Delegation: How to Delegate Effectively?

Rating

Delegation: How to Delegate Effectively?

WHAT IS DELEGATION?
Fayol's 13nd principle ("Initiative") is related to the management role of delegator. Kreitner (2009) defines "delegation" as: the transfer of decision-making authority to subordinates (p. 253).

WHAT IS NOT DELEGATION?
Sadly, many managers mistakenly regard the passing on of "tasks", not "responsibilities" as delegation (Gallo, 2012). The result is overstressed managers and less satisfied employees who do not believe they have "ownership" of projects (Gallo, 2012). As a result, initiative is low.

WHY DELEGATE?
Pfeffer (as cited in Gallo, 2012) explains that managers are often trapped in the "self-enhancement bias," afraid they may appear as less integral to corporate success if they delegate. Introspection is necessary to accept and overcome this issue, recognizing that the greater benefit comes from delegating, which gives managers to have more time to address critical issues and subordinates feel like they are a part of the big picture.

DEGREES OF DELEGATION
Kreitner (2009) emphasized that delegation is not an "all-or-nothing proposition" and managers can ease into the process (p. 253). There are several degrees of delegation, beginning with asking employees to research issues and report findings to managers and ending with allowing employees to research issues, and develop and implement solutions (Kreitner, 2009, p. 253).

THE RESULT OF PROPER DELEGATION
Through proper delegation, employee initiative is cultivated and competencies are leveraged for organizational success.

HOW TO DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY?
Gallo (2012) said that managers should implement the following tips for effective delegation:

1. SELECT RIGHT PEOPLE: Select employees with the knowledge and willpower to take on responsibilities.
2. BE ACCOUNTABLE: Give your direct reports permission to hold you as their manager accountable for delegating properly and include such role in their annual performance appraisal.
3. ENABLE: "Really let go", by giving employees the tools and training to take on projects and make decisions from start to finish.

⇒ If you have any additional tips or suggestions on delegation, please share…

Sources:
Gallow, Amy. (2012, July 26). "Why Aren't you Delegating?" Harvard Business Review, July 2012
Kreitner, R. (2009). "Management". (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin

		Comments by date▼ Comments by rating Rating
		3 Javier Elenes Business Consultant, Mexico
	First Clarify the Expected Results, then Delegate I recommend to start by clarifying the expected results, and then delegate, so: 1. Clarify the "expected results" and get a commitment (in writing). 2. Verify the capabilities of people, and equipment systems. 3. Follow up in order to detect minor deviations, when there is still time to take correctives actions.

		2 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Mentoring Before Delegating In my view, sufficient preparation and mentoring need to happen before effective delegation happens. Delegating is like lighting up an oil lamp up with an another oil lamp which is already lit: A sufficient amount of PREPARATION is needed with regard to a lamp which needs to lighted up (the one who is getting delegated to). Such as: having oil, a dry wick, and an oil lamp. These are the capabilities the people and the equipment need to have. Also MENTORING (lighting up the wick with an already existing lit lamp) is needed so that all functions which were performed by the earlier lamp can be performed by the new lamp (including the transfer of tasks, decision making etc). To be effective I think it is something like igniting the consciousness of being of the delegee by the delegator by way of mentoring. So consider: do we have process for it? And what are qualifications for the mentor?

		11 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Tips on How to Delegate Effectively Thank you Genevieve. The ability to delegate well is crucial for any manager. For some people delegating comes quite naturally, probably because they are easy to trust others in their ability to perform delegated tasks well, or because they understand in a more rational way that delegation increases their span of control, or perhaps simply because they don't like to perform the tasks themselves. I heard someone say once: "A good manager is lazy." 😉 My first tip on delegating properly is to avoid making the classical mistake of just delegating the task, or even the task plus the responsibility. You must also transfer the corresponding authority (power to direct others when related to the task, take decisions related to the task) and resources (budget, use of non-financial resources for the task) to allow the "delegee" (the individual whom is assigned the task, project or mission) to actually TAKE responsibility. And my second tip to delegate well is that even if you delegate something as a manager, you remain ultimately responsible (accountable) for the result. This includes your responsibility to guide and assist the delegee so that he or she can be successful in accomplishing the task. In other words: when you're delegating, the following 5 things: Tasks, Responsibilities, Authority, Resources and Coaching are inextricably connected to each other. If you as a manager include the last 3 things when you're delegating, this will make your employee feel trusted and supported by you. You can expect employee moral, ownership, initiative and innovation to increase. But if you as a manager do not include authority, resources and coaching when you're delegating, you're asking the impossible of your employee and risk frustration, because she or he is likely to be unable to perform the task properly. You can expect employee moral, ownership, initiative and innovation to decline.

