Management Thoughts Series - The Art and The Science of Delegation – Part I

“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”

– John C. Maxwell, American author

Why did I Write this Article?

In my extended career in the Indian Navy, I was lucky to understand the science and art of delegation very early. I soon acquired some mastery in this art and enjoyed the fruits of delegating the tasks downstream. I am therefore a die-hard propagator of delegation and (hopefully) my colleagues in the Whites who have been with me in the Naval Domain would vouch for this fact. I am now putting my thoughts together with a hope that they would benefit someone someday. No credits are due in this paper as no other work, except the quotation above which has been duly credited to the originator, has been cited.

What is Delegation?

Delegation is all about assigning part of a Senior’s work to an appropriate subordinate. It is an established principle that the responsibility of a specific task and necessary authority to perform the task can be handed over or “Delegated” to another person. However, the accountability for the delegated task continues to remain with the Delegator, who delegated the task. The RAA (The Responsibility, authority and Accountability) matrix of Delegation thus looks as follows:-

Facet of Task	Original Charge	Delegated Charge
Responsibility	Superior	Subordinate
Authority	Superior	Subordinate
Accountability	Superior	Can not be Delegated

Why Delegate?

The overall charge of a senior is a bundle of a variety of tasks. They could be classified into three types by their relevance as Critical, Important and Routine. Another way they can be classified is by  VED fundamentals namely Vital, Essential and Desirable tasks.

The senior managers need to execute, in the shortest possible time, the tasks considered vital, to add value to organizational goals. It, therefore, follows that to perform the Vital tasks, the senior persons should have uncluttered time and energy. The only way that could be achieved is, the senior people in the Management learn the art and science of delegating some of the “essential” tasks and most of the “desirable” tasks to their subordinates.

This and this alone gives the freedom of thoughts and time to Senior Functionaries. The senior executives can devote these resources to what is vital for the organization. With delegation, the Seniors work, fully focused, on a relatively small number of Vital Tasks, safe in the thought that the other tasks are delegated at an appropriate level below them and they are being taken care of.

Why is Delegation Not Done despite Known Advantages?

There are some leaders in various walks of life, few of them successful, who do not delegate at all. It does sound funny but it is true. Such leaders think that they are capable of doing everything themselves, why delegate. There is this other variety of seniors, who think if the tasks are delegated, how will the credit of the tasks accrue to them. What if the task is delegated and while the superior is trying to take all the credit, the subordinate opens his mouth to say he was the one who did the Job?

In short, either the control freaks do not delegate or those who seek to project their image of being hardworking, etc. do not delegate. There is a third variety, who are suffering from zero error syndrome, who obviously lack faith in the subordinates due to their mental make up. In the present management terminology, the abovementioned situations are called ‘Fear of Losing Control’ and ‘Fear of dropping the Ball’.

In the field of management, there is no “straight jacket” that applies to all situations. In certain cases, the enormity of the task may dictate that the task may be performed by the senior most in the hierarchy but such situations are few and far between.

All evolved superiors, seniors and leaders having EQ (Emotional Quotient) delegate to the levels below because the delegation of the tasks which do not merit consumption of time and energy of a superior, to downstream is an “Effectiveness Enhancing Tool”.

What if Delegation is Not Done?

Delegation is an Effectiveness Enhancement tool and that includes enhanced Effectiveness of all the resources including time and energy. If a superior does not delegate and does everything himself (and keep all the resources and power with himself), following clear effects on the Superior and/or organization are predictable:-

(a)                 The first effect is rapid burn out of the superior is likely to suffer as also the organization will tend to lose due to this burnout.

(b)                 The second effect is suboptimum utilisation of resources leading to some resources getting over-utilized while others may be underutilized. Resources are limited and are to be used carefully. It is important to be mindful of the fact that all tasks do not have the same priority. However, if delegation is not done, most tasks will be allocated the same amount of resources (time, manpower, finance, etc.) rather than relative allotment based on priority.

(c)                  The third effect will be an inefficient use of subordinates who will have just the routine work to do which does not add up to their growth and development.

(d)                 Fourthly, if delegation is not done, the subordinate does not get to shoulder higher responsibility. That badly affects “succession grooming” and development of subordinates, a sacred duty of all seniors.

Conclusion.

The delegation of some low priority essential and all desirable tasks (for a senior’s point of view) by a senior to his subordinates has distinct advantages and it is something that all seniors should do. In most cases, a leader who is confident about himself is likely to delegate the tasks downstream. Sometimes, the delegated tasks may not be performed in the desired manner but such tasks are from the essential and desirable category, the impact of it remains relatively insignificant to the organization.  

There are attended risks of varying degrees in Delegation of tasks but persons at senior positions in any organisation have reached that far because they have been taking risks in their career.  It's time that all leaders at various levels take to Delegation which is an “Effectiveness Enhancement Tool” and should delegate wholeheartedly. Let us all understand the science of delegation and practice the art of delegation.

Part II is coming soon