2. • In their book, Hidden Value: How Great Companies
Achieve Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People,
authors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Charles O’Reilly claim that
there is mounting evidence that delegating more
responsibility for decision making increases
productivity, morale, and commitment, all of which
impact company culture.
• A 2015 Gallup study of the entrepreneurial talents of
143 CEOs on the Inc. 500 list showed that companies
run by executives who effectively delegate authority
grow faster, generate more revenue, and create more
jobs.
3. • Yet, for many leaders, delegating feels like
something they know they should do, but
don’t do.
4. • The responsibility for ensuring that all tasks get
accomplished belongs to managers, but it's often not
possible for them to perform all the duties on their
own.
• A manager lightens their workload by assigning tasks
to appropriate people within the team and allowing
them to make decisions regarding the project.
• The procedure of distributing tasks or responsibilities
with their associated decisions to a subordinate
employee on a temporary or long-term basis is
delegation of authority.
5. • All medium and large corporations have a hierarchy of
positions.
• Usually, the managing director or chief executive
officer holds the overall responsibility for the daily
operations.
• However, it is not feasible to expect them to perform
all the tasks of the organisation themselves.
• So, leaders assign the work along with the
responsibilities and authority to make decisions to
their employees.
• delegation always takes place top-down, and juniors
cannot pass tasks on to their seniors.
6. • In a successful company, success is an outcome of shared authority
and responsibility, which allows the company to run in an organised
manner.
• Delegation also promotes the development of employees and
improves their decision-making abilities by enabling them to
demonstrate their accountability and troubleshooting skills.
• Moreover, delegation of authority doesn't just benefit junior
employees. Sometimes, managerial staff can get overburdened
with essential activities. In such cases, they may assign some tasks
to other employees on a short-term basis to save time.
• However, they are still accountable to their own superiors.
Authority can be delegated but responsibility remains with the
manager who delegates.
7. Types of managers in terms of how they delegate
authority to their subordinates to take decisions
MICROMANAGER THE COACH
THE HELICOPTER BOSS THE CHEERLEADER
CONTROLLING/AUTOCRATIC INSPIRING/COACHING
FREQUENT
EPISODIC
LEVEL
OF
INVOLVEMENT
STYLE OF LEADERSHIP
8. • Most managers start out as either helicopter bosses or
micromanagers.
• Both are typically hands-on and controlling, likely to
overrule an employee’s decision if they don’t like it.
• High-involvement management types emerge for many
reasons—often, from the norms and expectations of their
organizations: role models, attitudes toward failure and
accountability, or corporate priorities.
• Some managers feel that subordinates don’t have the
abilities or skills to make good decisions themselves or are
not sufficiently accountable.
• If capabilities truly are lacking, the micromanager approach
may indeed be the best fit for a decision
• In the longer term, however, both these approaches make
employees unaccountable and lacking in responsibility, so
that they become inefficient, overload senior
management’s time and attention, and feel undervalued,
unmotivated, and disengaged
9. Cheerleaders
• Leaders in another archetype purport to
empower employees by being less involved and
cheering from the sidelines.
• Cheerleader managers step back from decisions,
intervening only occasionally to boost morale.
• Cheerleaders are the managers most likely to
delegate decision-making authority to their best
people, freeing up more time for themselves.
• Overloaded and experienced leaders are often
inclined to make that transition
10. • The cheerleader approach is a dangerous trap
for leaders and employees alike.
• When leaders engage infrequently, they can
seem to undermine or question an employee’s
decision-making capabilities when they do
step in: if managers engage with their people
only as a last resort, coaching becomes a
negative exercise reserved for those who are
struggling.
11. Coaches
• successful empowerment, counter-intuitively,
doesn’t mean leaving employees alone. The
managerial archetype that truly empowers
people to make delegated decisions well is what
is called the coach.
• Hands-on but not directive, coaches don’t tell
people what to do—rather, they provide
guidance and guardrails for decisions and ensure
accountability, while stepping back and allowing
others to make them.
12. Steps in Delegation
• Prepare a plan.
• The first step in delegating authority is to divide a big project into smaller,
achievable tasks.
• Then, review the workforce and time constraints.
• Determine which tasks are appropriate for the employees within the
team.
• To select the best candidate for handling those responsibilities, consider
the qualifications, experience, past performance and any training history.
• Distribute the assignments by utilising suitable communication channels.
• Managers can either use email or conduct a meeting for this purpose.
• Explain to the team members why the manager chose them for those
specific tasks.
13. • Provide clear instructions.
• Managers must ensure they make their expectations
clear from the beginning.
• Set the deadlines, milestones and furnish all details of
the expected results.
• This information has to be completely unambiguous to
avoid misunderstandings in the future.
• Before manager’s teammates begin on their
assignments, manager should conduct a question and
answer round to clarify doubts and provide any missing
information.
