Wise Management Decision-making

If you run a company, you will sooner or later have to learn what delegation of duties is and examine this procedure in details in the real world.

Key part of the problem

When an executive is forced to unfocus and deal with issues unrelated to the core business, it has an impact on the state of affairs. In such cases, there is often a “snowball” effect, which can lead to the complete collapse of the company.

By knowing what delegation is, you will avoid this situation. Using this tool, you will come up with effective business development solutions. Below you will find out how to implement it correctly.

General information

Let’s analyze what delegation is. It is the assignment of a certain set of tasks and authorities to subordinates, and their distribution based on the positions of employees. It is acceptable to delegate duties that are only within the manager’s area of responsibility and competence.

An example would be preparing a presentation for a meeting with business partners. In this case, the executive generates the basic concept, and his/her subordinates proceed to the actual implementation of the project. 

Effective delegation means the following result of the assignment:

1. Time saved by the executive to be used by him/her for solving priority business problems.
2. Staff development. In this context, the pattern is obvious: when the employee receives new tasks with a high degree of responsibility, he/she gains experience and new knowledge, which enhances his/her performance.
3. It is possible to objectively evaluate professional skills of subordinates, which they show under “field” conditions. The way they handle delegated tasks is a good indicator of their expertise, which can influence future staffing decisions.

Effective delegation of tasks enables not only to cope with current challenges. Competent approach strengthens the psychological atmosphere within the team. By performing responsible tasks, employees are able to understand the executive’s motivation and the demands he /she places on subordinates.

Feasibility of the procedure

Duties shall be delegated in terms of the following work-related issues:

1. Supporting issues. Ticket booking, business event registration, employee engagement, both full-time and outsourced. All this stuff takes a lot of time and distracts from key business issues, so delegating such tasks is absolutely necessary.
2. Preparatory work. This set includes researching and compiling a base of potential clients, analyzing competitors, and selecting information for new projects.
3. Auxiliary functions. These can be record keeping, requests to government agencies and so on – anything that the employee can easily be taught to free up time.
4. Highly specialized tasks. Not only do they take up a lot of time, but they are often outside the competence of the executive. For example, accounting, data administration, etc.
5. One-time and ongoing processes, e.g. staff training organization, client interaction.

Tasks can be delegated to both full-time and outsourced employees.

Basic Principles

Delegating tasks is a demanding process. It calls for a balanced and differentiated approach. For example, it is not possible to delegate decision-making powers related to key business issues, strategic planning, or dismissal of employees.  The only exception is a direct deputy who shall act on behalf of the company in the absence of the executive (business trip, illness).

Authority shall be delegated only to persons directly subordinated to the person in charge. For example, senior managers cannot immediately delegate his/her duties to an average employee. Tasks shall be assigned to a deputy, who in turn can delegate them to lower-ranking employees.

The assignment of authority shall be carried out in accordance with the legislation and job descriptions of the employees to whom tasks are assigned. The manager shall be still responsible for their actions, and shall be obliged to support them. To minimize problems, one should set clear objectives and deadlines. It is essential that the employee has the necessary expertise for the work to be done. Delegation of authority should preferably be done in a timely manner so that the person can prepare.