Delegation definition. Delegation of authority: rules for the manager

It is important for leaders of organizations to organize the work of employees in such a way that it brings the greatest return and fully reveals their potential. To do this, you need to know how to practically implement the delegation of authority used to improve the performance of the company without harming the current state of affairs.

Definition

Delegation manifests itself as an equal division of rights and obligations between the subjects of the system. Its principles were formulated at the beginning of the twentieth century by P.M. Kerzhentsev.

Delegation is the granting of authority to perform tasks to an accountable person with the simultaneous assignment of responsibility for the result obtained. Delegation allows you to properly distribute tasks among employees and is used to achieve the ultimate goals of the organization.

Responsibility consists in the obligation of the employee to do the assigned work with high quality and bring it to a satisfactory completion. Employees are accountable in their area of ​​activity to their superiors.

Powers (powers) act as limited rights to use the resources involved in the performance of certain tasks. Each position in the organization is accompanied by specific mandates. The change of the post also leads to the replacement of the employee's powers.

Application

Delegation is the transfer of certain powers and responsibilities to the employees of the company and the equal distribution of various functions between them. An act is made, which determines the official delegating tasks, as a leader who is able to quickly resolve all current issues and skillfully use employees who are best able to cope with each specific type of task.

Goals

Delegation of authority is used to achieve specific objectives by an organization, such as:

• connecting the "human factor" - increasing the activity and interest of lower-level employees;
• an increase in the efficiency (efficiency) of workers due to the improvement of their qualifications and the acquisition of new skills and abilities;
• unloading senior management with the release of time to address strategic, operational and management issues.

Delegating tasks

The following types of tasks are suitable for delegation:

• routine;
• unimportant questions;
• preparatory work;
• specialized work.

But not all tasks can be delegated to ordinary employees. The duty of each leader is to settle those tasks that can affect the future activities of the organization.

These are questions of a confidential nature, and non-standard strategic problems, and unexpected situations that require prompt resolution.

Thus, not delegated:

• defining goals;
• leadership of subordinates;
• risky tasks;
• unusual work;
• making strategic and managerial decisions;
• performing confidential tasks;
• organizational policy development.

Requirements for the subjects of delegation

In the process of transferring orders, both bosses and employees can face a number of difficulties. Effective management of delegation of authority is possible only by analyzing all existing and probable obstacles affecting the administration and control of current activities.

Problems that sometimes arise for a director or head of a department and interfere with delegation:

• fear of losing an existing position and related power;
• doubts about the preparedness of other employees, low evaluative characteristics of their activities;
• overestimated self-esteem, excessive ambition;
• lack of self-confidence, fear that his actions will be misunderstood.

Problems sometimes identified by employees when performing assigned tasks:

• doubt about the correctness of the solutions used;
• lack of experience;
• fundamental disagreements with the boss;
• unwillingness to lead other performers, especially in terms of imposing penalties.

A competent leader, when difficulties arise, must first deal with personal obstacles that prevent effective regulation of work, and then carefully examine the problems of the subordinate. An analysis of the situation will indicate possible management errors and will allow you to make informed and well-grounded decisions, for example, in terms of replacing the performer or removing unnecessary load from him, or in terms of working out psychological difficulties, both of our own and of the performer.

Delegation process

Each leader should strive to ensure that when organizing the work process, work responsibilities are evenly planned across the entire team, while exercising power and not relinquishing responsibility for the process of completing tasks.

Delegation in an organization is divided into several stages:

Stage I - transfer of the order to the executor;

Stage II - providing the performer with powers and resources;

Stage III - the formulation of the employee's obligations with an indication of the required performance result.

When monitoring the activities of subordinates, the golden mean is important. Excessive custody can lead to stagnation in work and lack of initiative in the employee. If you do not control the process, the result will be critically far from the desired one due to the uncoordinated flow of work in time. It is necessary to establish feedback in advance and achieve respect and high authority among employees.

Often, administrators sin by shifting unwanted and uninteresting work onto their subordinates, especially if they themselves are only superficially familiar with this topic. But this is not always correct, since the boss is still responsible for the progress of the work. If the leader himself has no idea what results should be expected at the exit, how will he be able to control the activities of the subordinate? The answer is obvious.

Experienced bosses prefer to entrust employees with tasks that are slightly more complex than they previously performed. Such tasks help to fully reveal the potential of subordinates. However, in this case, it is better to draw up orders on paper to increase employee motivation.

When allocating powers in an organizational system, it is extremely important to consider the following aspects:

• powers must fully comply with the set plan for the implementation of the task, it is the goal that determines the scope of powers, and not vice versa;
• the powers of all employees should be competently linked into a single complex without the emergence of contradictions and ensure the balance of the entire structure;
• all authority should be clear and specific so that employees can always understand what is required of them and what resources are placed at their disposal.

Proper handling of authority increases the efficiency of the entire organization. Employees gain a clear understanding of their job responsibilities and their goals and thus achieve the best results.

Advantages

In general, the delegation process is characterized by two positive aspects:

1. The manager's time is freed up to solve problems that require personal participation. It becomes possible to concentrate on planning the company's growth prospects and administration strategy.
2. Delegation is one of the best ways to motivate creative and active employees who want to develop and learn. It can be used for training before getting a higher position. Helps to develop in employees new knowledge, skills and abilities that are used for more successful activities.

Delegation principles

For a structured approach, it is advisable to adhere to the following principles when delegating authority. Otherwise, their non-fulfillment can lead to difficulties in management and, accordingly, to unsatisfactory operation of the system as a whole.

Functional definition principle

It is based on the full and clear understanding by each leader of the structural integrity of the organization: what rights and responsibilities each subject of the system is endowed with, what information and service connections were carried out between them, the direction and results of their work activities. In other words, an experienced administrator always knows what to expect and from whom.

Scalar principle

Based on clear separation job duties... Each performer should know to whom he should be directly accountable for the results of his work, and whose activities he should independently regulate. This principle indicates the chain of service relationships between subordinates and leaders of the entire organizational system. The more expressive this line, the more effective management and communication between employees. Any subordinate needs an accurate understanding of who delegates authority to him and to whom to transfer issues that are not within the boundaries of his competence.

The principle of the level of authority

It combines the above two principles. Each employee must clearly understand the scope of authority delegated to him and, on his own, solve problems corresponding to his level of authority, and not transfer these issues to the higher management.

Otherwise, a stalemate may arise when managers will be forced to again face issues that have already been delegated to subordinates. When using this rule, there should be not only a transfer of powers, but also a delegation of responsibility.

Principle based on expected results

Shows that all activities of the organization need careful planning. All assignments should have clear objectives and specific expected outcomes. Otherwise, the manager simply will not be able to competently distribute tasks between employees, without having a complete idea of ​​whether subordinates have enough authority for the work delegated to them.

The principle of one-man management

Based on the close relationship between the performer and the leader. The higher the level of cooperation, the stronger the subordinate's sense of personal responsibility and the less likely it is to receive conflicting orders. It is important that the task to the employee is delegated by only one boss in order to avoid confusion and a situation when "the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing."

The principle of unconditional responsibility

Although when delegating assignments to a subordinate, authority and responsibility for the results of the work done are simultaneously transferred, this is not a reason to relieve the manager of the obligations imposed on him. It is the boss who decides to delegate the task, so he is still responsible for labor activity subordinates and the execution of the task. Executors are responsible for the work done, and managers are responsible for the actions of subordinates. This principle is of particular importance when the delegation of state powers and others with a high level of authority is carried out.

The principle of balancing authority and responsibility

Indicates that the delegated authority must be consistent with the responsibilities assigned to the subordinate. If the scope of authority is less than responsibility, then the performer will not be able to fully perform the work transferred to him, but if it is higher, then a situation of uselessness of the imposed powers or abuse of official position may arise.

Each administrator must competently organize the delegation of authority and responsibility. The principles discussed above will help him with this.

Types of powers

In the system of the organization, in accordance with the current goals and requirements, various types of powers can be allocated. They are determined by the activities of the departments and their overall functionality.

