TeamResearch News

Delegation Done Right Rare but Good for Manager Careers

Though directed at empowerment of individuals, an article in Supervision does a nice job of covering steps required in empowering teams. Business Professor Anthony Urbaniak of North State University writes: "When it comes to delegating, most inexperienced supervisors make two big mistakes: (1) They fail to delegate enough. (2) They fail to do it skillfully. The primary reason for both mistakes is that it's easy to agree to the idea of delegation, but difficult to put into actual practice." Few supervisors really delegate, and those few often do it poorly, he says. Urbaniak argues that failure to do so hurts supervisors, because proper delegation can do more for a career than handling everything themselves.

He lists four reasons supervisors resist delegating:

"No faith in subordinates." Some managers have been burned by poor performance, while others may have unrealistic standards. But lack of confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: "To delegate successfully you must have confidence in the results you anticipate and transmit this feeling to the employee." (I would add that often poor performance occurs because the manager does not delegate properly.)
"Fear of superiors." You risk failure and criticism when you delegate, but Urbaniak argues, "If you are not sufficiently secure in your job and with your company to take a few failures, then you should not be a supervisor in the first place."
"Desire for personal credit." A manager who needs ego strokes wants to keep credit for important work to himself. But "by relinquishing personal credit to those in their departments they can increase productivity, which… is more rewarding and will take him farther."
"Misjudgment of time." Many supervisors do not recognize the time required to create delegation as an investment that will pay off in more personal time for more important work later.

Urbaniak says delegation is worth considering when the supervisor needs time to do more important work than they are delegating. Other reasons are because it will help an employee's morale and growth or the supervisor needs to relieve work pressure to reduce personal stress. However, it should only be done when the supervisor is willing to put in the time and effort to delegate correctly and it can be done without showing favoritism or hurting other relationships.

To delegate correctly, Urbaniak says you must:

"Select the job carefully." Make a list of tasks that can be delegated, then prioritize them based on how much of your time they take and how much follow-up would be required.
"Select the person carefully." Consider their workload, desire, and skills.
"Prepare all individuals for change." Inform everyone in the group, "so everyone is informed, misunderstandings are eliminated and there is some opportunity to ask questions."
Follow these steps with the individual:
1. "Meet in private where you will not be interrupted."
2. "Allocate sufficient time to do the delegating carefully and thoroughly."
3. "Go over the new job step by step."
4. "Ask the employee for verbal feedback on all details to eliminate any misunderstandings."
5. "Give the employee an opportunity to ask questions."
6. "Compliment the employee on previous work and transmit confidence…"
"Follow up soon."

Urbaniak says if you delegate regularly and well, "you will eventually worry less" and build better relationships with your employees—and possibly your family and friends as a result.

Source: Urbaniak, A. (05), "Giving Others Authority," Supervision (April):3.

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