How Managers Delegate
Introduction
According to our president, Lee, to be an effective manager one “must be able to focus on the big-picture and growth strategies and delegate the responsibility and authority to subordinates.” (L. Payne, personal communication, January 3, 2006). Lee feels a responsibility to develop his staff so they will eventually be able to take over the business upon his retirement. Lee’s strategy of focusing on the big picture and giving his managers a clear and concise strategy has worked well for us.
In keeping with his plan of staff development every year Lee, with the help of the vice president and engineering manager, develops our strategic plan. During our Management Review Meeting the plan is presented to all the staff members in a very clear and concise manner. Once the plan has been submitted to the staff a question and answer period follows. Each of the staff members comes away from this meeting with a clear understanding of the company goals and objectives for the year, how those goals and objectives affect his/her department and the decision is up to each staff member to take those goals and objectives and develop departmental goals and objectives.
Engineering Delegation
The engineering manager, John, develops his goals and objectives and delegates the authority and responsibility for the new product development in the coming year to the engineers who report to him. John establishes time lines for project completion, oversees all the projects under development, and follows up with each engineer to ensure these projects are completed in a timely manner. Even though John has delegated the authority and responsibility of new pr ...