Linear

These powers are directly transferred from the head to the performer and further according to the scheme. A boss with line powers is able to make decisions within the boundaries of his competence without prior agreement with other bosses. The sequential scheme of these powers forms a hierarchy of levels of administration.

At the same time, the delegation of authority and responsibility occurs only when taking into account the principle of one-man command and, at the same time, the norms of controllability. As for the principle of one-man command, it was discussed above.

This principle shows that only one manager dominates over each employee, and the employee reports only to his immediate superior. And the control rate is the number of employees who report to a specific leader.

However, with a significant increase in the number of chains in the leadership scheme, there is a strong slowdown in the operational exchange of information. Because of this, there is a need to introduce other powers into the organizational structure.

Staff

To determine what categories of staff powers exist, you must first disassemble the types of staff offices, of which the following are distinguished:

1. The advisory apparatus is used to solve specialized problems. It can work both temporarily and permanently.
2. Serviceman - Used to perform specified services (an example would be the HR department).
3. Personal is a subcategory of the service device. Formed when the chief hires an assistant or secretary. All members here have high formal authority.

Accordingly, the powers that can be transferred to any of the devices are divided:

1. Recommendations - applied by the advisory headquarters, whose rights are limited to professional recommendations.
2. Mandatory approvals are extended to the heads of their decisions, together with the apparatus.
3. Parallel - used in cases where the device can override management decisions, are used to prevent gross violations... For example, the use of concurrent credentials is justified when making large purchases where two signatures are required.
4. Functional - they are at the highest level, they can both allow certain actions and cancel. Their use has become widespread, especially in areas such as employment control and accounting methods.

The use of additional devices helps to significantly simplify the management structure in companies with a large number of employees. Thanks to the close and properly structured interaction of all subjects of the company, the effectiveness of the organization as a whole increases. For effective management, other parties must also be taken into account: the principles of delegation of authority, requirements, features, types, etc.

The use of delegation is important for any manager. It helps to competently organize the work process, clearly separating the rights and responsibilities of all employees. It is much easier for performers to work when they know what is required of them and what results they need to achieve. In addition, delegation is an important factor that is used to increase the efficiency of each employee and free up additional time for the manager to solve strategically important tasks, which, accordingly, leads to an increase in the efficiency and productivity of the entire system.

Hello! Today we will tell you what delegation of authority and responsibility is, and how to properly delegate.

The head of an organization cannot handle all matters independently. Therefore, the main task falls on the shoulders of a good manager - to make sure that his subordinates perform certain tasks and develop the enterprise. This is often the most important task a leader must complete. This is achieved by delegating authority to its employees. How exactly we will tell in this article.

What is delegation and what does it mean to delegate

Delegation - this is the process of transferring part of the functions of the manager to the employees of the organization, in order to achieve specific goals. At its core, it is the statement of the problem and the empowerment to solve it. The main manifestation of the delegation of authority by the head will be the job description.

Delegation of authority is necessary first of all in order to remove most of the tasks from the manager, leaving only the most important ones. At the same time, you need to understand that in a small company, a manager can complete most of the tasks of employees on his own. But at a large enterprise that manufactures and sells its products, it is simply impossible to cope alone.

An example of delegation of authority:

The work of the credit committee in banks. This body analyzes all collected information on the borrower, assesses the risks and makes an independent decision.

That is, the management of the credit institution made a management decision and created a document - a credit policy, in which it delegated most of its powers to various managers and employees of the areas. And the credit committee, as an independent body, received the right to carry out its functions - analysis and decision-making on the issuance of a loan.

In fact, delegation sets itself the main goal - to create a situation in which each employee would perform a specific task to achieve a specific goal. At the same time, each goal of an employee of any level goes to achieve more global plans for the work of the organization, which have been determined by management.

Delegation goals

Delegation has three main goals:

• Reduce the burden on managers;
• Improve the efficiency of all links;
• Increase employee motivation.

Each of these goals affects the way the company operates in its own way. The unloaded link of management can more easily fulfill its main, more creative functions: analysis of all incoming information and, on its basis, setting goals and finding ways to achieve them. The fewer secondary tasks a manager performs, the easier it is for him to look from the outside.

One of the main rules of management is that the manager should not be involved in production. If he does this, then he turns from a director into an ordinary worker. This rule will always be true, and it is because of it that there is such a division into management and working apparatus.

Delegation of authority improves the work of all levels. So, the middle manager, by transferring part of his powers, increases the importance of the work of the lower levels of the company, thereby increasing their employment and, accordingly, efficiency.

An employee's motivation increases when he is given additional authority to accomplish certain tasks. This introduces a kind of creative approach, thanks to which even lower-level employees can not perform routine tasks, but feel that they are part of something larger. This gives a sense of self-importance, increasing the employee's motivation.

How to properly delegate authority - 6 principles

Delegation of authority, like everything in management, also has its own basic principles. Their observance will help to competently distribute powers and thereby increase the efficiency of the enterprise by 30-40%.

These principles are:

1. The principle of one-man management... The basic principle, which means that each employee should have only one immediate superior, to whom he reports. Those. the manager cannot directly give orders to lower-level employees, he does this through setting goals for the middle-level managers.
2. Limitation principle... A certain number of employees should be clearly assigned to each manager. And in this position, he can only manage them.
3. The principle of rights and obligations... A very important principle that says that you cannot delegate more powers to an employee than is written in his job description.
4. The principle of securing responsibility... Delegation of authority does not relieve the manager of responsibility.
5. The principle of transfer of responsibility... If authority is delegated, then the manager must know that the tasks will be completed.
6. Reporting principle... In case of any changes or deviations from the fulfillment of tasks, reports must be drawn up for the head.

If you do not violate all these principles, you can avoid various delays in the enterprise.

Types of powers and centralization of management

In order to fully understand the essence of delegation, you need to understand the types of powers and centralization of control. These are the main theoretical aspects of the company that should be taken into account when developing job descriptions top and middle managers.

Credentials - the right to use the resources of the organization to achieve the goals set. They are divided into line and staff.

Linear powers - hierarchy of subordination. Those powers that are transferred from the boss to the subordinate, and from him to another subordinate, and so on to the direct executor.

Staff powers - advisors outside the system. This is a device that allows you to advise, control and influence the operation of a linear device.

Depending on the scale of authority, two types of management are distinguished: centralized and decentralized. Their main difference is in the place where the decision is made. In a centralized type of management, the governing body makes most of the decisions, even those that relate to the work of the highest echelons. As an example, the manager determines how each salesperson needs to work with the client.

Decentralized management allows workers to be more creative in solving the problem. They have only the main goal that the leader has set for them, and possible ways to achieve it. They decide everything else on their own. In this type of management, most decisions are made directly at the workplace.

The first method is more suitable for professions that do not require a creative approach, and the second, on the contrary. There is no purely centralized and decentralized type of government. Not all decisions can be made either in management or in the workplace.

Delegating authority to subordinates: 5 basic rules

In order to competently delegate authority, one must not only follow the principles, but also remember the basic rules of delegation.

Five rules for delegating authority that reputable managers have identified over the years:

1. Don't concentrate power in one place. The more decisions are made in the workplace, the better the company is doing.
2. Delegation of authority is only necessary for the benefit of the company;
3. Employee employment must be taken into account. A busy employee will not be able to cope with the additional burden from the transfer of another part of the boss's powers to him;
4. Plans should be made initially, with some expectation that the delegate might make a mistake;
5. Responsibility for the performance of their work by the delegate always rests on the shoulders of the manager.

The first and last rules are the most basic. Power concentrated in one hand can lead to the fact that one wrong decision of a person who cannot be helped from the outside can completely destroy the organization.

Responsibility for the execution of the order lies to a greater extent with the one who commissioned it. But nevertheless, the main top manager is obliged to take responsibility if the head of the department and his subordinates did not cope with the task, since this is entirely his fault.

What not to trust subordinates

But do not forget that subordinates do not have to solve some of the tasks of the leader. Basically, these are his direct responsibilities at the enterprise.

