DELEGATION
Delegation is the practice of turning over work-related tasks and/or
authority to employees or subordinates. Small business owners often have
difficulty with delegation for a variety of reasons, from concerns about
the abilities of subordinates to long-standing "hands-on"
management habits (a common characteristic of successful entrepreneurs).
Indeed, "businesses founded on the creative talents of the owner
often struggle with [delegation] because the success of the enterprise
depends on the owner's style," wrote Linda Formichelli in
Nation's Business.
But small business consultants warn that owners that do not learn to
delegate responsibilities and tasks often end up stunting their
company's growth.
THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE DELEGATION PRACTICES
"Many managers think of delegation as a task—an activity to
be carried out and forgotten. In reality, delegation is a process that
makes up a critical component of successful management," wrote
Janet Houser Carter in
Supervisory Management.
"To get work done with and through others, a manager must
regularly give authority to his or her staffers. This shows staffers that
the manager has faith in their abilities—which is what makes
delegation such a powerful motivational tool."
A propensity for micromanagement—or nanomanagement, as it is
sometimes called when applied to a small business firm—can have a
deleterious impact on a company in a variety of ways. Moreover, many
analysts contend that a lack of delegation can be
particularly detrimental to the fortunes of smaller businesses.
"In small, entrepreneurial companies, micromanagement by one
person—typically the owner—can be especially
growth-inhibiting because it can have a proportionately larger sweep
through the firm than micro-management by one executive in a large
company," wrote Formichelli. Business consultants thus counsel
their clients to practice sensible delegation of tasks to their
employees—even in instances where they might not do as good a job
initially. "Employees can't learn unfamiliar tasks if they
never get the chance to learn and practice them," noted Carter.
"In the short term, it may make sense to do it yourself; over the
long term, however, you save more time by showing others how to do the
job."
Of course, not all tasks or responsibilities should be delegated to
employees. Small business owners need to take care of basic strategic and
planning issues themselves, and other management duties—conflict
resolution, performance evaluations, etc.—should be delegated
judiciously.
Business experts cite a number of specific problems that are often
associated with companies that do not effectively delegate. These include:
-
Poor employee morale—An inability or refusal to delegate can have
a corrosive impact on the morale of good employees that want to
contribute their talents to the business in a meaningful way.
"Delegating work to subordinates helps to develop them for their
own career advancement as well as improve their management
skills," wrote W.H. Weiss in
Supervision.
-
Burnout—Even the most talented, ambitious, and energetic
entrepreneurs are apt to run out of gas if they insist on tackling all
major aspects of a company's operation. Some small business
owners can manage all or most important tasks for the early life of a
company. Indeed, some small businesses—especially single-person
enterprises like freelance graphics design or editorial
services—may be able to handle all significant aspects of a
company's operation for years on end. But for the vast majority
of small and mid-sized businesses enjoying a measure of growth, owners
sooner or later must face the reality that they cannot undertake all
duties and responsibilities.
-
Misallocation of Personal Resources—Small business owners and
entrepreneurs who do not delegate often run the risk of using too much
of their time on routine tasks and not enough time on vital aspects of
the company's future, such as strategic planning, long-range
budgeting, and marketing campaigns.
-
Damage to Company Image—Business owners who do not empower their
employees, insisting instead on attending to all relevant aspects of his
or her business themselves, run the risk of inadvertently suggesting to
customers and vendors that the company's workforce is not
competent and/or trustworthy.
-
Damage to Company Health—This should be the bottom-line
consideration of all entrepreneurs running their own business. If
micromanagement is slowing processing of work orders, hindering
development of new marketing efforts, or otherwise causing bottlenecks
in any areas of a company's operation, then it may be eating away
at the company's fundamental financial well-being.
