- Benefits of effective delegation (where the ideas to the answer can also be used for questions on the reasons, outcomes, usefulness, and importance of effective delegation)
- Barriers to effective delegation (which can also be understood as limitations to delegation)
BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE DELEGATION
There are several benefits of effective delegation and these are listed below.
PROMOTING MOTIVATION
Delegation can effectively motivate workers as it can fulfill the subordinates' ego needs (as defined in Maslow's theory). Whenever the superiors delegate a task, they are recognising the ability of their subordinates to perform. Such recognition will enable the ego needs to be satisfied. And recognition is also known to be a motivator factor under Herzberg's Two Factor Theory which helps promote greater job satisfaction.
In addition, delegation can satisfy self-actualisation needs which occurs when a subordinate is given additional responsibilities. Through these responsibilities, he or she can learn and obtain new experience which in turn add value to themselves. It also enables them to express their potentials as they are provided the opportunity to do something more beyond their immediate job scope via delegation.
Furthermore, by providing new responsibilities to the subordinates, the subordinates may find their work less boring and more challenging. It provides them with novelty which helps to make their jobs more interesting and can help contribute to greater job satisfaction by making the work itself (which is another motivator factor under Herzberg's theory) more interesting
When the subordinates are motivated, it will lead to better work performance since employees will have higher commitment in doing their job. Furthermore, by being able to motivate workers, it allows the company to create greater job satisfaction which leads to company achieving higher employee retention to subsequently reduce labour turnover.
GETTING THE BEST PERFORMANCE FROM PEOPLE WHO KNOW BETTER
It must be noted that not every individual is perfect and this includes the superiors within the business organisations. As such delegation is a good practice whenever a task is delegated to the relevant person with the right skill set or relevant knowledge to ensure the 'best' output can be achieved.
ALLOWING THE SUPERIORS TO FOCUS ON OTHER TASKS AND RELIEVING THEIR BURDEN
By delegating, the superiors can free themselves from doing some tasks, allowing them to focus on other matters such as strategic planning. Furthermore, this helps to eliminate any unnecessary stress which may occur when the superiors attempt to do everything themselves which can potentially lead to the problem of 'burnout'. In addition, effective delegation help promote efficiency when the superiors are free to attend to their other responsibilities, as this allows them to save time when other jobs can be concurrently done by other subordinates.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE DELEGATION
Barriers to effective delegation are as listed below.
DELEGATING TO THE WRONG PEOPLE
Delegation demands the superiors to have a good knowledge of the capabilities AND also the interest of their subordinates. Often delegation becomes ineffective if tasks are simply assigned to any available persons without taking into account whether their capability and interests. As such effectiveness of delegation relies on the sensitivity of the superiors in being aware of the level of competency and also commitment in a certain task.
OBJECTIVES AND INSTRUCTIONS ARE UNCLEAR
Delegation can become ineffective if the objectives and instructions with the delegated task are unclear. The subordinates may face with great deal of apprehension in determining what they should (and should not) do. In addition, the subordinates may feel frustrated if they later get to be blamed for failed performance as this is not their fault that mistakes are made since the objectives and instructions given are either vague or ambiguous.
GIVING MORE THAN WHAT A PERSON CAN TAKE
Delegation will fail to motivate whenever subordinates feel that they are being given too many responsibilities. This can lead them to suffer stress which can undermine their individual concentration, subsequently affecting their overall performance and thereby resulting in poor quality performance.
ASSIGNING 'UNWANTED' TASKS
Delegation will also fail to promote motivation if the superiors frequently delegate tasks which are boring and tedious that the superior themselves do not wish to do. The subordinates may see their superiors as merely exploiting them via delegation. This may cause the employees to have a negative attitude towards their respective superiors. Job dissatisfaction will occur and this can result in labour turnover.
OPERATING UNDER A RIGID RULE AND STRUCTURE
It will be difficult to practice effective delegation if the subordinates have to operate in an environment with rigid rule and structure. This gives little room for them to freely make their own decision and express their creativity in performing the delegated tasks. When this happens, motivation cannot be achieved from delegation practice. As we learn that a benefit of effective delegation is to promote motivation by satisfying self-actualisation needs, employees when forced to worked with much constraints will not be able to express their potential freely and this defeat the purpose of delegation if the management which to use it to motivate the workforce.
When there are no praise or positive feedback provided after the subordinates performed the delegated tasks, this will most likely create dissatisfaction among the employees. These subordinates may see that the their effort has gone unrecognised which lead them feeling used and unappreciated.
LACK OF ACCESS TO RESOURCES
Subordinates who are given the delegated tasks can feel frustrated if they are not given access to the needed resources to support their performance. As such, as responsibilities are given to those subordinates, adequate authority needs to be passed down to the subordinates in terms of being able to access the relevant resources required to supported the performance of the delegated tasks.
NO PRAISE, NO FEEDBACK
TAKING CREDIT OF GOOD PERFORMANCE AND PUSH THE BLAME
If at the moment when the outcome of the delegated performance is evaluated, the superiors take credit for good results or blame the subordinates of poor performance outcome, the subordinates will feel resentful of such act and this will render the objective of using delegation to promote motivation as null.FAILURE TO MONITOR
Delegation does not mean that the superiors relinquish their responsibilities to monitor their subordinates' performance. The right amount of monitoring is needed to ensure that the subordinates are performing their job correctly. Feedback should be given when the subordinates' performance is found to to deviate from achieving the established objectives.
SUBORDINATES NOT TRAINED
Sometimes, the subordinates need to be given the proper training before additional responsibilities are assigned to them. Without such training, there can be a risk of them failing to perform. This can lead to various adverse outcomes such as wastage of time and resources and engendering the feeling of frustration among subordinates due to failure to achieve.
SAMPLE ANSWER AVAILABLE
A question that touches the topic of delegation can be seen in Mbella Farm Q1 (9707/32/M/J/15). Answer this question. It must be noted that the above given ideas may not fit into the context of the case. As such, students have to make adjustments to some of the ideas provided above and create their own ideas if necessary.
Submit your answer to me either by hand or via email stating your full name, intake, and email address. I will send a copy of a sample answer to your email.
Additional Reference:
Here are some additional articles you can refer to.
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