You should not trust subordinates:

• Setting the goals of the organization;
• Making decisions that can change the policy of the organization;
• Control over the results of the referral;
• Tasks of particular importance and associated with high risk;
• Urgent tasks that do not leave time for rechecking;
• Delegation of authority.

At the same time, it should be understood that making decisions within one specific direction at an enterprise, such as "Who to buy equipment from," the procurement department may well decide. But responsibility for the development of the enterprise, the need for new equipment and the expediency of its purchase falls on the shoulders of the head.

For example, about banks, this is also suitable. After all, the credit committee makes a decision on granting a loan, but cannot make a decision on changing the bank's credit policy. The same goes for monitoring the results of referral. Control over the work of one employee, the implementation of his tasks, is obliged to his immediate supervisor - the head of the department.

At the same time, the work of the department itself, which ensures the solution of certain tasks, must be controlled by the head of this direction or the general director himself. In fact, control over the achievement of the goal of the work of the entire direction is one of the main tasks of the head.

As for tasks of particular importance and associated with high risk. It is recommended that such tasks be performed by managers on their own, or delegated only to employees with extensive work experience. By performing tasks of particular importance, the employee can influence the work of the enterprise both here and now, and in the long term. That is why negotiations on cooperation, changes in policy, and other decisions are made and carried out by the head independently.

A few words about the analysis of production activities. It should be carried out by the analytical department, if any. Otherwise, it is the direction managers who should analyze, process and draw conclusions from all the information in the enterprise. They must give all the information to the manager, who makes management decisions based on it.

Based on this list, we can conclude that the main tasks of the head himself are not subject to delegation. Indeed, in his competence: the development of the enterprise by setting and achieving goals.

And it is precisely this task that includes the rest:

• Delegation of authority;
• Creation of a working atmosphere;
• Control over the activities of employees;
• Analysis of the information received.

That is why the popular expression "With good organization, one person is always superfluous" is only partly true. Of course, a manager can and should delegate his powers in accordance with the rules and principles, but at the same time he shoulders a considerable burden of responsibility for the development of the enterprise as a whole. And the manager cannot transfer most of his duties.

In management theory, delegation means the transfer of tasks and powers to a person who assumes responsibility for their implementation.

The goals of delegation are:

• ? unloading managers, freeing them from routine tasks, creating conditions for them to accept strategic decisions;
• ? activation of the "human factor", increasing the involvement and interest of employees;
• ? increasing the capacity of lower levels of government. Delegation is a means of achieving the goals of an organization. If the task is not

delegated to the performer, the manager will be forced to carry it out himself, which in many cases is simply impossible. The one who gets others to get the job done is rightly governed. It is the ability to delegate tasks that turns a person into a leader. The process of delegating authority is shown in Fig. 6.3.

Rice. 6.3.

Delegation is based on authority and responsibility.

Responsibility is the duty of the employee to perform the tasks delegated to him and be responsible for their satisfactory solution.

The employee charged with responsibility is not obliged to do the work personally, but he will always be responsible for its results.

In this way, responsibility cannot be delegated. For example, if the sales department did not fulfill the plan, the answer before commercial director should be kept by the sales manager, not the salespeople.

The leader of a large organization rarely communicates with subordinates at lower levels, who actually perform most of the specific tasks. Nevertheless, he is responsible for the affairs of the firm and his subordinates and must always remember the famous phrase of the former US President Harry S. Truman: "There is no one else to blame the responsibility."

Authority is the formalized right to use the resources of an organization to carry out delegated tasks.

Authority should not be confused with power. They define what a person in a given position is entitled to do. Power determines what it can actually do. At the same time, you can have power without having authority.

There are two types of powers: line and staff.

Linear powers- this is the authority transferred directly from the boss to the subordinate and then to another subordinate. Thus, line authority creates a hierarchy of control in the organization called the chain of command (Figure 6.4).

Staff powers is the right to advise or assist line managers. In turn, they are subdivided into four groups (Figure 6.5).

Mandatory approvals provide the expansion of recommendatory powers. Within the framework of such an organization of management, the line management is obliged to coordinate a certain range of decisions with the headquarters staff.

Rice. 6.5.

Parallel powers represent a further expansion of staff powers and give the right to reject individual decisions of line management.

Functional powers means giving the headquarters the right not only to propose, but also to carry out certain control actions within the limits of its function.

For the implementation of staff functions and powers in organizations, a special headquarters (administrative) apparatus is formed.

There are the following main types of such an apparatus:

• ? advisory;
• ? service;
• ? private.

Advisory apparatus is formed on a temporary or permanent basis from specialists of a certain profile, whose duties include advising the line management on problems requiring special training (legal problems, the latest or special technology, training and advanced training of personnel, etc.).

Service apparatus performs service functions:

• ? conducts marketing research;
• ? prepares plans for financing, material and technical supply, etc.

Personal apparatus- This is a kind of service staff, formed from secretaries and assistant managers. Often in organizations, employees of the personal apparatus, without formal authority, wield a lot of power.

It is important to realize that in large organizations, the administrative apparatus can be composed of many people. In such situations, the apparatus is a subdivision with several levels of management. Thus, the headquarters itself has a linear organization and the usual chain of commands within itself. Naturally, managers in the apparatus hierarchy have linear powers in relation to their subordinates, regardless of the nature of the powers of the apparatus in relation to the organization as a whole.

Determination of the number of posts endowed with line and staff powers should take into account how fundamental and direct the contribution of this type of activity will be to the achievement of common goals. If any kind of activity does not directly contribute to the realization of the organization's mission, it must be excluded.

Naturally, the definition of which powers should be attributed to linear and which to staff is determined by the mission, goals and strategy of the organization. In the words of management specialist Alfred Chandler, "Structure is in line with strategy." Differences in purpose lead to fundamental differences in structure. For example, in most organizations, legal services are certainly a hardware activity. However, in law firm lawyers form the backbone of the organization and are naturally endowed with line powers.

Delegation of authority also determines the degree of centralization and decentralization of the organization. Centralization means the concentration of control tasks, and decentralization- division of tasks according to certain criteria.

Centralization is characterized by a lack of delegation of authority and known limitations of competence, which leads to a decrease in efficiency in decision-making. Excessive centralization infringes on the development of the initiative of representatives of the lower level of leaders.

The factors that determine the degree of decentralization of management are:

• ? receptivity to new ideas;
• ? willingness to transfer the solution of minor issues to the lower level of management;
• ? willingness to trust the lowest level of management;
• ? the desire to exercise only general control (and not hourly, daily).

The degree of centralization of management powers is determined by the following circumstances:

• ? decision-making costs. The higher the cost of making decisions, the higher the level they should be considered;
• ? the size of the organization. The larger the firm, the more difficult it is to coordinate activities within it. This is where the advantage of horizontal links comes in. In large firms, the maximum decentralization of authority and division of the organization into a number of large blocks is necessary, the management of which should be as close as possible to the level at which decisions are made;
• ? features of historical development and traditions;
• ? character and worldview top leaders;
• ? the availability of the necessary personnel;
• ? the nature of the activity, which in itself limits the possibilities of centralizing powers;
• ? business dynamics - the higher it is, the higher should be decentralization;
• ? external forces in the form state regulation, peculiarities of taxation, actions of trade unions.

The centralization of governance creates the following benefits:

• ? ensures the concentration of resources in the key areas of the organization's activities;
• ? eliminates unjustified duplication of management functions, which leads to savings in the organization's resources;
• ? concentrates the decision-making process at those levels where they know the general situation better, have a wider outlook, knowledge, experience.

However, the centralization of management also has its downside:

• ? a lot of time is spent on transferring information, while a significant part of it is lost or distorted;
• ? the most important decisions are made by people cut off from life and have a poor idea of ​​a specific situation;
• ? executors who are familiar with the situation are removed from the development and adoption of decisions, decisions are imposed on them by compulsion. As a result, solutions are not always of high quality and are ineffectively implemented in practice.