14. • Grant proper authorisation.
• Some processes require adequate permissions and
decision-making power.
• For example, suppose your acquisition manager wishes
to procure raw materials to perform a certain duty.
• To be able to do that, the manager needs to know your
suppliers.
• Additionally, they should have the authority to
negotiate the prices and arrange for the delivery.
• Hence, granting proper and timely authorisation is
extremely important.
15. • Follow up on tasks.
• However, autonomy can backfire at times when
employees end up making wrong decisions.
• Managers should ensure that the job is
proceeding according to their expectations by
asking for periodic updates.
• The employees should be required to report to
you regularly so that you can solve any issues.
• Managers should also make sure they have some
contingency plans in place in case something
goes wrong.
16. • Analyse the results and provide feedback.
• Good leadership requires scouting for potential candidates who can
take manager’s place once they've moved on to other roles.
• A great way to do this is by analysing the results of delegated tasks
to gauge the effectiveness of your team members.
• If manager is particularly satisfied with an employee's performance,
the manager can train them to handle more responsibilities.
• Conversely, provide constructive feedback to those who need
improvement and avoid delegating further tasks until your next
evaluation.
• Creating such a culture of support helps you build a fully functional
team.
17. Principles of Delegation of Authority
• The scalar principle: This management rule states that
all employees must follow the chain of command
within an organisation. They should report to their
respective line managers and be aware that only their
immediate superiors are authorised to delegate duties.
• Principle of defining function: Subordinates should
know the detailed requirements of the assignment and
its impact on other jobs in the department. These
requirements include the process, the exact nature of
the task and any sub-tasks or activities involved.
18. • Principle of delegation by expected results: Effective
delegation also depends on clarity in expectations. The
manager should define the results and the metrics for
assessing the quality of work clearly, which serves two
purposes. It becomes easier to decide whom to
delegate the tasks to, and employees are fully aware of
what's expected of them. If you want your team
members to do no more or less than what is asked of
them, clarify that right at the beginning. There
shouldn't be any confusion in the minds of employees
regarding when to make decisions independently and
when to approach seniors.
19. • Principle of unity of command: Any employee should
have to turn to only one line manager for performance
evaluation, solution to problems and final reporting.
• Principle of balance in authority and
responsibility: Responsibility and power go hand-in-
hand. A person without authority may not be able to
carry out the necessary obligations. Conversely, too
much autonomy can lead to abuse of power. So, it
should be clear to everyone that while accepting any
delegated task, it is their responsibility to perform
according to expectations within the purview of the
authority granted to them.
20. • Principle of authority level: Some managers may find it difficult to
relinquish control. A few tend to micromanage, while others fear
adverse outcomes. But if they always make the decisions for their
juniors, they will never create worthy successors. Allowing
employees to make their own decisions within the limits of their
authority inspires confidence and trust. If there are any doubts, or if
the progress is not satisfactory, communicating this problem with
juniors and advising corrective measures helps to set them on the
right course again.
• Principle of absolute responsibility: A junior employee is
completely answerable to their immediate superior when accepting
tasks and responsibilities. However, the manager remains
responsible for the smooth operation of the project.
21. eight practices of leaders who
delegate successfully:
1. They pick the right person — and it isn’t always about
who can do it. Who needs to develop these skills?
Who has capacity? Who has shown interest? Who is
ready for a challenge? Who would see this as a
reward? Successful delegators also explain why they
chose the person to take on the task.
2. They’re clear about what the person is responsible for
and how much autonomy they have. In Drive: The
Surprising Science About What Motivates Us, Daniel
Pink writes that people often want autonomy over
task, team, technique, and time. Successful delegators
let their team members know exactly where they
have autonomy and where they don’t (yet).
22. 3. They describe the desired results in detail. This
includes setting clear expectations about the
outcome (“what it is”), how the task fits into the
bigger picture (“why we’re doing it”), and
criteria for measuring success (“what it should
look like when done well”).
4. They make sure that team members have the
resources they need to do the job, whether it’s
training, money, supplies, time, a private space,
adjusted priorities, or help from others.
23. 5. They establish checkpoints, milestones, and
junctures for feedback so that they neither
micromanage nor under-lead.
6. They encourage new, creative ways for team
members to accomplish goals. It’s important
for delegators to set aside their attachment
to how things have been done in the past, so
that they can invite, recognize, and reward
novel approaches that work.
24. 7. They create a motivating environment.
Successful delegators know when to
cheerlead, coach, step in, step back, adjust
expectations, make themselves available, and
celebrate successes.
8. They tolerate risks and mistakes, and use
them as learning opportunities, rather than
as proof that they shouldn’t have delegated
in the first place.
25. • Delegating well helps leaders maximize their
resources,
• ensuring that they’re focusing on their highest
priorities
• developing their team members