		3 Mike Walsh, United Kingdom
	Delegation as a Negative Tactic Delegation should be a positive and enabling experience but assumes the delegator is behaving in a morally, legally and socially acceptable way. From experience, this may not always be the case. Delegation may harm the delegated by transferring to them a liability the delegator wants to get rid of, or even as a deliberate tactic aimed at causing harm.

		2 Andrew Blaine Business Consultant, South Africa
	Why Should You Delegate? The primary reason for delegating is to permit the delegator to concentrate on more valuable tasks while less valuable aspects of responsibility can be addressed by subordinates under the guidance and...

		4 Howell Strategy Consultant, Canada
	Delegation - Best Practice I have found the key to successful delegation is coming out of the starting blocks clear and aligned. To do this I use a 3 Question process: 1. What do we hope to accomplish and what would success lo...

		0 Otieno Manager, Kenya
	Benefits of Delegation for Both Parties Delegation gives the delegee an opportunity to learn new tasks and responsibilities. As delegator one has the opportunity to guide and mentor. And of course the delegator acting as a mentor, does eve...

		2 Abel Anyolo Student (MBA), Kenya
	Successful Delegation as a Manager For a successful delegation, managers need to be courageous and show commitment to the process. They should not fear but strive to ensure their juniors are capacitated to carry out higher roles. They ...

		3 Paolo Pozzi Business Consultant, Italy
	Delegation: Mind the Details! I support @Javier Elenes's points. In addition I observe the most common mistake is omitting or overlooking a careful evaluation of whether managers can instruct or share (in the delegation process) ...

		1 Murty Magda Pane Lecturer, Indonesia
	Delegation and Leadership In my opinion, delegation is always aligned to leadership. But, I still do not have enough knowledge to prove that there is a positive correlation between leadership and the ability to delegate. What ...

		2 Shaheen Lakdawalla Malaysia
	Delegation is a Leadership Style Delegation is a leadership style. In my opinion the main steps to delegate succesfully are: Explain what needs to be done and by when. Discuss why it's important. Discuss how it needs to be...

		2 Hussain Abdulla Entrepreneur, Bahrain
	How to Delegate Depends of the Type of Organization I think delegation depends on the type of organization or business. For instance, in the PUBLIC organisation it so difficult to delegate because authority is limited anyhow, while in PRIVATE organiza...

		2 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	RE: Delegation and Leadership @Murty Magda Pane: I don't know if there is actual research to back this up in a quantitative way, but in my opinion the higher you are employed in an organization and the larger the organization is, ...

		2 Rakesh Bhatia India
	Delegation and Trust Let's define Delegation as: sharing responsibility, giving a sense of ownership, empowering someone to take decisions on your behalf, to deploy resources (which may result in achievement or failure) a...

		1 Francis Joseph United Kingdom
	Delegation, Leadership and Team Building For the purposes of promoting team work, trust, effective work partnership, resource development and shared knowledge delegating is key, if not essential. It needs continuity, shared knowledge and tru...

		1 Jose A. De las Rivas Management Consultant, Spain
	Delegation is a Leadership Style for Poor or Lazy Leaders In my personal point of view, a manager can delegate a task and the authority for carrying out some job, but never the final responsibility. "Traditional" managers often delegate only "brownies". I th...

		1 fulayi Zambia
	Advantages of Delegation for Team Members The team leader is not the only one who sees the advantages of delegation. Your teammates will see the following three benefits for themselves. DEVELOPMENT: When you delegate you will teach your t...

		1 pradeep deo Strategy Consultant, India
	When to Delegate or to Hire a Consultant Effective leadership knows the art of delegation. Before delegation one should have a thorough knowledge of a job so that at times one can do a course correction. If you do not know the job, do not d...

		3 Ranjeet Menon Project Manager, India
	Delegation Promotes Growth of People Kotter's 8 steps of transformation can serve as guidelines for effective delegation. I believe delegation is more about sharing responsibilities rather than sharing authority. Rather, delegation would...

