The importance of delegation of authority is that it makes organizational work easier and convenient without having to burden oneself. Delegation is very much one of the most useful practices that managers or leaders of industry can indulge in with gains for both ends.
As a widely accepted concept and an essential element of effective management, possessing the ability to delegate is a critical skill in effective management. This is because it involves recognizing and respecting others’ capabilities; evaluating tasks and communicating how they fit in the big picture; matching people and assignments; providing support and encouragement; tolerating ambiguity and uncertainty; and of course interpreting failure as a key to learning.
At the end of the day, both parties, the delegator and the one who receives the delegation, enjoy the benefits of mutual interest. Managers get a bit relieved and the same goes for the one who covers up allotted beat in a bid to reach a common end, which the fulfilment of company goals.
Why People Delegate
Here are some of the reasons why people delegate:
- To free themselves up to do other tasks in the pace of their own
- To have the most qualified person making the decisions
- To seek another qualified person’s perspective on an issue
- To develop someone else’s ability to handle the additional assignments judiciously and successfully.
How to Delegate
As a leader or manager or someone with just the opportunity to assign tasks probably because of the cumbersomeness or because you seek a second but professional hand in the business of the day, you need to learn tips on how to delegate:
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In Terms of Administrative Processes
You may also delegate administrative tasks, like data entry, to other employees. As the marketing manager, for instance, you may assign social media monitoring to a marketing assistant.
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In Terms of Departments
You can delegate the supervision of a particular department to another employee. For example, if you’re a CEO, you could delegate authority over the entire marketing department to the marketing director and it goes on from there, department by department.
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In Terms of Making Decision
You can give one of your employees the power to make certain decisions so that you can focus on other work. For example, as a marketing director, you could delegate authority to the assistant marketing director to hire employees for the department when needed.
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In Terms of Projects
You can assign an employee or group of employees to complete a specific project from start to finish.
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In Terms of Analysis
When you need more information, you can ask employees to complete detailed research on the topic. If you’re a marketing project manager, you can ask someone on the demand gen team to research demographic statistics for their advertising campaign’s intended audience.
Importance of Delegation of Authority
The basic obligation and duty of a manager in any industry, company, or organization is obeying the need to delegate authority to his subordinates. This management capacity speaks eloquently about he is good at his managerial role and responsibility:
- Lightens the workload of the manager. The manager can delegate routine work and focus on important tasks that require his expertise and experience.
- Also results in quicker decisions and faster turnaround. This is because we assign authority to the subordinates which allows them to take independent decisions without interference.
- Delegation also helps motivate the subordinates. The responsibilities given to them provides them motivation. And the recognition they get for the work will help boost their morale.
- It also increases the bond and understanding between the manager and his team. They interact more often and the cohesiveness is an advantage to the organization.
- Delegation allows the lower level managers to gain experience and knowledge. So it encourages them to make independent decisions and handle tasks on their own. This is great training for their eventual move to middle and upper management.
