Be it a business, family, or even society for ultimate productivity and progress, the most valuable tool is “Delegation and Empowerment”. The theory is “the work you undertake should be a job only you can do” if others can do it, then delegate and empower.
Most people refuse to delegate out of fear and insecurity…” what if the other person does the job better than me? Will I lose my job?” these are the questions that plague a manager’s mind when handing over the task to his subordinates. Or what if the person fails at the job, and I will be held responsible for the mistakes that he commits? Such fears prevail among managers – as a result, they do not delegate and keep doing the same job for years and waste precious years of service.
If an organization were to survive and grow in the emerging competitive global environment, everyone working in the organization should be pursuing value-adding activities with defined goals and objectives. If every department head feels that only if he does the work it will be perfect, the work will not be justified as there are only 24 hours in a day and employees are only human.
Each employee’s time should be invested in work that is important and will align with company goals and help the organization to progress towards defined growth. If this were to become a reality, there should be more and more delegation of work across the organization. Delegating routine jobs could be the start and it is important to note that delegation can be successful only if it is done in toto and it cannot be done without imparting authority and responsibility. Delegation without authority is no delegation.
In the corporate world, one comes across many such instances where highly educated and skilled heads of organisations/departments with great potential being part of companies that are in stagnation where growth is concerned. This is mainly because the concerned heads are busy spending time going through even company expenses in detail, whereas they should be looking outward for business development. With proper checks and measures and systems in place, such matters can be governed by the concerned department and the head of the Organization should focus on the core areas of business and explore business opportunities, new domains etc thus steering the organization towards growth.
There are some jobs that cannot be delegated, for example, policy-making, strategy, crisis management, confidential matters, etc. In fact, these are the jobs only the heads of organizations or people in total authority can do.
Lessons:-
- It is absolutely necessary to delegate routine jobs, the person should be given the necessary responsibility and authority to complete the job.
- Absolute delegation without control is also detrimental. The best situation is when there are systems in place to monitor the jobs being done.
- Delegating piecemeal jobs without giving the total picture also does not yield the best results. It is always important to impart the total picture while delegating so that the staff member understands the importance of the job being done.
- Proper communication and clarity on the task to be performed are very important.
- By proper delegation, the manager finds time for value-added work and also empowers his subordinates, and instills confidence in the juniors.