		1 Emmanuel Mwirichia Manager, Kenya
	Empowering Really Helps The lack of a structured manner of delegation leads to confused 'delegees' and frustrated delegators. The delegator needs to clearly articulate the tasks and requirements. And ensure there is capacit...

		3 Andrew Blaine Business Consultant, South Africa
	Delegation Without Authority is a Miser's Gift @Ranjeet Menon: If a Manager delegates to a subordinate without giving the selected subordinate the tools with which to complete the delegated task, then the Manager is surely setting the subordinate ...

		0 Ranjeet Menon Project Manager, India
	Key Aspect of Delegating Authority @Andrew Blaine: First of all, no responsibility comes without an associated authority. To prepare people to handle authority, they should be first taught to handle responsibilities. Why would a manage...

		0 Andrew Blaine Business Consultant, South Africa
	Trust and Authority @Ranjeet Menon: Thank you for your response. May I suggest that in your response you replace "authority" with "Trust" and then consider your response again? Trust is earned and bestowed. It is, in my ...

		1 jorge anibal hoyos hoyos Manager, Colombia
	Delegation Must Be Well Prepared The employees must be prepared to receive responsibilities in the long run. They must be equipped with "enough wood" to become recipients of delegation. Before delegating, it is mandatory to foresee t...

		2 Ofwono Willy Osinde Project Manager, Uganda
	When to Delegate and Why In most cases, managers delegate when they are pre-occupied with more strategic activities of an organization. The less strategic activities are then delegated to subordinates. Though this is true in...

		1 jorge anibal hoyos hoyos Manager, Colombia
	When to Delegate? It Depends on… There are I think no clear rules that exist to determine when to delegate since the decision to delegate depends upon many things, like: How trustworthy the person to put in charge of something i...

		1 mchelu, Tanzania
	Why Managers Should Delegate Responsibilities A manager is accountable to delegate responsibilities to: Prepare subordinates for higher managerial positions. Attach subordinates to be part of the organization. Increase the efficiency i...

		0 Candy Geiger United States
	Re: Delegation is a Leadership Style @Shaheen Lakdawalla: I want to comment/clarify the delegation steps als I I believe Ms Lakdawalla is saying. Explain what needs to be done & by when: The expected end result and deadline. Disc...

		2 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	From Doing to Leading As your responsibilities as a manager or leader continue to grow, it becomes more and more impossible to do things yourself. Logic dictates that you need to you make other people do more things. And,...

		2 Hong Sun Management Consultant, Canada
	7 Levels of Delegation (Appelo) Jurgen Appelo, the prominent author of the book Management 3.0 that’s recognized as an agile classic has laid out a delegation model suitable for modern organizations as complex adaptive systems. This...

		1 Mohamed Traore Project Manager, Mali
	Mistakes to Avoid in Delegating Responsibility To delegate means to entrust somebody, or to appoint a person as a representative. In management, delegation means: To entrust a person with the responsibility for certain work, actions and decisions;...

		2 Norman Dragt Netherlands
	Delegation is Dependent on the Organization and the Hierarchical Level @Hussain Abdulla: I too think that delegation is dependent on the type of organization. As in public organizations rules and goals are set at the top level of political responsibility, it becomes almo...

		1 Frederic A Parker Consultant, United States
	Delegation and the Monkey Since 1972 when I first became involved in leadership development, the best book I have seen about delegation is "The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey"....

		1 Otaka Moris Manager, Uganda
	Delegation is Key Delegation is the key to organization growth and development. Human body systems also work in a delegative manner whereby each organ 🫀 has many designated parts that open once at a time but in...

		0 Frederic A Parker Consultant, United States
	Too Complicated Most of you are making delegation too complicated. You seem to want to micro-manage the process. I repeat my earlier comment: "Since 1972 when I first became involved in leadership development, the ...

		0 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	How to Make Delegation Simple @Frederic A Parker: Why do you find that book so good with respect to delegation? What is the most important lesson one can learn from that book?...

		1 Frederic A Parker Consultant, United States
	Monkey Monkey, Who's Got the Monkey? @Jaap de Jonge: This book, "The One-Minute Manager Meets the Monkey," (Blanchard) uses the analogy of the monkey on one's back. Carry and feed your own monkeys and expect others to do the same. Any ti...