Assigning & Delegating

Work
• Objective
- This training will help you as a supervisor to learn &
improve your ability to assign & delegate work in
effective & efficient way

• Overview
- You will:
a) Distinguish between assigning & delegating
b) Explain the importance of assigning & delegating
c) Determine what & whom to assign and delegate work
d) Examine the steps involved in assigning & delegating
• Definition of Assigning
- It is giving someone the responsibility to complete a
task ... This task usually within their normal scope of
responsibilities without authority

- Examples of work assigning:

- Assigning a waiter to a work station
- Assigning a room attendant to count laundry
- Assigning a cashier to collect some brochures from the store

- So, assigning is an essential part of organizing day-to-day

duties
• Definition of Delegating
- It is giving someone the responsibility, and if necessary
the authority, to complete all of or part of a task or project

- Quite often delegation involves more in-depth activities or

tasks outside the usual responsibilities of that employee

- Examples of work assigning:

- Delegate the duty roster to your assistant
- Delegate the inventory to your senior room maid
- Delegate the upkeep of the employee’s notice-board to the senior
receptionist
 • Benefits of Assigning & Delegating
- Gets the work done efficiently
- More time managing
- Allows supervisors to ‘SUPERVISE’
- Makes maximum use of available resources
- Develops the individuals
- Increase employee morale / motivation
- Improved leadership skills

- If you don’t assign or delegate you will

be too much involved in tasks

- You should never be involved to an

extent that you can’t see the entire picture
(Super - Vision)
 • Obstacles to Assigning & Delegating
- Despite the obvious benefits, many supervisors/managers have
difficulty in this area
 “What if they get it wrong - I’ll be blamed”
 “I’ve always done this myself”
 “I’m in charge here”
 “They might do it better than me”
 “My boss never delegate to me”
 “There is no one capable to delegate to”
 “I don’t know what I should delegate”
 “They might think I’m lazy”
 “No one’s interested in doing these jobs”
 • Obstacles to Assigning & Delegating Cont.
- What do you think of managers who tries to de everything
him/herself?
 Don’t trust me
 Inexperienced
 Wants to play the “Martyr”
 Afraid I’ll found out something

- Why don’t employees accept responsibilities?

 Some are unable, unwilling, or both
 Some fear failure
 Some fear the consequences of making mistakes
 Some fear rejection of other employees
 It’s meaning extra work
 Some like their jobs as it is
 • Plan to Assign
- What sorts of things might it be useful to assign?
 Recurring chores that are usually routine
 Extra responsibilities within your sub-section’s sphere of work
 Tasks for which another employee is more qualified than you are

- What sorts of things that you should not assign?

 The authority to discipline someone
 Your role in motivating or maintaining morale
 Anything which is personal or private for one of your team
 Confidential matters such as salary discussion
- Deciding to whom to assign?
 Does the task demand a special skill or competence?
 Is the task simple enough to be handled by any of my team?
 Will it help someone to develop a new skill?
 Is it in your best interest as a supervisor?
 And is it in the person’s best interest as an employee?
 • How to Assign?
- Once you have decided who is the best to do whatever task is necessary,
how do you go about assigning this work to them?

- You will have to tell your team what you have decided - and it may be
necessary after that to adjust your plans.

- There are three distinct stages to tell your staff what to do?
 Explain what has to be done

 Explain why you have assigned the tasks in this way

 Check that everyone understands what is expected

of them
• How to Assign Cont. ?
1 - Explain what has to be done?
- It is very important that your staff get the full picture of the aims and context
of the assignment
- Well-informed staff can help one another
- They will understand what each other's responsibilities are, and know where
likely problems may occur

2 - Explain why you have assigned the tasks in this way?

- When tasks are assigned, it is helpful to explain why you
are doing it this way
- Without reasons, your team will sometimes resent the
decision
 • How to Assign Cont. ?
3 - Check that everyone understands what is expected of them

- Sometimes people are reluctant to say that they don’t understand you -
especially new staff
- Give the opportunity to your staff to ask questions about the assignment

- If you are not sure that they have understood, ask them

- Once you have assigned a task, you will need to make sure that it is
performed up to the standards set by CONRAD Company.
 • Plan to Delegate
- Delegating is a little more complicated in its execution.
- To delegate correctly, it is important to know:
• What tasks can be delegated and to whom
• What level of authority you should delegate

- Type of different tasks:

• Tasks you must do

• Tasks you should do, someone else could help you
• Tasks you could do, but so could someone else (opportunity)
• Tasks others should do, you can help
• Tasks others must do
• Plan to Delegate Cont.

- Levels of Authority:
• There are three levels of authorities, you must put in consideration the
employees position & complexity f the task being delegated.
• The three levels of authority are:
1) Full Authority:
- It is given to the employee to take whatever actions are necessary to carry out
the assignment, without consulting or reporting you
2) Partial Authority:
- It is given to the employee to take whatever actions are necessary to carry out
the assignment, but you must be informed of the actions taken
3) Limited Authority:
- The employee must present his/her recommendations to you, and cannot take
action until you make a decision
 • How to Delegate
- As a pro-active supervisor you will have to take a risk sometimes when
delegating.
- There are seven steps to guide you in the process of delegating:
1) Think the task through
2) Set limitations
3) Choose an employee
4) Meet with the employee
5) Confirm authority
6) Establish a monitoring system
7) Confirm support
8) Praise the employee
• How to Delegate Cont. ?
1 - Think the task through
- Develop the task into details : materials, resources needed & results expected

2 - Set limitations
- To determine the time needed & budget
- To determine level of authority

3- Choose an employee
- Make sure the employee you have in mind has the time and skills to get the job
done

4- Meet with the employee

- Explain the project
- Encourage the employee to ask questions
- Express your confidence that the employee can get the job done
• How to Delegate Cont. ?
5- Confirm authority
- In order to avoid inconvenient, you have to explain to the employee his/her
authority level & limitations

6- Establish monitoring system

- Check the employee’s progress from time to time
- Be friendly and helpful, not judgmental
- If necessary, help to correct any problem
7- Confirm support
- Support the employee internal & external
- Make him feel ease

8- Praise the employee

- Throughout the project, be generous with your praise
- When the project is finished, thank the employee
- Nothing is more discouraging to an employee, than having a supervisor take all the
credit
• Summary:
- Now you should be able to:
a) Distinguish between assigning & delegating
b) Explain the importance of assigning & delegating
c) Determine what & whom to assign and delegate work
d) Examine the steps involved in assigning & delegating
Thank You