Decentralization of the management process allows:

• ? quickly develop and make decisions, including with the participation of direct executors;
• ? more accurately reflect the objective situation in these decisions;
• ? abandon detailed instructions from the center, thereby reducing its overload with secondary problems and reducing information flows.

At the same time, the decentralization of management is accompanied by a number of negative consequences that must be taken into account in practice. Since decisions are made at the lower levels of management, the interests of other departments and the organization as a whole are poorly taken into account or completely ignored. As a result, decisions are often tactical, petty and ineffective. Without general rules and the procedures for developing and making decisions, their “shaking” takes a lot of time and is not always successful. Finally, decentralization can lead to separatism, which is extremely damaging to the organization.

The extreme form of decentralization of governance is its complete absence. For example, in organizations of a conglomerate type, there are no obligatory internal connections: informational, technological, organizational. Even the financial ties through which a centralized fund is formed and distributed Money are replaced by financial controls.

When choosing a scheme for delegating authority in an organization, the acceptable trade-off between centralization and decentralization is determined after evaluating the following factors:

• ? the amount of costs (expressed both in money and in other resources);
• ? the degree of unification of operational management procedures in departments;
• ? the size of the organization (where powers are dispersed, decisions are made more quickly);
• ? philosophy of management (leaders may prefer an authoritarian or democratic management style);
• ? the presence of an executor suitable for the delegated powers (in the absence of managers of the required level, it is better to leave powers at the highest levels of management);
• ? control procedures used (the more control is possible, the more powers can be delegated);
• ? the nature of the activity (if the organization's operations cover large geographic areas, then a greater degree of decentralization is also required);
• ? exposure to the influence of the external environment.

Correct delegation of authority should be based on the principles that have been developed by the theory and practice of management.

1. When delegating authority, ensure that the expected results can be achieved.

Since the meaning of authority is to provide the manager with a certain instrument to achieve the goals of the organization, the authority delegated to the executive must be provided with the necessary resources to obtain the expected results. Too often, the manager knows what needs to be done, but does not think about whether the subordinate has everything necessary for this.

Delegation in accordance with expected results assumes that goals are set, plans are developed, communicated to subordinates and understood by them, that conditions have been created that will facilitate the implementation of the tasks.

2. Delegate authority based on the functional purpose of the unit concerned.

The line manager of each department should have the authority necessary to coordinate the activities of this department with the enterprise as a whole. Therefore, the clearer the expected results from the manager or structural unit are defined, the clearer and more fully defined the directions of their activities and delegated powers, the clearer the relationship with other managers and departments is realized, the greater the contribution these management and structural divisions can make to the implementation of the goals of the enterprise. Failure to adhere to this principle can create confusion and confusion about what to expect and from whom.

3. Stick to a scalar chain when delegating authority.

This principle was first formulated by A. Fayol: "... a chain of leaders from the highest manager to the lowest." The line of authority is the path along which all communications pass (through each link in the chain) from the highest manager to the lowest and vice versa. This is due to both the need to maintain communication and the principle of one-man management. A clear understanding of the scalar principle is a prerequisite for the smooth functioning of an organization. Subordinates should know, firstly, who delegates authority to them, and secondly, at whose discretion they should delegate the solution of problems that go beyond their authority. The rejection of the scalar chain in decision making leads to a violation of the decision-making scheme and undermined control.

4. Do not violate "Authority level rules».

Each level of government has the authority to make certain decisions. The “rule of authority” requires that decisions within the authority of individual employees are made by them, and not redirected to higher levels of management. In other words, at each level, managers should make all those decisions for which they have the authority, and only those issues that go beyond their competence should be referred to management for consideration. If the decision-making authority is properly delegated, then the manager should not make the decision himself. Subordinates usually quickly figure out which of the leaders willingly makes decisions for them.

5. Never violate the principle of one-man management.

The principle of one-man management is one of the main ones in management. When delegating authority, it is necessary to take into account that the right of direct leadership should belong to only one manager. The principle of one-man command is very useful for clarifying the system of interrelationships between authority and responsibility. If the president of the company appoints an executive committee instead of one manager to manage the sales department, then there will be no one-man management. Forcing each salesperson to report to more than one manager, but several committee members, creates confusion and disrupts performance.

6. Stick to the rule of unconditional responsibility.

Not a single leader can, due to delegation, be relieved of responsibility for the activities of subordinates, since it is he who delegates authority and distributes responsibilities. Subordinates, having accepted the order and having received the powers necessary for its implementation, bear full responsibility to the leaders for their activities; leaders, in turn, bear full responsibility for the activities of their subordinates.

7. Remember the connection between authority and responsibility.

Since the authority is the right to perform the assigned work, and responsibility is the obligation to perform it, it follows logically that authority must correspond to responsibility. Thus, responsibility for certain actions cannot exceed the expected volume of delegated powers, but should not be less than it.

Delegation is closely related to motivation, influence and leadership. The leader must be able to get subordinates to effectively complete tasks.

To improve the effectiveness of delegation, leaders can:

• ? create a control system to protect yourself when delegating large powers to subordinates;
• ? improve skills in the field of leadership and influencing subordinates;
• ? to give more confidence, thereby eliminating the uncertainty of subordinates;
• ? improve communication in the organization. Timely, accurate, and understandable communication to subordinates of their responsibilities, objectives, and authority is essential to effective delegation.

By accepting delegated powers, a person expects (and reasonably enough) an appropriate reward. But, unfortunately, in many organizations, a clear desire to expand the responsibility of subordinates is not supported by an incentive system. Naturally, workers are less motivated to work if they believe they are giving the organization more than they are getting out of it and may block reasonable efforts to allocate authority.

“A bad leader works himself, a good one organizes the work of others” - there is such a wisdom often mentioned in business trainings. It sounds harsh, since a really good boss works both himself and organizes others, but the issue of proper delegation of functions and powers is really important. The better the leader is able to transfer his functions to a lower level, the more efficient company, the better it adapts to change and the easier it is to manage.

Delegation (Latin delegare, translated as transfer, shifting) is the transfer of any of its functions to other people. Usually we are talking about the transfer by the head of a part of his own powers to the lower level with the assignment of these employees with responsibility for the result. This ensures the balance of the workload of each of the management links.

Authorities can be delegated on the basis of certain permanent documents, or they can be based on the fact of any changes in the organization.

For example, if an enterprise has adopted a quality management policy, then the company's management delegates the authority to control the implementation of this policy, make adjustments and keep records to the quality department.

Another example is the acquisition by one company of the production unit of another company. Thus, the CEO becomes the head of two enterprises, and in order to cope with the increased volume of work, he delegates the authority to manage new production facilities, say, to the production director, raising him to the CEO.

Delegation differs from the usual setting of tasks in that the functions of a leader are transferred to subordinates, and the intensity of their own work does not increase. If a department manager in a supermarket is required to double sales, this is an intensification of his own functions, and if he is obliged, say, to develop and implement a project to optimize processes in the department, this is already delegation of authority to the management.

In what areas is delegation required?

Delegate authority, function and responsibility in three areas:

1. In commercial companies - from one management level to another.
2. In state and public organizations- from managers to subordinates, as well as from officials to heads of subordinate institutions
3. In government bodies - delegation of power from voters to their representatives.

In this article, we look at the first two types of delegation.

Who is involved in the delegation

Two people are involved in the transfer of authority or function:

• delegator- the one who is initially obliged to perform this or that function and transfers it to another.
• delegat- one who accepts the responsibility to carry out powers or functions. Such a person is usually a subordinate of the first. Or "a servant of the people" if we are talking about a deputy to whom the voters have delegated authority.

What are the powers

Every organization, especially a large one, has several types of powers:

Linear powers

This is a hierarchical relationship: a boss with a subordinate, one with his subordinate, and so on. Within the framework of such powers, the leader can make decisions without consulting or obtaining a visa from other leaders. This is the legalized influence on subordinates, used to achieve the goal. The director has the right to issue documents that are binding on all employees of the organization. The secretary is obliged to serve coffee to the manager, if this is included in her duties according to the job description. Most often, it is the line powers that are delegated to the next management level.

