Successful Delegation

Introduction One of the most important management skills you can master is learning how to delegate. As a specific skill, delegation is one that becomes increasingly more important as you progress through levels of management and will greatly increase your own productivity. There is no other skill that will increase your productivity to the same degree as being able to delegate successfully. That said, successful delegation does take time and effort, but the benefit it gives of actively helping employee involvement and empowerment succeed as a leadership style, is invaluable. When undertaken properly, delegation increases the level of motivation of team members as it allows for new and innovative ideas, which in turn leads to the development of team members’ creative and decision-making skills. In their groundbreaking book, Principles of Management, Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell stated the following about delegation: 

‘Administrators must realize that there is a “comparative administrative advantage law”, similar to the comparative economic advantage law that is applied to nations. 

Comparative economic advantage states that each country will get richer if they export the product that is more efficiently manufactured, and they import the product that they manufacture less efficiently, even if they could produce said imported goods at a lower cost than any other nation. 

Administrators can better contribute to the company if they focus on performing tasks that are more beneficial for achieving the objectives of the company, and they delegate to their subordinates all other activities, even if they could do a better job while working on said tasks.’ 

In other words, you should always concentrate your energies on those parts of your work that are the most advantageous to the organization and its development. 

All other tasks should be delegated to other individuals who are under your control. This philosophy should over-rule your belief that you could perform the task ‘better’ than those you’ve delegated it to. 

Why Should I Delegate? 

As a manager, you need to allocate as much time as possible to aiding the development of your business or service. This requires focusing a significant amount of your time on planning for the short-term and long-term needs of your organization; a strategy that in theory sounds good, but will undoubtedly in practice be replaced by any free time being overtaken with everyday operational tasks and problems. 

Thus, if you can successfully reduce the amount of time you spend performing the latter, the more time you will have to dedicate to the growth and planning of your organization. Hence the importance of learning how to delegate. 

One of the most effective and efficient ways you can achieve this is by delegating the disruptive operational tasks to someone else who is equally capable of performing this role. Indeed, a key aspect of delegating efficiently is to ensure that whilst your time is organized more effectively, tasks must be allocated to suitable people to minimize risks, and to ensure the optimum outcome. It also provides you with the opportunity to develop your team members by increasing their morale and motivation. 

It is also key to remember that when delegating a task to other team members, you will retain the responsibility for it; all you are doing is assigning another person to perform the task on your behalf. It is often the fear that the delegated person will fail to perform the task properly (for which you will ultimately be responsible) that prevents managers from delegating.

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