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What is Delegation in Management?
Delegation in management simply means sharing or transferring the work responsibilities, that typically take place from superiors to subordinates. It is an act of giving authority to people at lower levels for taking on relevant roles or decisions. Business generally entrusts the less essential tasks or decision-making, which is all transferred by superiors to employees working at lower positions in the organizational hierarchy. However, the final responsibility still remains with the superiors.
The delegation aims at training the employees to responsibly take decisions. In addition to this, it assists in making the working life more interesting where employees get the opportunity to self-actualize and develop themselves. Also, it reduces the workload of superiors so that they can focus more on key strategic aspects. Delegation requires empowerment, selection, and planning to be effective. The authority must be given in balance with the responsibility, and superiors should determine the assignment performance standards.
Advantages of Delegation in Management
Reduces the Managerial Workload
The delegation of authority prevents top managers from getting buckled under the weight of large accumulated tasks. This thing assists them in paying attention to more crucial and high-level activities of the business. Managers assign routine work such as checking employee’s time cards to employees working at lower-level positions which saves them lots of time. All these time dealings help them a lot in managing the key tasks and overall goals of the company.
Speeds up Decision Making
The effective delegation of authority speeds up the decision-making process of business organizations. When subordinates need to check everything with their superiors at the top, then a lot of valuable time is lost. Delegation of authority avoids all such delays as employees can take most of the decisions by themselves without discussing or checking with their respective superiors. All this leads to quick decisions being taken within the business enterprise that ultimately results in higher efficiency.
Better Decision Making
The right type of decision-making is a must for a business to attain the desired goals within the stipulated time period. Delegation of duties results in better decision-making as subordinates who are close to working scenarios know every fact in a better way. Like for example, a sales manager working in a certain region knows best which salesman should be allotted the region’s specific areas.
Morale Boost
It results in boosting the morale of junior employees as when a delegation of tasks and authority takes place, the junior employees get an opportunity to prove their abilities to management. They work hard in order to complete the delegated assignment on time, and after completion get praised by management for their work. This leads to an instant boost in the morale and confidence of employees. They get job satisfaction and trust their ability for handling challenging jobs. Employees start to have positive feelings about their boss, their organization, and their career.
Empowers and Develops the Employees
Delegation of authority plays an effective role in empowering and developing the employees of a business organization. This as a process motivates the employees working at lower levels to learn decisions concerning their area of work. Subordinates equip themselves with key skills for making decisions and implementing their ideas. This way they become empowered to develop strategies and implement them, thereby raising their level of self-confidence.
Delegation improves Relationship
When authority gets delegated by the manager, it is an indication of trust in employees. It means that superiors trust their subordinates to tackle and complete the task. When junior employees work and finish their assigned tasks as per their superior’s expectations, it shows that they very well understand their boss’s requirements. The delegation enables them in good understanding each other needs and capabilities which ultimately fosters a better superior-subordinate relationship.
Creates an Organizational Structure
The delegation of authority is quite important for the creation of a formal organizational structure. The process of delegation builds a superior-subordinate relationship, and thus a formal organization and effective functioning of the management structure. When each and everything is well organized within the business enterprise and employees know clearly what to perform and whom to report, then all work operations take place in a seamless manner resulting in enhanced productivity of the business.
Delegation improves Team spirit
Delegation of authority develops and improves the organizational team spirit. It enables superiors and their juniors to work together harmoniously as a team. The delegator takes the lead by splitting bigger tasks into smaller chunks and then delegating the same among team members. This better coordination and teamwork encourage them in working efficiently towards a common goal. Proper delegation results in higher productivity, efficiency, and profitability.
Improves Retention
It also helps companies in retaining the right talent as satisfied employees can easily manage their work lives. They can work on themselves for enhancing their knowledge and skill set, thereby helping them to attain a more advanced career. Finally, they are much happy working at the company and are reluctant in switching to another company.
Business Expansion
The delegation of authority plays an effective role in the expansion and diversification of business enterprises. When employees are trained to make efficient decisions in multiple fields, the company can easily expand and diversify its business operations as it already has a team with various competencies to lead its growth.
Effective use of Human resources
It helps companies in the effective utilization of human resources. Each and every delegation of authority to subordinates is dependent upon their knowledge, abilities, competencies, emotions, skill sets, and attitudes. The effective utilization of human resources in getting things done leads to a more productive organization.