THE IMPORTANCE OF DELEGATION

As an organization grows, business owners tend to delegate more decisions and

control to managers:

➢ The owners of a business are the people who have invested money and organized
resources into a firm and are entitled to share its profits.
➢ However, the controllers of a business are those people who take the day-to-day
management decisions.
➢ In many small organizations, the owners and controllers are the same people.
➢ However, as a business grows control tend to pass from the owners to the
managers they employ to run their business.
➢ In a limited company, the owners or shareholders elect a board of directors to
run their company and take important business decisions.
➢ By doing so, the owners agree to give up day-to-day control of their business.

As a business continues to grow, senior managers need to delegate more decisions

and control to junior managers and employees lower down their chain of command:

➢ It’s hard for any managers to control all day-to-day tasks and make every
decision.
➢ Managers must therefore delegate some of the functions they perform and
decisions to others in their chain of command.
➢ The delegation of tasks, authority and responsibilities to more junior members
of staff in the organizational hierarchy becomes even more important as the
business expands and employs more people.
➢ Successful delegation requires a manager to trust the junior employee.
➢ This can be difficult for some managers who feel that they may lose control of
the tasks for which they are responsible.
➢ If a manager tries to control a task given to a junior employee, then the junior
employee will feel that they are not trusted. This can demotivate the junior
employee and may even result in that person taking time off or leaving the
organization.
➢ Successful delegation down the chain of command in an organization should
provide several benefits.
 Potential problems of delegation for
Benefits of delegation for managers
managers
 They fear losing control over some
✓ They can spend more time on more
tasks and decisions.
important business decisions &
 They may not explain clearly
tasks.
enough to junior managers &
✓ They can make best use of the
employees what they required to
skills & experience of different
do, what decisions they should be
employees in their chain of
responsible for & why.
command to improve the
 Their junior managers &
employees’ motivation &
employees may lack the required
productivity.
skills meaning there is a high risk
✓ They can monitor the performance
they will make poor decisions &
of their employees more easily
tasks will be poorly completed.
against agreed tasks & objectives.
 They remain responsible for any
✓ They can train their employees to
poor decisions taken by managers
become future managers in the
or employees down their chain of
organization.
command.
Potential problems of delegation for
Benefits of delegation for employees
employees
✓ Their work may become more  They may lack the skills & training
interesting. they need.
✓ They can specialize in those tasks  They may remain accountable for
they are best able to perform. their actions & decisions to their
✓ They can learn new skills. managers.
✓ It prepares them for more senior  They may suffer stress from
positions within the organization. taking on more responsibilities.

LEADERSHIP STYLES

Managers may adopt different leadership styles depending on the situation or

employees they are required to manage:

➢ The method or leadership style a manager uses often reflects his or her
personality and personal objectives.
➢ These styles affect communication between employees and authority they
delegate down their chain of command.
➢ Good managers may change the way they lead a group of employees or manage a
particular situation depending on what style will best achieve the outcome they
want and depending on what motivates their employees.
➢ Three main leadership styles:
 Laissez-faire
Autocratic management Democratic management
management
A laissez-faire manager is
“hands-off”. He or she
An autocratic manager
A democratic manager communicates business
tells employees what to do
consults employees and objectives to employees &
& expects his or her
involves them in problem- then leaves them to
orders to be followed
solving & decision-making. organize their work &
without question. This is a
Communication is two-way. make their own decisions
good style to adopt in
Information & ideas about about how best to achieve
emergencies & other
work & the future of the those objectives. This
situations when decisions
business are discussed encourages employee
need to be made & actions
openly before the manager creativity & decision-
taken quickly. However, if
makes an informed making but some
a manager is always
decision on what actions employees may need more
autocratic, employees may
should be taken. support & direction.
become dissatisfied
Democratic management Workers may fail to co-
because they are unable to
helps employees feel ordinate their activities if
contribute ideas or
valued but it can slow down the lack of leadership fails
challenge decisions they
decision-making. to provide the direction
think are wrong.
they need & create
confusion.