The Art of Effective Delegation

You’ve likely delegated a job before. Whether it is at home as a parent, or at work as a manager, delegation does seem like a reasonable choice when you have way too much on your plate. While necessity appears the most obvious reason to ‘unload’ your work to another, there is so much more that can be gained from this process than a temporary breather from times when there are just too much to do.

Delegation is one of the most underrated processes in an organization; its contribution is invaluable. Done effectively, delegation benefits the manager, his staff and the organization as a whole. The impact of delegation is not limited to short-term goals too; strategic and proactive delegation may be considered as an investment towards the longevity and functionality of any group.

DELEGATION DEFINED
Delegation has been conceptualized as “empowering a person to act for another.”

The key word here is the word empower. Delegation is a transfer of task, resources and authority from a leader to a subordinate/ partner, but it is a transfer that is positive and designed to strengthen, not burden, another individual.

Note that delegation is not a surrender of responsibility. At the end of the day, the delegator (person who delegates the task) remains ultimately responsible for the task completion.

A more detailed definition of delegation is that of Huppe, who defined this process as “…assigning to others specific tasks and the authority to complete those tasks, with mutually agreed upon methods for evaluating completed work.”

Huppe’s definition highlights two key points to remember:
1. Delegation as a process, not a single act.

Don’t confuse delegation with “dumping”!

Delegation does not begin and end the moment you explain to your employee/s what needs to be done. It is an on-going relationship; it starts even before you inform your staff of your needs, and continues on after the task is the completed.
In short, delegation—while it saves time—still takes time to implement!

Delegation involves a stage of planning. Several factors need to be considered before you delegate; among them are the nature of the task, your objectives, your envisioned output, the skills/experience of your staff and the stage of your work relationship.

As all delegation processes are unique, deliberate effort must be exerted to factor in variables that can affect your desired outcome. Usually, some degree of research, study and even “feeling around” is needed before you even consider delegating.

And then there’s the delegation conference itself. The way you communicate the delegated task will largely determine the project’s and the delegation relationship’s success.

Explaining points clearly and clarifying key terms are integral in a delegation conference. It is not impossible to find out that the way one communicates a task to a delegatee actually makes the process more difficult and more complicated than it actually is!

Lastly, delegation involves consistent follow-up and feedback. A key concept in delegation is that of accountability. Constant monitoring of progress is required to diagnose strengths and weaknesses of the process and the relationship along the way, as well as make sure that the task is progressing within the right track. This stage may even involve revising your initial delegation plan to accommodate new data surfaced in the course of the performance of the delegatee. Both the final output and the delegation process must undergo evaluation.

2. Delegation as mutual consultation and agreement.

While most delegation occurs in hierarchical organizations and typically involves a superior delegating to a subordinate, effective delegation involves treating your delegatee as a partner. Delegation works best with mutual respect of what each party can bring to the table.
The consultation process in delegation is crucial. Leaders, from their experience, typically have set ideas of what they want in their minds, as well as their own approach to a task. These ideas equate to expectations. Most problems in delegation occur when these expectations are not communicated clearly by a manager, nor received accurately by a delegatee. Thus, constant clarification of key result areas is imperative in the delegation process.

Each employee has a particular approach to a task, depending on their experience, work style or preferences. Avoid micromanaging a delegatee! Openness to an employee’s preferred approach, if no significant conflict with terminal objectives exists, will go a long way in incorporating richness to the task that was not there before. It may even result in a more motivated delegate.

At the end of the day delegation is the work of at least two minds, and no one person should dominate the process. With reasonable parameters, expectations may be carefully negotiated to address strengths and limitations of both parties. The more thorough a consult, the greater the effectiveness of the delegation process.