Guide to Managing Human Resources
Chapter 9: Delegation
Contents
- Summary
- Guiding Principles
- Resistance to Delegation
- Choosing Tasks to Delegate
- Preparing Employees for Delegation
- Making Delegation Effective
- Other Resources
Summary
Delegation
is a way to appropriately and consistently provide direction to
the staff. By delegating properly, you can teach employees new skills
and expertise to help them be more productive and instill a sense
of self-reliance, improving morale and motivation. As a supervisor,
you must assess your staff's current abilities and their potential
to accept and complete assignments through established guidelines.
You must know how to plan and coordinate a variety of activities
and how to monitor progress. Delegation brings into play many management
functions planning, organizing, coordinating, motivating, communicating,
and leading.
Guiding
Principles
Your
goals in delegating are to:
- Provide opportunities for growth and development
- Empower staff by letting them be responsible for the work
- Increase morale and self-confidence
- Give yourself more time to concentrate on staff and other management issues
- Enhance creativity and skills
- Increase staff involvement and commitment to the job
Resistance
to Delegation
Understanding
why you may be reluctant to delegate tasks and why staff members
may be reluctant to accept them will help you be a more effective
delegator. The reluctance to delegate tasks is understandable because
you still retain accountability. Sometimes you may feel the transfer
of a task involves a certain degree of risk. Your staff may also
be thinking about the risk; they are afraid that they may be criticized
if they fail. Some common reasons why managers and supervisors avoid
delegation are:
- They are afraid the employee may make mistakes
- They think it takes too much time to delegate
- They feel that completing the task themselves would be more efficient
- They are concerned about losing control
- They fear that employees will resent delegation
Choosing
Projects or Tasks to Delegate
Choose
the projects and tasks you delegate carefully to make sure you are
balancing the risk with the potential rewards. You may want to delegate
tasks that meet the following criteria:
- All necessary information is available to your employee
- The parameters are clear
- The task does not involve responsibilities traditionally associated with management (i.e., hiring, performance appraisals, disciplinary action)
Preparing Employees for Delegation
- Find out what employees already know about the task. With this knowledge, you can communicate more efficiently, without losing employees' attention or insulting their intelligence.
- Give a reason why explanation. Employees who understand the purpose of projects tend to commit themselves more fully to completing those projects.
- Provide an example or illustration of the task.
- Make it clear that you welcome questions. Employees may feel embarrassed or afraid to reveal their lack of knowledge about a subject or task. Reassure them that you are happy to answer any questions they might have.
- Work with employees at the beginning of new projects to provide the encouragement and instruction they need.
Making
Delegation Effective
You
can do several things to increase your effectiveness in delegation.
For delegation to work, your staff must have a clear understanding
of their responsibilities, the extent of their authority, and the
results that they are expected to produce.
- Select the employees who have the ability to do the job according to their experience and knowledge.
- Make sure your expectations are clearly understood.
- Let employees know you believe in their ability to carry out the task.
- Clearly define the employees' authority and responsibility.
- Monitor progress and establish feedback mechanisms.
- Establish deadlines and milestones.
- Empower employees by giving them the latitude to use their own imagination and initiative.
- Reward employees for the positive results they produce.
- Provide constructive feedback.
Other Resources
- Your Employee Relations Specialist in Human Resources
- Employee Development & Training Classes and Workshops