Types of Organisational Control

Control happens at different points in the work. A school can check the materials before teaching starts (feed-forward), monitor teaching while it happens (concurrent), or assess results after teaching ends (feedback). All three are useful in different ways. A complete control system combines all three.

Feed-forward control

The preliminary or preventive control. Anticipates problems. Focus is on input.

Feed-forward control operates before the work begins. It checks the inputs to make sure they are right.

In a school: before a new term starts, the principal checks that:

1. Teachers are ready. Have they completed the required training? Do they understand the new curriculum?
2. Materials are in place. Are textbooks delivered? Are lab supplies stocked?
3. Schedule is set. Are timetables published? Are room assignments clear?
4. Students are prepared. Has admissions handled the new intake? Are records ready?
5. Systems work. Is the assessment system tested? Is the parent portal updated?

Each check prevents a problem that would otherwise emerge once teaching begins. A teacher without training will teach badly until trained. A class without textbooks will lose two weeks before they arrive.

Feed-forward control is the most efficient kind because it prevents problems rather than fixing them. The cost of a quality check before the term starts is much lower than the cost of recovering from a problem after the term begins.

Many schools under-invest in feed-forward. The pressure to start the term, the press of daily work, the lack of explicit preparation time all push against it. A school head who deliberately protects time for feed-forward control catches problems before they become expensive.

Concurrent control

Solves problems as they occur. Focus is ongoing processes. Assesses current work activities, relies on performance standards. Aims to ensure that work activities produce the correct results.

Concurrent control operates while the work is happening. The school is monitoring teaching, assessment, behaviour, and other ongoing activities in real time.

In a school: concurrent control includes:

1. Lesson observations. A coordinator or principal sits in on lessons and provides immediate feedback.
2. Mid-term assessments. Tests every six weeks reveal whether students are learning, allowing adjustment before the term ends.
3. Attendance monitoring. Daily attendance is tracked and patterns noticed early.
4. Parent feedback. Open channels for parent input throughout the term, not just at year end.
5. Staff supervision. Department heads and coordinators are present in their teams, catching issues as they emerge.

Concurrent control is the heart of school management. The other two types (feed-forward and feedback) are bookends; concurrent is what happens day to day.

A school with strong concurrent control adjusts continuously. A teacher whose section is falling behind gets support in week 4, not at year end. A parent’s concern is addressed in October, not in March when she escalates publicly.

A school with weak concurrent control runs blind during the term. Issues accumulate. By the time anyone notices, the issues are large.

Feedback control

Solve problems after their occurrence. Focuses on the organisation’s outputs. Also called post-action or output control.

Feedback control operates after the work is done. It assesses what actually happened so that future work can be better.

In a school: feedback control includes:

1. Board exam results analysis. What did the school produce? Where did it succeed? Where did it fall short?
2. Year-end reviews. Each programme, each teacher, each section assessed for the year.
3. Annual parent satisfaction surveys. What did parents experience this year?
4. Alumni follow-up. What happened to graduates? Were they ready for the next stage?
5. Financial year-end. Did the budget hold? What were the variances?

Feedback control is essential because some outcomes can only be measured at the end. The full effect of a year of teaching shows up in year-end results, not in mid-term checkpoints.

The limit of feedback control: by the time you have the data, the work is done. You cannot fix this year’s results. You can only inform next year.

This is why feedback control alone is insufficient. A school that runs only on feedback control discovers problems too late to fix them in the affected year. The modern view, covered in the control process article, favours adding feed-forward and concurrent control so that problems are caught before they fully manifest.

How the three types combine

A complete control system uses all three.

For a grade-3 reading programme:

1. Feed-forward. Before term starts: teachers trained, materials ready, schedule set, parents informed.
2. Concurrent. During the term: weekly lesson observations, six-weekly assessments, regular parent communication, ongoing teacher support.
3. Feedback. After the year: end-of-year standardised assessment, year-end teacher review, alumni follow-up to assess long-term effect.

A school using all three catches problems at multiple points. A problem missed at feed-forward (a teacher who is not really trained) shows up in concurrent control (lesson observations reveal weak teaching). A problem missed in concurrent control (a slow drift in a section) shows up in feedback (year-end results). The redundancy is protection.

A school using only one of the three is operating partially. A school using none is operating blind.

The modern shift

The control literature shows a clear shift over decades.

1. Mid-20th century. Heavy reliance on feedback control. Inspect at the end.
2. Late 20th century. Growth in concurrent control. Monitor during the work.
3. 21st century. Increasing focus on feed-forward control. Prevent problems before they happen.

The shift parallels other shifts in management thinking: from after-the-fact correction to upfront prevention; from blame to learning; from control as policing to control as enabling.

A modern school head should sit firmly in the 21st-century mode. Feed-forward as the strongest investment, concurrent as the daily work, feedback as the year-end check.

Flashcard

What are the three types of organisational control and what does each one focus on?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Feed-forward, Concurrent, Feedback.

1. Feed-forward. Before the work. Anticipates problems by checking inputs. Most efficient: prevents rather than fixes.

2. Concurrent. During the work. Catches problems as they emerge. The daily heart of school management: lesson observations, mid-term assessments, parent feedback.

3. Feedback. After the work. Assesses outputs for future learning. Essential but insufficient on its own; problems caught too late to fix in the affected year.

A complete control system uses all three. A school using only feedback control runs blind during the term and learns too late. The modern shift is towards feed-forward as the strongest investment.