One of the premium qualifications of good management is the ability to effectively delegate tasks. Delegating is the stepping stone to achieve teamwork, empowerment and ultimately business profitability. Effective delegation enables managers/superiors to pass on responsibility and authority, simultaneously to subordinates/staff to accomplish tasks wherein the ability to strategize the work process is assumed by the latter.“Delegating is a critical skill for supervisors.
Delegating involves working with an employee to establish goals, granting them sufficient authority and responsibility to achieve the goals, often giving them substantial freedom in deciding how the goals will be achieved, remaining available as a resource to help them achieve the goals, assessing their performance (the quality of their effort and attainment of the goals), addressing performance issues and/or rewarding their performance. Ultimately, the supervisor retains responsibility for the attainment of the goals, but chooses to achieve the goals by delegating to someone else.” (McNamara, 1997-2007)To achieve maximum results in management and supervision, effective delegation can be used in the following organizational aspect:PLANNINGWhen a manager is preparing for a project or a prospect or any activity, he can very well share it with his staff, his team, or his subordinate. The manager will firstly and collectively discuss the project and its objectives with his subordinates. He will ensure the unanimous commitment of his team or his staff or his subordinates towards whatever activity or project is being planned. Then, he can delegate various aspects of the preparation.
There is the need for research that one or two subordinates can be assigned to do. Then there is the need for preliminary report that should be constructed based on the research. Through effective delegation, the manager who is planning an activity can be assured of maximum supporting data and ideas for whatever he is planning or preparing to do.ORGANIZINGAny business must have a structure. Managers can very well achieve a smooth organizational structure if the flow of work process is clear through effective delegation.
Every step of the business and work process must be assumed by someone in the organization. Delegation when effectively implemented will ensure that the business will serve its products and customers efficiently. Delays and overlapping responsibilities can be avoided.LEADINGLeadership speaks of exemplification. By managers or superiors illustrating by concrete action that he means what he says and says what he means, he can be assured that his subordinates will follow in the same manner.
By effectively delegating his sense of leadership, meaning, the subordinates likewise becoming responsible for their decisions and courses of action – the manager is developing the skills of his subordinates in the aspect of entrepreneurship. This will result to subordinates being concerned and loyal to the business because they live up to the responsibility being passed on to them.CONTROLLINGManagement of a business needs check and balance. This aspect of management and supervision ensures control of where and how are tasks proceeding.
When managers effectively delegate, the subordinates are made to understand that he is responsible for every aspect of the activity – from the dependability of the ideas and methods up to the cause and effect of the implementation up to the final result of the activity. When a subordinate acknowledges that his is a role crucial to the viability or feasibility of a task, he will be on the look out for his mistakes and errors and finds ways and means to resolve pertinent situations or problems. Therefore, controls in business management becomes manageable and efficiently guided.SKILLS NECESSARY FOR EFFECTIVE DELEGATION“…..
there are basic approaches to delegation that, with practice, become the backbone of effective supervision and development. Thomas R. Horton, in Delegation and Team Building: No Solo Acts Please (Management Review, September 1992, pp. 58-61) suggests the following general steps to accomplish delegation:1. Delegate the whole task to one person - this gives the person responsibility and motivation2. Select the right person - assess skills and capabilities of subordinates3.
Clearly specify your preferred results - give information on what, why, when, who, where4. Delegate responsibility and authority - assign the task, not the method to accomplish it5. Ask the employee to summarize back to you, their impressions of the project and the results you prefer6. Get ongoing non-intrusive feedback about progress on the project - continue to get weekly, written status reports from all direct reports.7.
Maintain open lines of communication - sense what they're doing and support their checking in with you along the way.8. If you're not satisfied with the progress, don't take the project back - continue to work with the employee and ensure they perceive the project as their responsibility.9.
Evaluate and reward performance - evaluate results more than methods” (McNamara, 1997-2007)In the exercise of effective delegation, there are enormous and clear advantages to any business. Tasks that are delegated will ultimately be executed in the most efficient and visionary manner. Work that is strategically distributed among the staff or team of an organization eliminates burnout or information overload from any of the members of the team. Subordinates feel good and motivated. They develop faith in themselves. They become committed to harness and develop and sharpen their skills.
They become inspired and creative. And then, the spirit of respect and trust will be returned by the subordinates to the superiors because of the respect and trust they received through the delegated tasks. Subordinates will therefore feel they truly belong to the company and that they are appreciated.It has been said: “no man is an island”.
This is the spirit of teamwork and it is what triggers effective delegation of work and tasks by managers and leaders. For managers and subordinates to effectively work together, managers must be able to effectively pass on tasks to their staff. It is the clear sign that a manager is capable of being promoted to bigger responsibilities in the organization – i.e., if he can effectively delegate.Finally, what effective delegation really achieves is that it characterizes what is ideal management leadership.
There must be an acknowledgement by managers that what they exemplify is better proof of the value they expect to derive from their subordinates. “…..leaders must bring a vision – their own and the collective shared vision of everyone in the workforce.
No longer can this vision be imposed from above as if by divine will, but it must be arrived at mutually by all those who would follow it, or they won’t follow it. …..motivated, involved and committed employees can result in lower cost of doing business, higher productivity, substantial process improvement, faster service innovations, better customer information, new employee referrals and much more….”