"Staff" powers

Authorities are called staff powers that do not require the subordination of some employees to others, but are of a recommendatory and consulting nature. Usually they are carried out by a representative of one department in relation to another department of the organization. There are three types of staff powers:

1. Recommendations - an employee gives advice to employees of any other division of the organization. For example, a company lawyer can advise all other employees, he does not have formal authority over them, but it is advisable to follow his recommendations. Other employees do not have such an obligation, but if the failure to comply with the advice of a lawyer caused damage to the company, you will have to bear responsibility.
2. Coordination - making joint decisions by employees of different departments. These can be cross-functional teams, interdepartmental groups, general planning meetings, and so on.
3. Control and reporting - we are talking about special units that check the activities of the organization. These can be departments for the prevention of corruption violations in government agencies, audit departments in private firms, etc.

Staff powers are usually delegated initially, when the firm is established.

Goals and objectives of delegation: what they are

There are several goals that are achieved by transferring authority to the next management level:

• freeing up the manager's working time to solve large-scale tasks- if the director deals with accounting issues and solves problems with utilities, he does not have time to build and adjust the company's development strategy or to control the activities of subordinates. The leader must be aware of all important events in the company, but he does not need to independently participate in each of them.
• improving the efficiency of employees- getting new powers, the staff learns and develops, acquires additional skills and competencies. Employees begin to use these managerial skills in relation to their main responsibilities.
• increased employee motivation- participation in a new direction of activity, and even with additional powers, is perceived by the majority of employees as intangible motivation. If an ordinary manager gets the opportunity to participate in organizational changes in the company and even develop them independently, this stimulates activity and increases interest in the results of his work.
• training of personnel reserve- when delegating authority, it quickly becomes clear which of the employees is capable of more than they are doing now, and for whom the existing position is the ceiling.

What can be delegated

• current issues of the company (administrative, financial and accounting and others not related to planning);
• highly specialized issues in which the employee is an expert (accounting, IT, other areas);
• preparatory processes (for example, collecting information for preparing a project, analyzing competitors, and so on);
• one-time issues that do not affect the company's strategy (research, staff motivation for a specific project, and others).

I have been doing business for 11 years now. Moreover, these were completely different projects: a tanning studio, an online plumbing store, a training center, online media. Any aspiring entrepreneur is faced with the fact that at the beginning of the development of the project there is not a lot of money, so there is no way to maintain a large staff. As a result, you have to solve many issues yourself or with a small team.

As a business leader, I have always tried to isolate routine responsibilities that take a lot of time and do not greatly affect the amount of profit in the company and delegate them to employees. For example, when I opened an online store, I installed the engine myself, configured it. But over time, I delegated all the technical work related to the technical aspects of the site's work to the programmers. They did this work better and better. I spent the free time on those areas of the business that influenced the increase in profits. In the case of an online store, these were

In the training center, we created a sales department from scratch, which was engaged in calling customers. At first I did everything myself, called clients, found out the reasons why they did not pay for the training course, created answers to objections and compiled all this into sales scripts. Then I started hiring employees who worked on the sales scripts I created. All conversations were recorded and my task was to control salespeople, improve sales scripts.

After some time, out of the three managers who worked at that time, I chose the most experienced and professional who had the best results and made him the head of the sales department. All the functions of monitoring the work of this department were transferred to him, and now he checked and coordinated the work of managers, and he sent me the results of the previous day's work every day. Based on these results, I monitored the work of the department and if the indicators were unsatisfactory, then I called the head of the department and found out the reasons.

What cannot be delegated

"No" probably sounds too categorical, it would be more correct - it is not recommended if you do not want to lose control over the processes in the company. So, usually not delegated:

• strategic planning is the prerogative of the owner of the company or its CEO (if the owner is a rentier). Even the board of directors rarely gets the right to determine the strategy - more often its role is reduced to discussing proposals. This does not negate the right of subordinate employees to submit proposals and put forward ideas, but the final word usually rests with the head of the organization.
• processes with a high degree of risk - if, say, an unsuccessful choice of location for the construction of a new supermarket can significantly affect the future success of a chain of stores, its manager chooses the area for construction himself.
• personnel issues (hiring, firing) - in a small organization, this is done by the head, in a large organization - by a specialized department.
• control over the activities of departments - if the responsibility for control is assigned to the head, it is highly discouraged to delegate them so that the assessment of the company's performance is real and is not influenced by the personal or group interests of subordinates.
• incentives on behalf of the company - reward leaders, sign Honorary diplomas, the manager should personally thank the most distinguished divisions - this increases the status of encouragement and motivates employees much more than if the function is delegated to a deputy deputy.

Video: Delegation Issues

5 basic principles of delegation

Principle 1. Delegate authority only to direct reports. You cannot address subordinate employees over the head of their immediate supervisors. The same applies to horizontal delegation: you cannot transfer functions to an employee of another department (only by agreement with the head of this department).

Principle 2. Delegate authority only for a specific purpose. Just like that, for prestige or because of unwillingness to perform any functions - it is impossible.

Principle 3. Delegated functions must be achievable. You cannot transfer powers if you understand that the employee will not cope with them due to insufficient knowledge or lack of time. Although there is such a practice - when a manager wants to find a reason to fire a subordinate. But this is a bad example.

Principle 4. Responsibility for delegated authority rests with the manager. If the expected result is not achieved, the fault is the one who was originally supposed to perform the functions. Didn't explain, didn't help, or initially gave an impossible task.

Principle 5. Delegation should motivate the employee. If the transfer of functions is perceived as a heavy burden, there will be no effect of delegation.

Delegation stages

The delegation process can be divided into 4 stages:

Stage 1. Determine the powers or functions that we will transfer to the subordinate

List all the functions that you perform in a list. Check those features. which are routine, do not greatly affect the company's bottom line and what other people can do. With another sign or paste of a different color, highlight those functions on which the future of your organization depends, which affect its key indicators (size, efficiency, geography of market presence, etc.)

Better yet, carry on for a while. It could be a week, a month. Highly organized entrepreneurs and managers do this on an ongoing basis. You will be surprised how much time it takes you on non-priority projects and tasks that can be delegated to other people.

Stage 2. We select the executor to whom we will delegate authority

First of all, we determine whether the delegated functions will be performed by one of the existing employees, or it is better to take individual employee to a new front of work.

To choose the right subordinate from the number of functions available for transferring him, you need to take into account three main points:

• the nature and personality traits of the employee - he must be psychologically ready to perform his powers more high level... Here one must distinguish between insecurity (understandable) from an inability to reach a higher level of responsibility. For example, you want to make an ordinary employee the head of a department. Does he have leadership qualities? Does he have authority among other employees ?;
• the presence of the necessary skills - even if an employee is ready to accept new powers, but is not trained in such a job, nothing good will come of it. At the very least, training is required;
• the degree of employee employment with their own functions. If delegation overloads the subordinate, he is unlikely to be able to effectively carry out his duties. This will negatively affect the work of the entire organization.

To be completely confident, you can entrust an employee with an extended task within his own functionality - this will show whether he is ready for larger responsibilities.

Stage 3. Delegation of authority

The easiest way is to issue an order assigning new functions to the employee. It doesn't take long. However, in most cases, this attitude demotivates the employee. But if you call him, make a detailed conversation, explaining the need and importance of delegating authority to this particular person, ask his opinion, offer support and constant supervision (or vice versa, independence, if this is an important factor for an employee) - then a dry piece of paper with a list of functions will be received with enthusiasm.

In the process of transferring powers, goals, objectives, intermediate checkpoints for the execution of powers are discussed (or better yet, written in the order). The best option is to draw up a detailed plan of work with the new functions together with the employee and be sure to answer all his questions.

