The Issue Of Delegation

 

“The trick is to get truly world-class people working directly for you so you don´t have to spend a lot of time managing them.”

 

This quote addresses one of the basic principles of management: delegation. Delegation means appointing someone as a deputy or representative and entrusting them with a task. It differs from participation in a number of ways, although many managers consider it an aspect of participation. Neither does delegation always involve power sharing with employees. The goal of delegation can be as simple as helping a leader ease an excessive workload. In its most basic form, delegation is simply handing off a task to someone else, in a more complex form, delegation can resemble participative management.

 

Benefits Of Delegation

Delegating tasks well to subordinates is gaining importance as managerial ranks are thinned and managers see their workloads increase. Production managers find themselves with twice as many subordinates to supervise; sales managers see their territories double in current attempts to develop leaner structures. The potential benefits of delegation include the following:

 

• Delegation frees up the leader´s time for new tasks and strategic activities.

• Delegation provides employees with opportunities to learn and develop.

• Delegation allows employees to be involved in tasks.

• Delegation allows observation and evaluation of employees in new tasks.

• Delegation increases employee motivation and satisfaction.

 

Aside from being a time- and stress-management tool for leaders, delegation allows subordinates to try new tasks and learn new skills, thereby potentially enriching their jobs and increasing their satisfaction and motivation. When employees perform new tasks, the leader has the opportunity to observe them and gather performance-related information that can be used for further development, evaluation, and preparation of employees for promotions.