This purpose of this paper is to explain how delegation could be used more effectively in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling within an organization. Delegation has many definitions, but very simply put it means letting go of control. Out of all of the decisions managers have to make, delegating is one of the hardest decisions to make.
By definition delegation is the downward transfer of formal authority from superior to subordinate. The employee is empowered to act for the supervisor, while the supervisor remains accountable for the outcome. Delegation of authority is a person-to-person relationship requiring trust, commitment, and contracting between the supervisor and the employee. The supervisor assists in developing employees in order to strengthen the organization. He or she gives up the authority to make decisions that are best made by subordinates. This means that the supervisor allows subordinates the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. He or she does not supervise subordinates' decision-making, but allows them the opportunity to develop their own skills. The supervisor lets subordinates know that he or she is willing to help, but not willing to do their jobs for them, (1998).
There is much reasoning and judgment that takes place before delegating a task to someone. Managers have to go through a decision-making process before delegating.. The First decision a manager has to makes is to decide which person to delegate a given task to; the person that they think would do the job as good as they would do. It is obvious to anyone that no matter how well a task is explained the job will be done differently. Second, if delegation is done right it can have many benefits that far outweigh the downside. The downside of delegation is tha ...