Dmitry Ginkulov, Deputy general director in Economics and Finance of the company "Artplast"

I have been working for the Artplast company from the first days of its creation. I built the entire financial management structure from scratch. I solve delegation problems by creating quality job descriptions and training. I taught everything myself to the first employees. And once, when one of the key employees quit, I thought that I would not have any problems with training a new employee. But during the work of the first employee, many new little things and nuances appeared in his work that I was not familiar with. I had to delve into everything myself, which took a lot of time. Therefore, simultaneously with the development of these nuances, I began to rewrite the job descriptions. Previously, these were formal instructions, as, probably, in many companies. We turned them into step-by-step training, which shows what an employee needs to do, in what sequence. how to review your work and report back to senior management. All steps are accompanied by screenshots and video tutorials.

We have combined all lessons into a knowledge base on the 1C platform and regularly check their relevance. If necessary, employees make corrections and additions themselves. And so that there were no mistakes, we made sure that all employees were interchangeable and checked each other for what we pay bonuses.

When the workload on our department increased and I began to drown in business, instructions again helped me. I described my turnover and trained people. When we hire a new employee, I assign one of the more experienced ones to him. After passing probationary period I conduct exams and tell in detail what the essence of our department is, what link the new employee will be in the general mechanism. I am trying to convey his mission so that he understands his significance and the importance of the actions being performed.

Stage 4. Control over the implementation of delegated functions

Since the responsibility for the implementation of delegated powers still rests with the manager, control must be constant. Its form depends on the size of the organization and the type of relationship in it. V government bodies and large commercial firms, subordinates report at operational meetings, occasionally at personal meetings with the manager. In small companies, it is easier for the owner or CEO to talk to the employee one-on-one.

In many places, control is to one degree or another formalized: based on the results of a month / quarter / year or based on the results of a project, a written report is submitted to the manager in an established or free form.

The manager is required to find the optimal period of control, since too often requiring an employee to report on his affairs is to shackle initiative and create unnecessary nervousness. And too rarely - it is to lose control of processes or to miss the moment when an employee for some reason makes a mistake, and everything goes awry.

Top 10 Delegation Mistakes

It is far from always possible to delegate authority correctly, and often attempts end up in damage to the organization, personnel decisions and other unpleasant consequences. Why is this happening?

1 Delegation of functions not intended for this

The manager gives his deputy the right to negotiate with clients, agreements with which he himself could not reach. The director entrusts the head of the marketing department with the task of determining the company's development strategy. The head of the department requires the leading specialist to make a report on the work of the department instead of himself - immediately.

All of the above situations are delegation errors. You cannot transfer your own managerial functions to others, you cannot delegate excessively complex tasks, it is not recommended to delegate urgent responsibilities.

2 Delegation "along the chain"

Your boss has entrusted you with the task of preparing for an important meeting, you transfer this function to your subordinate. This is absolutely wrong, because your employee is alienated from the original source of the task, the manager motivated you, not him.

There are situations when the responsibility can be delegated, but for this you need to thoroughly know the functions of each employee and the content of their job descriptions. Otherwise, we get a dull worker who, out of the stick, is performing other people's duties.

3 Hasty delegation

A task appears, you quickly push it onto your subordinates without analysis and consideration. It turns out that they lack information to perform new functions. They refer through you to your leadership who set the task. The management answers you, you clarify the delegated functions, after a while new gaps are revealed, everything is repeated. For the third time, your manager is already looking at you nervously and asks if you are in your place, since you cannot fulfill the task entrusted to you? You begin to delve deeply into the process, but the time is already lost. And with him the respect of both bosses and subordinates, whom you also pulled. You cannot kick back your own tasks to subordinate employees, you need to analyze them and go through all the stages of delegation, which we talked about above.

4 Delegate to the wrong person

The wrong choice of the employee to whom you delegated authority is most often not a problem of a specific situation, but of the personnel policy of the company as a whole. If you are the head of a department, and the heads of departments under your subordination are not able to perform functions of a higher level - who is to blame? The same applies to the choice of "favorites" - if among all employees you choose to delegate authority not the most suitable, but the most loyal - the responsibility for possible negative consequences will also lie with you.

5 Over-the-head delegation

As already mentioned in the relevant section, you cannot delegate authority to a person who is not your direct subordinate. However, some leaders, who are accustomed to keeping their entire organization tight-lipped, believe that "my vassal's vassal is my vassal." The director calls the department manager and, through the head of the manager, empowers him with, say, reporting. This causes a lot of friction, misunderstandings and worsens the moral climate in the team. An employee follows the instructions of several managers at once. Due to the large volume of work, he may not cope with his duties, or he will have to stay late, experience stress, which will entail the dismissal of the employee. While the company finds a new specialist in his place, while he trains, a lot of time will pass, and time, as you know, will.

6 Delegation late

Obviously, it's ridiculous to delegate a function if it needs to be done yesterday. But this happens all the time. A call from the department of culture to a subordinate institution at 9.00: make a plan for the next quarter in your area and send it by 10.00, higher authorities demand from us. That is, the manager does not have time to make the plan himself and dumps it on the subordinate, setting unrealistic deadlines.

As a result, a useless document “for show” appears. The higher authorities are satisfied, the leader was not scolded - he is also pleased, the exhausted subordinate is happy that they have left him behind, and the interests of the business have suffered. The same thing happens when the delegation of authority does not take place according to a carefully designed plan, but because the leader suddenly remembers an important direction that needs to be supported. This kind of delegation is rarely effective.

7 Delegation without purpose

It would seem, what is the point of hiding the purpose of the transfer of powers from the executors? However, this happens quite often - for example, in the field of mergers and acquisitions. A deal is being prepared to acquire assets of another company. It is impossible to divulge its details, but employees of your company need to somehow be prepared for the fact that both the rhythm and the volume of their work will change.

The task is given to predict changes in the work of certain departments, taking into account the fact that they will have to work in a distributed mode, both to service existing assets and to supervise new ones. Naturally, the parameters of the new assets were not disclosed. What do subordinates get? That's right - abstract calculations, hardly applicable in practice, guesswork, speculation, and so on.

Another option is when the goal is not communicated to employees by some accident. The order was drawn up incorrectly, the order was not passed on to the end, etc.

8 Delegation without deadlines

When a boss delegates a function to an employee, he expects that he will begin to perform it immediately and in the same rhythm as the boss himself. Therefore, the question of timing is often not raised at all. However, a lot depends on the employee himself. Some subordinates first perform their main tasks, and then take on the performance of other functions, others try to do everything at the same time, still others wait altogether for some time, and will not the manager cancel the order. Lack of specific deadlines often leads to delays in the implementation of delegated functions.

9 Delegation without priority

A very painful topic for subordinates, whom managers give a rigid plan for performing basic responsibilities. And then they begin to transfer powers, which also take time to complete, attempts to build new functions into the schedule begin, the employee rushes between several tasks, not having time here and there. In the process, new instructions come from the leadership, some responsibilities are removed, new ones are added, and the chaos intensifies. In the end, the subordinate begins to perform the simplest tasks, because they allow you to demonstrate at least some result of the work. And complicated cases remain for later. Lack of priorities is a very common delegation mistake.

10 Lack of delegation

The leader verbally delegates authority, but in fact he tries not only to intervene, but to perform the same functions in parallel. This happens in organizations where the boss is a perfectionist. There, by the way, there may be a situation when powers are not delegated at all. The manager sits at work from morning till night, tries to control everything in the world, and after a dozen years he leaves right from the workplace in an ambulance with a heart attack.

The lack of delegation, in addition to the health problems of the head, also causes difficulties with strategic planning, responding to market challenges, and optimizing business processes. When you have all the current work, there is simply no time to do this. Or at night. With the appropriate efficiency.

What can get in the way of delegation

Obstacles to the competent transfer of functions and responsibilities can arise both on the part of the employee and on the part of the manager.

Interference from the boss

Interference from subordinates

• doubt about the need for the functions performed;
• inexperience in the execution of leadership powers;
• disagreement with the manager regarding the delegation of functions;
• unwillingness to substitute and share responsibility with the manager (especially if the authority to impose a penalty is delegated).

If the subordinate is not ready or does not want to fulfill the function assigned to him, he gradually (for example, constantly consulting even on the simplest issues) or directly (“sorry, I can't do it”) returns the authority to the manager. This is called reverse delegation.

