6. Manage and Resolve conflict
7. Audit poor performance
8. Reward excellent performance
9. Lead the organization to its goals

Managerial Functions
The essence of management and managerial work is to make decisions and see that they are carried out!!!!
DECISION-MAKING
INFLUENCING

Available Resources
Human Resources
Financial Resources
Physical Resources
Informational Resources

Available Resources, continued
A manager must use human resources in the best interest of the organization, without creating dissatisfied employees and customers. The achievement of this dual goal is difficult to obtain—why?
Different skills and abilities
Different physical characteristics
Different interests and aptitudes
Different levels of aspiration and motivation

In accomplishing his/her duties, a manager performs four (4) basic tasks—makes 4 types of decisions about the organizational resources

Types of Decisions
Planning Decisions
Organizing Decisions
Directing Decisions
Controlling Decisions

Planning Defined
A systematic process of reaching a desired state by establishing goals and formulating strategies to achieve them
Operational Planning
Strategic Planning

Planning Decisions
Anticipates the future, sets goals and objectives and identifies the actions necessary for the organization to attain these goals and objectives
Determining where you want to go and how and when you’re going to get there
It involves specifying a target, a path or route to be followed and a time schedule for achieving that target

Planning Decisions, continued
SETTING GOALS
DETERMINING PATHS
SCHEDULING
Effective managers set clear-cut plans, realistic time schedules and allow for contingencies

Organizing Defined
The process of structuring and coordinating an organization’s resources to carry out the strategies formulated in the planning phase effectively and efficiently
Stated simply, determining what needs to be done and who is to do it

Organizing Decisions
Develops a structure of interrelated tasks and allocates resources within this structure which leads to the achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives

Organizing Decisions, continued
Organizing decisions involve two types
Decisions made to set up the structure and design of the organization (Formal
Organizational Chart)
Decisions made to assign resources

Organizing Decisions, continued
Organizing decisions affecting structure and design include:
Determining the number and type of departments
Determining the number and type of management levels
The issue of accountability
The issue of scope of responsibility

Organizing Decisions, continued
Organizing decisions affecting the assignment of resources include:
Job Descriptions
Budgets

Organizing Decisions, continued
DETERMINING STRUCTURE AND
DESIGN
ALLOCATING RESOURCES

Directing Defined
The process of directing and motivating all involved parties to help achieve the organization’s goals effectively and efficiently

Directing Decisions
Provide encouragement and guidance of employee’s efforts toward attaining the organizational goals and objectives
Can also be called or decisions”
“staffing decisions”
“motivating decisions” or “leading
Involve personnel issues or human resource issues

Directing Decisions, continued
Directing/Staffing/Motivating/Leading decisions include:
Recruiting
Selecting
Hiring
Wages and Salaries
Training and Development
Health and Retirement Benefits

Directing Decisions, continued
LEADERSHIP STYLES
COMMUNICATION
MOTIVATION AND INCENTIVES
COACHING AND COUNSELING

Controlling Defined
The process of monitoring activities to ensure they are being accomplished as planned and of correcting any significant deviations

Controlling Decisions
Evaluates the performance of an organization and its units to see whether the organization is progressing in the desired direction, and taking corrective action when and where necessary
Making sure what you want to happen does indeed happen!

Controlling Decisions, continued
Effective managers control without being oppressive
Effective managers instill a spirit of selfcontrol in subordinates so that the burden of preying managerial eyes does not rest heavily on the shoulders of the subordinates

Controlling Decisions, continued
THE QUALITY AND QUANITY OF
CONTROLLING DECISIONS DEPENDS A
GREAT DEAL ON THE QUALITY OF
PREVIOUSLY MADE PLANNING,
ORGANIZING AND DIRECTING
DECISIONS
The better the planning, organizing and directing, the better will be controlling!

Controlling Decisions, continued
Ineffective managers obtain short-term compliance through control at the expense of long-term commitment, which can only be obtained by planning, organizing and directing!!!!!

Controlling Decisions, continued
MONITORING AND FEEDBACK
EVALUATION AND ADJUSTMENT
CORRECTIVE DISCIPLINE
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Managerial Skills Mix
Human Skills
Conceptual Skills
Technical Skills
It is generally agreed that there are three primary areas of skills, knowledge and ability that a manager must process in order to successfully carry out the process of management

Human Skills
Ability and judgment in working with and through people, including an understanding of motivation and an application of effective leadership, in order to achieve the organizational goals and objectives

Conceptual Skills
Ability to understand the complexities of the overall organization and where one’s own operation fits into the organization
Involves an understanding as to the manner in which each of the organization’s components fit together, in order to meet its goals and objectives

Conceptual Skills, continued
Permits the manager to act according to the objectives of the total organization rather than only on the basis of the goals and objectives of one’s own immediate group
Further implies that the manager has an understanding of how his organization is affected by and relates to broader environmental factors

Technical Skills
Ability to use knowledge, methods, techniques and equipment necessary for the performance of specific tasks acquired from experience, education and training

Managerial Skills Mix, continued
According to a report by the American
Management Association, the most important single skill of an executive is his or her ability to get along with people

Quote From John D. Rockefeller
“I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than any other ability under the sun”!!!!!

Managerial Skills Mix Matrix

Management Is:
FUNCTIONS
Decision-Making
Influence
SKILLS
Human
Conceptual
Technical

Management Is:, continued
RESOURCES
Human
Financial
Physical
Informational
DECISION-MAKING
Planning
Organizing
Directing
Controlling

The Management Process
Inputs
Resources
Human
Financial
Physical
Informational
Throughputs Outputs
Decision-making Goals
Planning
Organizing
Directing
Controlling
Profits
Efficiency
Satisfied Clients
Products/Service

Managerial Skills Mix Exercise

Management Decision-Making
Exercise

Management and the
Management Process
Jim Herstine, Ph.D., CPRP, CPSI
UNCW herstinej@uncw.edu
910.962.3283