Delegation & Scenario By George Beckley

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Definitions and interpretations

• Defining delegation:

“Grant of authority by one party (the delegator) to another (the delgatee) for agreed purpose(s). Under the legal concept of vicarious liability, the delegator remains responsible for the delegatee's acts or omissions in carrying out the purpose of the delegation”(BusinessDictionary.com, 2017)

Could be interpreted as:

“The assignment of any responsibility or authority to another person to carry out specific activities.”(George Beckley, 2017)

The Purpose of Delegation

Organisations and companies are often involved in many activities, such as: sourcing, distribution and customer service. If work and tasks are not organised it can affect the efficiency, productivity, development, employee satisfaction and market share of the company.

• Delegation is needed to:

• Increase efficiency

• Increase development

• Increase productivity

• Increase job satisfaction

Delegation & Efficiency

• Delegation allows a manager to spread tasks to employees to speed up tasks, better quality of a task* and less pressure on a manager with many tasks to complete.

• *Some employees may not

have the correct skills to produce

quality.

Delegation allows a manager to spread tasks across employees. By assigning specific tasks to specific employees there is a greater probability of the task being completed sooner than if one employee had to complete all tasks. If each employee is given a manageable workload there is a greater chance of the work produced being of better quality. By assigning specific tasks to specific employees it can also make employees feel as if they have a role in the business, thus increasing their job satisfaction and efficiency.

Delegation & Development

• A leader or manager can help improve an employee’s skills set by working with them showing the employee how to do certain tasks. To solidify the new skills learnt, tasks can be delegated to the employee. If completed well, this will show the new skill is learnt and the employee is now able in that skill.

The Scenario-Game Software Development Company• “Hello there I am the lead software design developer for

VorsecGames, a relatively small company with 10 employees all together. I have a problem, the deadline for the software is two weeks away, with the game set for release. However if I continue with the software development at my current speed it will take me three weeks to complete. I need to delegate!”

Who to delegate to?• “I have three employees that work under me. They all do the same

software work, but I am the only one who knows how to put finishing effects and specific coding on software. I will need to teach one employee out of Sam, Rodger and Lucy this new skills set.”

• Sam has been working here 2 years and is very ambitious, wanting to progress through the company. Sam is 25 years old.

• Rodger works very hard and has been at the company for 10 years. Rodger is set to retire in 5 years time.

• Lucy has just joined VorsecGames and is the brightest out of the 3. Lucy has just graduated from university at 23 years old.

Positives of Delegation

• “I chose to delegate the task to Lucy. This was a tricky decision, but Lucy will pick up the skills the fastest to complete the task, helping me meet the deadline. She will also carry these skills for life. Eventually she could be the manager for this company one day. I know the other employees may not agree with my decision.”

• “I am so happy to be learning new skills and doing new tasks that challenge me. I am motivated to get into the task and give it my best efforts. Thanks Boss!” Lucy

Implications of delegation

• “I am so happy George did not pick me to dump his work on. I hate change in my work. If he had picked me, I may become unhappy and effect those around me by being grumpy.” Rodger.

• “I am so angry right now! Lucy has just arrived and is already being taught new skills. I have worked here two years and George did not trust me with his task? I feel hurt by his decision and I am really demotivated to work under George. I deserved to learn the new skills!” Sam.

Resolution to Scenario 1

• “Once Sam had found out he was not chosen for the delegated task he was very angry with me and potentially demotivated to work for this company. In this situation I need to have a conversation with Sam to make him feel valued, that there is career progression here, but also make sure he knows I am his boss.”

• This is a difficult situation for myself, as I need to make assurances that the employee will develop his skills over time at this organisation. The problem I have is not having a task to delegate to Sam or when the next task will be. This was a risky choice for myself, but understood Sam is part of the future of this organisation and could not risk him leaving for another organisation. I will also need to help Lucy with the delegated task. Without suitable support and resources this could lead to anxiety, frustration and the task being badly done (Hall et al., 2010).

Evaluation of Delegation Scenario 1

• Choosing the high skilled worker was most suitable for the need of this delegation. There was little time for task completion and training someone that will learn fast is less time consuming. The employees all responded in different ways, positively, negatively and somewhat neutral. The delegation is positive for the employee that is willing to learn and develop new skills, in this case Lucy. This is also good for the organisation, as their employees are now at a greater skill level and more valuable to the business. Delegation can have demotivating effects on employees that have seen other employees be chosen for delegated work and progress their skills, while they have not. Neutrally, some employees do not want their job or workload to change.

• This was an efficiency form of delegation, but needed a high skilled employee. A new employee was picked for the task, making older employees feel distrust towards their manager as I seem to trust a brand new employee for the task more than Sam or Rodger who had more experience. As the employees are highly skilled, most want to keep progressing with their skills. This causes a competitiveness for delegation tasks, potentially leading to employee conflict. To avoid this I could have made a progress plan where all employees will have a rota format for delegation tasks. Some employees like Rodger do not like their job changing, and may be frustrated if chosen for delegation tasks.