Conclusion

Delegation is an important component of managerial talent. If a leader knows how to correctly delegate some of his powers to subordinates, he has time for strategic planning, assessing the market or political situation, and much more.

The essence of delegation is to free up the manager's time, relieve him of routine tasks and concentrate on what makes a profit. At the same time, the efficiency of the organization's work is increasing, the motivation of employees is improving and the personnel reserve is being accumulated.

At the same time, it is recommended to delegate only the current issues of the company's activities, preparatory or highly specialized processes, as well as other issues that do not affect the definition of strategy, long-term planning and personnel aspects.

The delegation process includes 4 stages, and it is better if all of them are consistently passed. Spontaneous and fussy transfer of functions rarely leads to a significant effect, but often creates the risk of unpleasant consequences.

about the author

Professional journalist with experience. I like to understand complex financial issues and convey them to ordinary people in a simple and accessible language. My goal is to help people improve their financial literacy, share interesting money chips and secrets with other people, so that people become richer, freer and happier.

What is Delegation?

Delegation is a kind of work organization in which the manager distributes various tasks among subordinates. Simply put, delegation is the transfer to an employee of a task or action that he must perform within the framework of his authority, the transfer of a task or a set of tasks from one person to another, while, with his consent, complete and achieve a result. This is one of the most important qualities of an effective manager. Delegates (those who delegate) are able to organize the workflow and plan tasks so that the goals are achieved as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We transfer responsibility not only for completing the task, but also for the fact that it will be done according to our rules and standards.

In life and at work, we constantly delegate, that is, we transfer certain assignments, so let's do it in the most correct way.

What are the benefits

Delegation can be short-term and long-term. For example, we can reduce workload and the amount of stress associated with it by outsourcing tasks to people who are skilled enough to complete them. This will increase the amount of time we can spend on projects that truly require our direct involvement, organizational level tasks, such as planning and creating corporate policies. Here are some of the benefits to be gained by the various actors in the process.

For us, this is an increase in the level of communication and trust between us and our staff. Helps achieve goals if it requires teamwork or teamwork.

This helps our staff develop new and existing skills. Enhances the sense of team or group cohesion in achieving a goal together.

For our organization, this helps to reduce the cost of various resources, since we correctly distribute tasks. Increases efficiency by saving money.

Many leaders, organizers and just managers do not want to engage in delegation, fearing that they will lose control over the project and personnel or give up the right to responsibility. And it seems to them that they themselves perform tasks more efficiently. Let's think about it, what if these fears are not justified? What if it's influenced by stereotypes?

And so we decided! Let's see where we can start.

What and when to delegate

There is work that can be transferred to others. And there are tasks that you have always performed yourself and that give you pleasure, you do not want to share them with someone else. This could be budget analysis, organization, or management. Some tasks can be completed after training. This will provide an opportunity for the development of new skills and will increase the number of people who are able to cope with difficult tasks. Otherwise, you can share the responsibility. For example, instead of writing the entire report yourself, you can identify key questions with one of the employees and then use his version of the various parts of the report.

Not all tasks can be delegated. You must always be responsible for:

* control and supervision over the work of employees;

* key or complex negotiations with clients;

* work that requires a variety of skills that only you possess.

The benefits of clever handover seem to be obvious. Let's see how and when to transfer tasks. For instance:

* When the work can be performed by an employee with a lower wage than yours.

By doing your job for his salary, the employee saves the company money. And if he does it competently enough, then the size of the economic benefit can exceed the difference in wages, and much more. The company receives more profit, from which it is possible and even necessary to allocate a bonus to encourage the employee so that he continues to work with the same quality. Or raise his salary, and he will feel the real results of his work.

* You lack the knowledge and experience to complete a skilled task.

This is a common work situation. You cannot know everything, and even what you usually do, you are not equally good at. Do not be afraid to admit the fact that your subordinates will cope with certain of your responsibilities as well, if not better than you. This is normal and there is no shame in it. So feel free to hand over to the subordinate the part of the work that he will do best. Together with powers. And there is no need to be jealous - we have already recognized that our employee will deal with this matter better than us.

* The performed tasks can contribute to the professional growth of the employee.

You delegate tasks to someone who, in your opinion, will improve their skills as a result of the implementation. In general, under the guise of a work assignment, an employee gets something like an industrial practice. The best solution for the case when you want to educate a helper from a team environment. With the possible prospect of appointing him as his deputy or as the head of a new department of the company. In this case, it would be ideal for a start to delegate to him a number of powers to manage this department, gradually expanding them to full scope. And as a result, we get a competent and experienced manager who grew up under your strict guidance and knows the whole process from the inside.

Choosing the right employee to delegate

First, you should assess the strengths and weaknesses of both your own and your staff. Be clear about what an employee can and cannot do. Don't think that skills can be adapted to any situation. For example, a great telephone salesperson might fail in direct negotiations. Don't be afraid to use the skills of multiple people. For example, someone might write the text for a new brochure and then pass it on to someone else for graphics processing and final execution. Assign subordinates with tasks that can test their skills and unlock new abilities in them.

Second, if necessary, look for resources outside of your company. Perhaps your staff does not have people with the right skills, or you have exhausted your capabilities. Look outside your company, among colleagues in other departments, offer to provide a return service.

Sometimes you have to use the help of consultants or temporary employees if you:

* perform a special task;

* need independent evaluation;

* save time and money for another job.

Before hiring an external consultant, collect feedback on their work and put together a written proposal explaining what you need. Remember that you need to control the work that these people will do.

Make an appointment with the person to whom you are going to transfer the assignment.

Collaboration is an important point in delegation. Therefore, you must meet in person.

Prepare well for a discussion and a summary of key issues. You can do it yourself or ask one of the employees:

* clearly explain the task, project or function;

* define the purpose of the assignment and how it fits into the big picture;

* define the responsibility of the employee;

* determine who else will be involved in the task, and describe their roles;

* determine the real terms of the task;

* provide information that may arise;

* stipulate the standards of performance, the framework for success and the level of responsibility;

* explain to the employee that the execution of the task must comply with the established norms;

* identify the resources that you can use;

* if necessary, select additional personnel;

* ask the employee what help he may need in completing the task;

* if an employee needs to develop new skills, agree on a training plan;

* define the level of authority that you will delegate.

What should you keep for yourself?

Among the large number of tasks and official duties that can and should be transferred to subordinates, there are several of them, the delegation of which can be harmful. Often these are the responsibilities that you want to transfer the most. This is exactly what you should not do. Let's take a look at some of them.

General planning Whether you are in charge of a department or an entire company, drawing up a plan can be collegial, but its approval is only authoritarian. Indeed, in general, according to this plan, no one, except you personally, should answer.

Selection of a team of performers and assessment of team members. Staffing issues are the prerogative of the leader. In this area, subordinates can only have an advisory vote. After all, recruitment and dismissal should be carried out only by the head of the department, endowed with such a right under the Labor Code. And this, we note, is correct.

The assessment of team members is based on a combination of the performer's potential capabilities and the limits of his incentives to perform the delegated functions. We bring to your attention a simple way of assessing according to two main criteria: the potential and motivation of an employee (Fig. 1).

Control over the work of the team. Who, if not you, will be able to personally fully assess the work process and its results? Naturally, if the main responsibility falls on you, then it is up to you to control. But what methods you choose for this is your own business. A quick side note: don't go overboard when it comes to control. Otherwise, you will be surprised to find that the time freed up by delegation is spent tracking the execution of the transferred responsibilities.

Incentive system for team members - In other words, provide a set of carrots and sticks in advance, which you will distribute during the work process as needed. For example, it is worth considering the personal characteristics of each subordinate. For some, a stern glance is enough to stop messing around, while for someone doing a full wash may not help. In such cases, you need to punish with the ruble, as they say. And with rewards, things are exactly the same. Remember: in any case, the distribution of carrots and sticks is only your business.

When Delegation Is Wrong

* Email inbox is always full.

* You stay after work to complete tasks that you think only you can handle.