Small business owners are encouraged to evaluate whether they are perhaps
falling into the trap of micromanagement. Consultants and entrepreneurs
cite the following as major warning signs:
-
Taking work home in the evening or working long hours of overtime
-
Failure to give important tasks the amount of attention that they
warrant
-
Basic company documents (like business plans) are not updated for long
periods
-
Excessive amounts of time spent going over work already completed by
employees
-
Completing important tasks with little time to spare (or a day or two
late)
-
Spending inordinate amounts of time on relatively unimportant or routine
jobs
-
Vacations assume mythic status
-
Unhappy employees
-
Unhappy family members
KEYS TO EFFECTIVE DELEGATION
Effective delegation is ultimately predicated on ensuring that the
company's workforce is sufficiently talented and motivated to take
on the responsibilities that are delegated to them. "New
entrepreneurs often have difficulty figuring out what kind of workers to
hire," remarked Formichelli. "If the wrong people are hired,
they require more training and supervision, which invites
nanomanagement." Sound hiring practices and adequate training are
thus universally regarded as major factors in establishing a healthy
system of delegation. Once those aspects have been addressed, there are
other considerations that can be studied as well. These include:
-
Work Environment—Establish a positive work environment where
employees are not paralyzed by fear of failure or dismissive of tasks
that they think is beneath them. Owners and managers need to emphasize
tools of motivation and communication to nourish employee enthusiasm.
-
Plan for Delegation—A company that is armed with a strong, clear
vision of its future—and the role that its employees will play in
that future—is far more likely to be successful than the business
that does not plan ahead.
-
Review Responsibilities—Business owners and managers need to
objectively examine which tasks that they have previously taken care of
can be delegated to others. "Reserve for yourself those tasks
which require the experience, skill, and training which only you
possess," wrote W.H. Weiss in the
Supervisor's Standard Reference Handbook.
-
Selection of Appropriate Employees for New Responsibilities—As
every personnel manager knows, some members of the work force are better
suited to take on new responsibilities than others. When reviewing
potential candidates to take on additional responsibilities, business
owners should consider level of employee motivation and ambition, skill
sets, level of allegiance to the company, and emotional maturity.
-
Established Policies—Detailed manuals of policies and procedures
can go far toward eliminating the uncertainties that hamstring some
delegation efforts.
-
Prepare for Bumps in the Road—Even the best-planned delegation
efforts can go awry, leading to short-term productivity/profitability
losses. Indeed, risk is an inherent element of the delegation process,
and some errors or misjudgements may occur as workers adjust to their
new responsibilities. "Employees need to be reassured that the
manager will be there to offer assistance or clarification, and that
mistakes during the learning period are to be expected," said
Carter. "Mistakes should be viewed as opportunities to teach, not
punish."
-
Training—Delegation of tasks and responsibilities is far more
likely to be successful if the employees have the knowledge necessary to
fulfill their new duties. "The fact that no one has the skills to
complete a task you are handling doesn't mean you should avoid
delegation—it means you should train," wrote Alice Bredin
in
Los Angeles Business Journal.
"While building the skills of an employee requires an investment
of time, that investment will pay off."
-
Communication—"Be clear and concise when
delegating," said Weiss. "Right from the beginning you
must clarify what decisions you are delegating and what you are
reserving for yourself. Delegating fails when the person to whom you
have delegated a task fails to perform it or makes a decision beyond the
scope of authority granted." Conversely, delegation can also fail
if the business owner hands off a responsibility, but does not give his
or her employee the necessary level of authority to execute that
responsibility. "If you overlook this, you may cause the person
delegated to suffer frustration and stress because he or she was given
an assignment yet not given the authority and power needed to accomplish
it properly," wrote Weiss in
Supervision.
-
Provide Advisory Role—Small business owners should make sure that
they keep lines of communication open at all times after delegating
responsibilities. Employee questions and uncertainties about their new
responsibilities are perfectly natural, so owners should make themselves
available for questions and maintain a nonjudgemental, helpful stance.
Ultimately, small business owners need to recognize that delegation can
help a business grow and prosper, and that good employees, when used
intelligently, can be a significant advantage in the marketplace.
"The manager who wants to learn to delegate more should remember
this distinction," wrote Thomas S. Bateman and Carl P. Zeithaml in
Management: Function and Strategy.
"If you are not delegating, you are merely doing things; the more
you delegate, the more you are truly
building
and
managing
an organization."
FURTHER READING:
Bateman, Thomas S., and Carl P. Zeithaml.
Management: Function and Strategy.
Irwin, 1990.
Bredin, Alice. "Delegating Tasks Can Free Up Time to Pursue
Growth."
Los Angeles Business Journal.
November 20, 2000.
Carter, Janet Houser. "Minimizing the Risks from
Delegation."
Supervisory Management.
February 1993.
Formichelli, Linda. "Letting Go of the Details."
Nation's Business.
November 1997.
Weiss, W.H. "The Art and Skill of Delegating."
Supervision.
September 2000.
Weiss, W.H.
Supervisor's Standard Reference Handbook.
Prentice-Hall, 1988.
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