Management

Delegation in Management

"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." (Woodrow Wilson). He is stating that, borrowing the brains of other people is a form of delegation. The definition of delegation according to (Webster's Dictionary) is empowering a person to act for another. This is an acquired skill by management it promotes efficiency, increases productivity, increases motivation, develops skills for a team and allows for time-management for all employees. "Delegation underpins a style of management which allows your staff to use and develop their skills and knowledge to the full potential. Without delegation you lose their full value." (Blair 2003)

Within the organization I work for, managers delegate tasks everyday. I work in accounting and in my department we have many relationships with numerous Private Label Banks, example, Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and many more. Each one of these accounts needs to be delegated to team players to keep the lines of communication open, to balance the accounts and reconcile any loans that need be. This is just one way managers delegate tasks in my organization. Another way is when projects arise within the department we are all assigned a part of it. Whether it is running tests to the current computer system we use or any new products that the company is looking into using. This gives each individual insight to what might be happening in the future within the department and also the company as a whole. When my team knows that there are new projects that will be coming our way, the morale of the team seems to lift. It gives us something new and different to look forward to and we are more motivated to do our own jobs.

There are many skills that a manager must possess when delegating tasks to their employees. They must know which employee is suitable to complete the task and if that person has the amount time to insure that the job is done correctly and in a timely manner. Proper follow-up is needed by management to monitor the progress and answer any questions if necessary. If the task is given to the wrong employee and the task fails, it is in the manager's position to take the blame for the failure and assess why this particular task failed and re-evaluate the employee it was given to.

Delegation also effect's the four functions of management. Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling also need to be taken into consideration when delegating tasks to employees.

The function of planning, are the current goals within a department or an organization and goals that a department sets in the future. Management can improve on this function by listening to the employees input on the tasks they do. The employees are the one's completing these tasks and procedures everyday. If management took the time out to have a meeting with their staff and the issues at hand, they would get input on how to correct the problem or find a way of working around it. Their planning skills would improve and they would receive better knowledge on how their department was running.

When it comes to the function of organizing, this is knowing how to delegate tasks and goals amongst employees, setting up work teams and specifying job functions. In my place of employment this is something that is taken very seriously. All departments work in teams that have specific job functions. However, some of the employee's feel overwhelmed with the amount of work that they need to have completed everyday and other's feel as if they are not being utilized to their fullest extent. This is a problem with management. Knowing the correct people to delegate these tasks to is a crucial part when trying to run a successful department. No one team member should feel overwhelmed with work, this causes problems in their job performance and could possibly ruin relationships