Delegation Scenario 2

• “I am the manager here at McDonalds. As part of my job I need to help my employees develop management skills to help the future of the business. I am going to delegate a task to Joe, involving cashing up the tills at the end of the day. I know Joe has the skills to do the delegated task, but he is not motivated to do it.”

Low Skilled Delegation Implications

• “Ugh. George is so annoying. I don’t want to learn management skills, I just want to work and get paid. Is that too much to ask? George also says I take too long to cash the tills.” Joe

Resolution to Scenario 2

• “I will need to have a meeting with Joe and try to persuade him to do the delegated tasks.”

• Research by Spetzer (1992) into delegation showed organisations that managers must take time to explain delegated tasks clearly. Managers should also tell employees why the delegated task is important. This will create a shared value between the manager, employee and task delegated to them (Hall et al., 2010). I needed to explain to Joe that this work is important for his job progression. We then had a long conversation about his future ambitions. I believe that I now understand what Joe is looking for in delegated tasks. All he wanted to know before the task is why he needed to do the task and not myself. Later this shift myself and Joe cashed the tills together.

Evaluation of Delegation Scenario 2

• In this scenario there is no time restraint on the manager, the pure purpose of this delegation is for employee development. However, the employee did not want to do the extra task as he did not want to learn these new skills, it seemed more like extra work for the employee. As this is a low skilled working environment many employees did not choose this job, but needed a living wage more than anything. This leads to employee demotivation if they are forced to learn more tasks than what they originally signed up for or are willing to do. A manager has to be very careful when delegating to make sure everyone is happy. For Trevor to have successful delegation and development with myself I will need to first motivate and excite Joe to be willing to do the tasks.

Factors of who to delegate to

Figure 1 shows that delegated tasks takes an employee to both be willing and high skilled. There are also other ways to get an employee to delegate tasks to, but is dependant on the employees willingness and current skill level. With high skill and low willingness the manager will need to persuade and excite the employee into wanting to do the delegated tasks. An employee with high will but low skill, will need guidance on the task. This will be time consuming for the manager, and will only have time to delegate tasks if the situation for the manager is not pressurized. For a low skill and low willingness worker, this will be difficult to the manager to delegate tasks to. The employee will need both motivation and guidance to delegate a task to.High will and high skill workers are where a manager can trust the employee to both get the delegated job done and with good quality.

Figure 1: Delegation Model. Sourced from (Howtodelegate.com, 2017)

Elements of Delegation Responsibility-Trusting the employee with the task. The managers assign certain responsibility to the subordinates for the completion of certain tasks on there behalf.Authority-the manager along with the responsibility also delegates authority to enable the subordinate to take decisions independently and accomplish the task efficiently.Accountability-The Accountability cannot be delegated which means, in the case of non-completion of the task, the manager will only be held responsible for it, not the subordinates.Figure 2: Elements of Delegation. Sourced from

(Businessjargons.com, 2017)

Advantages of Delegation

• Manager: The essence of delegation process is empowering someone to act for the manager. The manager shares his burden of work with his subordinates through delegation. Thus the manager is allowed to concentrate on other works.

• Employees: Delegation allows freedom and expands the wisdom of subordinates. It enhances the position and status of the subordinates as they are given powers to exercise.

• Organisation: Grows and expands out of delegation. Delegation speeds up decision making as power is shared at all levels.

• Team: The behaviour pattern of every individual is improved by delegation. Granting of freedom to act by the superior shows the confidence of the superior over tile subordinates.

• Trust: When a manager is on leave the work is taken by subordinates and provides continuity in functions.

• Team Morale: It motivates the subordinates to do better and perform well.

Disadvantages of Delegation

• Time: Can be very time consuming if dealing with unwilling or low skilled employees to get the job done in a specific time frame.

• Quality of work: There is an element of trust that the job will be done to a high standard. There is no guarantee tasks will be done to a high standard.

• Relevance of position: Employees may become frustrated that they have been given management tasks, while the manager is not doing their job properly. Employees may question the managers credibility.

• Communication: The manager will have a vision of how a task should be carried out. The subordinate may have a different view. This is where miscommunication may occur.

References

• Business Jargons. (2017). What are the elements of Delegation of Authority? definition and elements -Business Jargons. [online] Available at: http://businessjargons.com/elements-of-delegation-of-authority.html [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017].

• Hall, D., Jones, R., Raffo, C., Anderton, A., Chambers, I. and Gray, D. (2010). Business studies. Harlow: Pearson Education.

• Merriam-webster.com. (2017). Definition of DELEGATION. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delegation [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017].