Effective Delegation

Delegating some works or tasks is not easy. According to Professor John Hunt, as cited by Martin Zwilling, only one of ten managers is able to delegate properly some of their tasks. A perfectionist manager seems impossible to delegate an easy task to his subordinate, whilst other managers are afraid to delegate their tasks because it would reflect their poor ability in managing the tasks. The challenge in delegating is to determine which tasks can be delegated and which cannot be delegated. The inability to delegate some of their tasks could be a serious problem for the managers. It will increase the stress level due to the increased amount of tasks.  

Apart of this challenge, delegation is not the same with allocation. In delegation, the responsibility is still held by the delegator, the one who give the authority or delegate to his subordinates. Meanwhile, allocation means distributing tasks or works to others people as well as responsibility regarding the completion of tasks. Therefore, in delegation, the successful completing the tasks will be a success of all parties, the delegator and the subordinate. Whilst in allocation, the failure of completing the task will be burdened to the one who does the tasks.

To determine which tasks can be delegated, the manager can make a parameter to answer this challenge. For instance, the tasks that have high urgency but low importance can be delegated it to others. When a manager is able to delegate properly, she can focus on the tasks which have higher value to the organization. Delegating also reflects a trust to the member of team and help to develops skills other members in the team so that the manager has also prepared her successor.   

There are six steps for successful delegation. First, a manager has to select the individual or team that has had the skills to solve the tasks or can be trained to solve the tasks. Second, a manager ought to be able to clearly explain the task to avoid the doubt to her subordinate in doing the tasks. Third, the manager has to agree the working procedure and set the deadline. Fourth, because the responsibility is still adhering to the manager who delegates the task, so that the manager should monitor the progress and provide a support to the subordinates. Fifth, a manager allows her subordinates to find their own solution in solving the tasks. Sixth, eventually, the manager should give a feedback on the results of the tasks.

 An effective delegation can make tasks to be completed easily and properly. A manager ought to have a good delegation skill because it will reduce the level of stress of the increased tasks. On the other hand, delegating is the way to prepare the successor in the team. Without a good successor, a team or organization cannot retain its successful. Thus, delegation is important in the organization.