* You are often distracted by requests to explain certain issues.

* You predict the result of the work of employees and redo the result that does not satisfy you.

* You often interfere with tasks that you have delegated.

* Low team morale and high staff turnover.

* Your staff does not want to take responsibility for the tasks that you distribute, that is, delegate.

Let's start overcoming our obstacles.

There is such a thing as reverse delegation. This happens if the employee to whom you assigned the task does not cope and returns it to you or expects you to cope with the problem or make a decision. However, resist the temptation to take on this business - to delegate to yourself. You have good opportunity gain the trust of an employee if you:

* express a positive attitude towards the fact that a lot has already been done;

* help to understand the situation and its segments;

* make it clear to the employee that he has a lot of strength to make decisions;

* support him in making a decision;

* help in learning to master new skills.

If your employee experiences difficulties in the process of completing a task, do not punish him or turn away from him and his problems, discuss the situation with him, actively encourage him to find his own options for overcoming them, support the steps he has outlined. Let him feel how he achieves the result. Do not redo a task that has been delegated if it does not meet your expectations. Tell subordinates what and why you are not satisfied, ask them to rework the task.

If you understand that the task is still beyond the capacity of this person and, at the same time, non-intervention is fraught with serious risks, delegate the task to a more experienced employee. In any case, you should not take on the case yourself.

After completing an assignment, always summarize. Conduct an assessment with a subordinate:

* Ask how and what the delegation process gave him.

* Recognize his successes, praise for the work done.

* Compare achieved results with previously set standards.

* Avoid criticism and accusations, discuss what amendments will be needed in the future.

Discuss a plan for the next steps for the future professional development of the employee. The subordinate should feel that his work has received recognition, not only yours, but also clients.

Here is a small table, in a simple form, reflecting the negative and positive qualities of a responsible person or leader, which affect the delegation of authority (table 1).

Everything will work out if ...

Immediately after the decision on the selection of employees and the transfer of authority has been made, the process of delegation with the simultaneous vesting of rights begins. Leaders must clearly establish the results they expect from the empowered subordinates and clearly define the conditions and rules within which the task should be performed. We will make this process most effective if we take into account the following nuances:

1. Leaders must clearly establish the results they expect from the empowered subordinate. A clear understanding of what needs to be achieved and why it is important is a prerequisite for delegation with concurrent empowerment. You cannot study, work or perform other actions until we are aware of the goals, causes and consequences of our activities. In order to make sure that the expected result does not contradict the desires of other employees, it should be associated with the personal benefits of employees and the mission of the company, focusing on the meaning and significance of the task. In addition to the desired end results, the leader needs to determine the conditions in which the task should be performed. After all, any company has rules, procedures and the amount of resources. There are always certain limits that limit the possibilities of the performer. This is what needs to be explained when delegating authority.

Also, the manager must set specific deadlines and a strict reporting schedule. How and when should the task be completed, who is responsible for the results and accepts the reports? No other errors in the transfer of authority can be more troublesome than a misunderstanding of this framework. There are at least five different levels of initiative. The manager must clearly understand what and what level of initiative he expects from subordinates.

2. Invite the employee to participate in the delegation of authority review. Often, managers cannot give subordinates full choice, but they can allow them to decide when the task can be completed, what is the level of responsibility and when to start execution, how to complete it, what resources to connect. I would like to note that all these points will expand the sphere of influence of workers.

3. It is necessary to create the most complete conditions for the employee and not only give the opportunity to receive all the information he needs about the task, but also allow him to freely express his views on the work itself. Waiting for subordinates to answer questions can lead to overdependence. However, the availability of a leader with whom you can exchange views and consult at any time helps to strengthen trusting professional relationships.

4. For staff to be successful, they should be empowered to carry out the delegated task. The leader should not endow subordinates with excessive rights, that is, give them excessive power and freedom, information and resources. This discrepancy leads to a decrease in the level of responsibility and abuse of power. The manager can oblige subordinates with primary responsibility, that is, for temporary results.

5. Perform the task within the existing organizational structure... Another important principle of delegation with the simultaneous granting of rights is the transfer of authority to the lowest organizational level at which the task can be performed. Persons directly involved in the work should be involved in resolving the issue. Such employees, as a rule, have the most accurate and complete information about the subject. This will lead to lower labor and information gathering costs. In turn, while managers look at the problem in a broader spectrum, lower-level employees have the specific knowledge necessary to solve many problems.

6. When delegating authority to subordinates, managers must guarantee all possible support. To do this, they need to come up with different messages and explain what they expect from subordinates. They should also continually provide employees with the information and resources they need to accomplish the task at hand. It is necessary to provide subordinates with access to reports, customer data, articles, news bulletins relevant to the task at hand. Such support not only contributes to the completion of the assignment, but also indicates the interest of the management in the work and his concern for subordinates. The leader must teach subordinates to independently obtain the necessary information and resources, since he alone is unlikely to be able to supply them with everything they need.

7. Pay attention to the responsibility for the results of the work performed. After delegation of authority, the manager must give up close control over the process of performing tasks by employees. It should be remembered that the main goal of delegation will be to successfully solve the problem, and not to implement the leader's favorite methods of work. Actions that infringe on the interests of other subordinates or contradict the rules adopted in the company should be considered unacceptable.

8. The manager is obliged to pay special attention to the results of the work, and not to how the employee performed it. It is necessary to clearly establish what the requirements for the result are. Without defining these parameters, it is difficult for a leader to exercise control over the actions of a subordinate.

9. The transfer (aka delegation) of powers should be carried out sequentially. The leader needs to make decisions about delegation in advance. If he has enough time, he independently does the work that can and should be transferred. It must be remembered that both pleasant and unpleasant tasks need to be delegated. Often, managers keep more interesting tasks for themselves, and subordinates are given more boring and unpleasant tasks. If employees feel that they are only entrusted with "dirty work", they are unlikely to do it well to the end. A manager should not be afraid to assign difficult tasks to employees. Sequential delegation means that he delegates authority all the time, not just when he himself is overwhelmed, and that both pleasant and unpleasant tasks are delegated.

10. Avoid returning delegated authority. In the course of discussions, managers sometimes have to deal with the so-called return of delegation, we mentioned it earlier, this is when subordinates, endowed with certain powers, try to return the received responsibilities. The manager must honestly and openly suppress such attempts. Those who cannot cope with the situation have to spend time not on doing their job, but on solving the problems of their subordinates.

One way to avoid the return of authority is to explain to subordinates what they should implement themselves. own solutions... It is necessary not to discuss the problem itself or give advice, but to consider the options for solving it offered to employees and their logic of just such, and not another solution. That is why it is necessary to clearly set the framework in which the subordinate can and should show his initiative. This tactic allows the leader not only to avoid returning authority and performing work, the primary responsibility for which rests with others, but also helps to train subordinates to solve problems themselves. The return of authority does not solve the problem; rather, it creates and increases the dependence of employees on the manager, which, as a result, affects the work as a whole.

11. Make it clear to your subordinates what the prospects are inherent in solving the problem. Employees should be aware of the implications of exercising delegated authority. They will better understand the task at hand and will show more interest and initiative if they know what reward and prospects await them in case of a positive solution to the task. Essentially, a manager has a responsibility to help employees understand the link between successful completion of a task and monetary rewards, the ability to climb the corporate ladder and improve their skills.

Explaining the implications can also contribute to the understanding that the transfer of authority is necessary not only to accomplish the assigned tasks, but also to strengthen interpersonal relationships. Successful execution of tasks should also lead to such results as improved relationships between company employees, in a team or directly with the manager. Based on all that has been said, it is necessary to make sure that as a result of any transfer of authority, both relations in the team of departments or in the team, and in the company as a whole, are strengthened.

As a summary

If you have a clear picture of everything that is happening in the company or in the department, if you understand and understand how to apply the ability to delegate, and clearly see the ultimate goal, as well as the ways to achieve it, then you are guaranteed success. And, as Frazil Abdulovich Iskander said, “real responsibility is only personal. The man blushes alone. "