One of the most important functions of a manager in an organization is the delegation of responsibility and the delegation of authority to his subordinates. His ability to delegate work and manage his team members is an indicator of his abilities. Let us take a look at the importance of such delegations and the steps in delegation of authority.
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Steps in Delegation of Authority
The manager cannot do all the work by himself. He reserves the important and challenging work for himself and delegates the other work to his subordinates.
And where there is a delegation of responsibility there is also a delegation of authority. This will enable the subordinates to take important decisions and carry out their tasks efficiently.
Let us take a look at the steps in the delegation.
1] Defining the Result
Firstly, the manager must define the purpose and the required results from the tasks to be performed. When the objectives for the tasks are clear both to the manager and the subordinate, there is clarity and no confusion moving forward. The subordinate knows exactly what he has to achieve. He is not working blind.
2] Assignment of Duties
The manager also has to split the work among all his team members or subordinates. He has to assign specific tasks and duties to specific people.
When assigning work, the manager has to ensure that the subordinate understands the scope of the work and the quality of work expected of him.
Learn more about Difficulties in Delegation here in detail.
Such assignment of work is usually done on the basis of the subordinate’s qualifications, experience level, aptitude etc. So the manager must know the qualities of his team members to assign the work most efficiently.
3] Assigning Authority
Assigning of responsibilities is meaningless unless there is also an assignment of authority. So this is one of the important steps in the delegation.
If the subordinates do not have the authority to carry out tasks, they cannot fulfill their responsibilities. The delegation of authority will give them the freedom to take independent decisions, use resources of the company etc to accomplish their tasks.
4] Creating Accountability
Now, the subordinates must be made accountable for the work that is done by him. The extent of this accountability will depend on the extent of the responsibility and authority delegated to him.
However, ultimately the manager will be responsible for work the work that was done by his team members to his superiors in the organization.
Importance of Delegation
Delegation is one of the main functions of management. The success of a manager will depend on his ability to delegate his work. Let us take a look at the importance of delegation.
- Lightens the workload of the manager. The manager can delegate routine work and focus on important tasks that require his expertise and experience.
- Also results in quicker decisions and faster turnaround. This is because we assign authority to the subordinates which allows them to take independent decisions without interference.
- Delegation also helps motivate the subordinates. The responsibilities given to them provides them motivation. And the recognition they get for the work will help boost their morale.
- It also increases the bond and understanding between the manager and his team. They interact more often and the cohesiveness is an advantage to the organization.
- Delegation allows the lower level managers to gain experience and knowledge. So it encourages them to make independent decisions and handle tasks on their own. This is great training for their eventual move to middle and upper management.
Solved Question for You
Q: A manager delegates all his authority to his subordinates. True or False?
Ans: False. The manager only delegates as much authority as is necessary to accomplish the tasks assigned to them. Because if he will delegate all his authority he will pass on his position to the subordinates.
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