Management: Delegation Benefits, Guidelines, and Subordinate Issues

This assignment delves into the critical aspects of delegation within leadership management. It begins by outlining and defining five potential benefits of delegation, such as minimizing workload, fostering specialization, boosting motivation, enabling quicker decision-making, and facilitating organi...Read More

Q. List and define five (5) potential benefits of delegation.
Ans. Delegation (Plawecki, L. H., & Amrhein, D. W. (2012) ) is referred to the the act of
assigning responbilities or authority to a person (usually in a hierarchical manner ,that is,
from a manager to a subordinate) to perform in an organization.
Following are the five potential benefits of delegation:
1. Minimising work load of superiors
By assigning the regular and routine work to their subordinates the managers can then
concentrate on their managerial and creative functions. This helps in improving managerial
efficiency.
2. Benefits of specialization
The managers delegates authority and responsibility to subordinates according to their
ability and. This helps in enhancement of the specialization among subordinates.
3. Motivation and Morale boosting
Delegating authority to subordinates develops among them the feeling of prestige and
status. It also promotes the ability to take initiative and become responsible.
4. Quicker and better decision making
Delegation helps subordinate when deciding on the matters of their own while remaining in
their limits of power. Therefore, they can take quick decisions without consulting the
superiors for all the matters.
5. Growth and expansion
Delegation provides more flexibility in organizational structure and hence more stratas can
be put forth in the original organizational structure .
Q. List and describe the seven (7) guidelines for good delegation.
Ans. When work is delegated effectively to a suitable employee with required knowledge
skills then it is known as Good delegation.
Following are the seven guidelines for good delegation(Mueller, C., & Vogelsmeier, A.
(2013)):
1. Patience
Patience is the key to best results. When delegating a task first time, it is certainly going to
take longer than doing it on own
2. Don’t over-delegate
Only that work should be delegated which a superior finds as an additional task for oneself
and which could be performed by their subordinate efficiently.
3. Right person for the task
When delegating a task, it should be made sure that the subordinate is possessing the
required knowledge and skills. Hence, making efficient use of their talent.

4. Reason for selection
When selecting a person to delegate to, tell them the reason why they have been selected
and expectations from them. This helps them see each delegated task as an opportunity to
grow.
5. Be Specific
Being specific with the tasks that is why they need to be done, their deadlines and the
expectation from them is important for clear delegation as vague intstructions can ruin.
6. Training
Delegation does not straight-away mean handing off the task, it should be made sure that
the person has required skills and resources for the task.
7. Feedback
A feedback is a must for any delegated work. It should be positive as well as constructive
which would help the performer to enhance the knowledge in the long run.
Q. Discuss why one of the major complaints of subordinates regarding delegation is the
issue of dumping. Offer an example of a personal experience or observation of dumping
taking place.
Ans. Dumping involves ‘dumping of the tasks’( Warner, J. (2015)) which are not interesting
to perform onto the subordinates or assigning major work but not providing them with
suitable tools an authority so that they can take the charge.
The issue of dumping affects the performance of subordinates while performing their other
tasks also. Therefore, dumping can result in negative outcomes whereas if delegated
properly it could help staff develop additional skills, feel valued and become efficient.
Sometimes dumping can result in the refusal by the subordinate, like in the following
example of an IT manager in a company.
An IT manager had a large staff under him. One of the technician was exceptional at
providing great desk side support. He has amazing work ethic and always completed his
work before time and used to leave office early. Since he was so responsive to the
employees , he was allowed to set his own working hours. So one day the IT manager tried
to give him the extra work which was to download and install a piece of helpdesk
management software which he immediately refused as it was not his piece of work and his
skills were not the appropriate ones for the work given.

REFERENCES
1. Plawecki, L. H., & Amrhein, D. W. (2012). A question of delegation: Unlicensed assistive
personnel and the professional nurse. Journal of gerontological nursing, 36(8), 18-21.
2. Mueller, C., & Vogelsmeier, A. (2013). Effective delegation: Understanding responsibility,
authority, and accountability. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 4(3), 20-27.
3. Warner, J. (2015). Delegation Pocketbook. Management Pocketbooks.