Delegation

A person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular an elected representative sent to a conference for example. In business delegation is the transfer of authority or responsibility for specific activities and tasks within a business from one individual to another, according to Indeed Editorial Team (2022).

 

Why is delegating important?

  • It helps to reduce workload from managers and other leaders. By doing so it helps managers or leadership to focus on more pressing issues that need their attention and they can give small jobs to subordinates.

 

  • Delegating helps with finishing a project at the targeted time. Dividing tasks amongst subordinated with a deadline helps with time management.

 

  • Subordinates also feel empowered and motivated when they are given a chance to contribute a major project. It gives them a chance to show their talent. In the mist of them showing their talent, managers and leadership should avoid micromanaging, it will cause the employee or team member to lose confidence and not perform.

 

  • There are better chances for good decisions to be made by the team when management and employees work together, therefore producing great results.

 

  • It can be used as an opportunity for on-the-job training for employees, they will learn more about the company and the culture as well.

 

Conditions for effective delegation

A manager must select the person to delegate on basis of sound knowledge. If the manager selects a person who does not know what to do, a lot of mistakes will be made or the project will fail. The person selected to do the task must be capable of carrying out the task and the responsibility that comes with it. The nature and the scope of the work and the delegated tasks must be clearly defined to avoid confusion and mistakes. A progress report must be made weekly so that the leader or manager can see how far everyone is on their tasks, and if there are mistakes, they can be fixed early. Two-way communication is important. A successful delegation task must be rewarded.

 

Why are managers reluctant to delegate?

There is always fear of the unknown when entrusting something big to someone. It can either ruin their career or things go well or they fear that employees will do better than them Sometimes managers themselves do not have delegation skills, so they avoid delegating Other managers are shy asking employees, so they would rather do it on their own.