Delegation in the Round

Associated issues/concepts

Job authority, personal authority, expertise authority, job enrichment, cell technology and semi-autonomous work groups, staff performance review ( staff appraisal), empowerment, intrapreneurship, down-sizing and lean organisation, management by objectives

Structuring the Team's Roles

The job of any team manager or supervisor is to plan, structure, coordinate, maintain and review the work of the section and integrate this work with the rest of the organisation and outside clients. The classical assumption is that the team manager/leader should not be "out of control" of their " section" and not neglecting their own job. The latter imperative means that they cannot be doing everyone else's work. Being busy by doing the work of others - helping out - may lead to a neglect of the team coordination functions. As on a football field - the captain's own game suffers. Yet helping out means that the manager shares the travails of the team and does not hold back from getting their hands dirty. But there is a balance - and the manager cannot neglect their own job and quality of working life.

Not delegating and allowing what has been delegated to run down is short-sighted. Taking the trouble to explain the role and standards to others means that they know how to do it next time.

Delegation is an empowering and learning process

It involves

• reciprocal obligations
• supportive behaviours on both sides.

In a situation where you are understaffed, people may actually leave because they are not receiving adequate supervisory support. This is a typical managerial dilemma.

It is sometimes hard to keep your hands of work that your staff normally handle. It is important not to take delegation for granted or assume that it has been done. Indeed, over zealous delegation can result in job overload, stress and exploitation for the person doing the job. When management "down-size" by reducing head count and getting everyone to be multiskilled with more responsibility (empowerment) - the process of delegation can become an abuse of managerial power - a form of bullying.

This caution having been given, good delegation means

• providing good content and structure to a job
• letting someone get on with a job without hinderance.

The delegation process is an organisational design and distribution activity and - when you realise that most people in a modern organisation have a reasonably well-defined job to do - you can see the bulk of the delegation task has already been done. But many, many assumptions are made

Initial job definition is at the heart of the process of delegation. Thereafter - further delegation is a fine-tuning and adaptation process at the level of the organisation, at the level of the job and for the individual in terms of acceptance, accommodation and learning.

Empowerment

When trying to delegate further in order to empower and increase the scope for subordinates to make decisions, the team leader relieves themselves of the doing but not the responsibility not the thinking required for briefing and giving support. We try to

• cut out delays and steps while they wait for your answers
• develop ompetencies and powers of evaluation and judgment.
• create the right motivational conditions.
• respond to the need to regrade and offer improved rewards elements.

The Mechanics of Delegating?

These are cumbersome. If delegation is not done this way - how is it really done? The answer to this is that jobs are defined at some point in time - then they are added to or disappear. The content of the job changes incrementally - wsometimes quickly sometimes slowly and imperceptibly. Yet in terms of typical steps -

• As a manager or supervisor draw up or review your own job description.
• Draw up or review the job descriptions of members of your team.
• Now assess the jobs as a whole in terms of
  • What I do.....
  • Who has "space" in their current role and can do it now? ....
  • who could do it (for their development and the team's development) when trained?

When you think systematically about the current allocation of responsibilities and the current overloads and gaps - identify appropriate elements to delegate. Discuss the ideas/plans with your boss and team - individually and as a group. Avoid landing these things on peoples' laps unannounced.

Begin by delegating duties that recur as a routine??

This is old fashioned and limited advice. Basically this means passing the dross onto some poor sucker - easy tasks and a mass of volume that consumes time and fills up the day. Parkinson's Law applies

- work expands to fit the time available.

< p> The only challenge is in trying to clear the backlog before the end of the day. People get tired. Isn't this more like job loading (often overleading) than job enrichment or empowerment?

Delegate as a means of opening up learning opportunity

• What experience-building do you want to encourage and distribute?
• How will it help individuals and the team?
• What delegated tasks will have a satisfying and evident result when done well?
• Can commitment be secured by delegated to people in ways that match their know-how, skills, interests, attitudes? Why is this implied hypothesis weak?
• What can be delegated that will offer a challenge?
• Will the challenge be regarded. Will it be taken up? If not, why not?

The Buck Stops Here

• the thinking, authority, room to manoeuvre and decision-making. If the subordinate makes different choices from you - how will you avoid the temptation to interfere?
• the room to be wrong. Delegation involves risk-taking. How can you ensure the person is making good progress. Ensure that the person is capable of carrying out the responsibility is a supportive atmosphere.
• Stand by your colleague. Let them get the credit for things "well done". But you may be blamed if it does turn out wrong - or does not get done. Consider what will happen if the subordinate fails. How might you be blamed? Does the 'Buck stops here?" really apply? Good results from the team usually mean good supervision, coordination and support. Someone makes a mistake - stand by them giving an opportunity to rectify the error. Avoid stepping in to do it for them

Learning, Training and Delegation

• Trial and error learning can be physically and mentally damaging.
• give proper briefing and demonstration and continue to make this available as required
• Delegate progressively more complex jobs
• Protect the inexperienced
• encourage people to think through their own problems. Ask open questions and explore ideas on how a given problem may be solved.
• avoid being a constant checker-upper. Remember how it feels to have someone constantly at your elbow watching. Give room to let them get on with the task
• Decide how results will be appraised.

Don't rush it.

• Delegation is a long term process
• distribute the delegated work evenly
• Make the person's authority clear
• Do it when a new job comes up? Inducting a new employee? Changing a work system? As a result of job analysis in staff appraisal.

Work towards a system of "managment by Exception"

• Your team need not waste time every day reporting on things that are going smoothly
• report on exceptions - good or bad - If the system is working well - no news means "normal"
• Do it when a new job comes up? Inducting a new employee?
• a regular, routine, periodic review or "management by walk-about" acts as a fail-safe .

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Developed and maintained by Chris Jarvis