DELEGATION AND RESPONSIBILITY

Entrepreneurs are leaders in the sense that they direct the activities of others to
achieve organizational goals. As the leader of the organisation composed of people,
they must be willing to delegate authority and responsibility activities to their staff.

Delegation is the assignment of authority and responsibility to a subordinate by a

superior to carry out specific tasks. Delegation enables subordinates to make
decisions

Delegation is the process of granting authority to subordinates and extracting

responsibility from them. It takes place when a superior gives subordinates a right
to perform work on his behalf and in his name and the subordinate does it.

It should be noted that however, much authority and responsibility is delegated to

the subordinate, the superior still remains accountable for the actions of the
subordinate and has ultimate responsibility.

A poor superior will think that delegation is an “abdication” abdication is the

dumping of work to subordinates without:

 Classifying the exact work to be done

 Classifying the excepted level of performance
 Clarifying the range of the subordinates discretion
 Seeing the time to be taken to complete the work

Objectives of Delegation of Authority

 To reduce the excessive burden on the superiors i.e., executives and managers
functioning at different levels.
 To provide opportunities of growth and self-development to junior executives.
 To create a team of experienced and matured managers for the Organization. It
acts as a technique of management and human resource development.
 To improve individual as well as overall efficiency of the Organization

Factors necessitating delegation

The size of the organisation. In large organizations, managers/superiors practice

more delegation than in relatively smaller organisations this is because:

 The larger the organization, the greater the number of decisions to be made
 Time and information are very scarce

Importance of decisions. Importance of the decision refers to

 Cost
 Impact on the future success of the organisation, if the decision is highly
important, superiors are less likely to delegate it

Task complexity. If a task is technically complicated, superiors will delegate

authority for the decision, to subordinates who possess relevant expertise
By Kimuli Fred 0752818204
Organisational culture. If a culture of trust exists in the organisation, top
superiors will have confidence in subordinates and can easily delegate authority to
them

Conditions for effective delegation

A number of conditions differentiate effective delegation. These include

 Clarity of assignment. once the manager/ superior has selected the individual
or group to delegate a task to, then he / she must
 Provide clear information on what is being delegated
 Explain the excepted results
 Set the time frame for task completion

In order to foster a spirit of trust between superior and subordinate(s) the

subordinate should be capable in deciding how the expected results will be achieved

 Range of delegation. The superior cannot delegate all authority. The superior
must therefore make it possible for the subordinates to understand their
range of discretion
 Informing others. All individuals and selections both within and outside the
organisation are affected by the delegated task must be informed about
 What has been delegated?
 How much authority has been granted?
 To whom the authority has been delegated?
 Establishing feedback channels. The superior must put controls in place so as
to stem the possible misuse of discretion and any other problem. From the
start controls must best as to
 When the subordinate will report back for assessment
 Time of task completion

Principles of delegation in an organisation:

 Ensure that the objective to be achieved is made clear; this allows the employee
to use his or her own creativity and resources to accomplish the task or achieve
the desired results.
 Indicate the standard of performance that is required (what, when, etc) and
clearly communicate the expectation, responsibilities and timeline.
 Decide what level of authority to grant, in other words, responsibility cannot be
delegated. The obligation to accomplish the assigned task is absolute and is not
partitioned when authority is delegated to a subordinate, e.g. the CEO even
after delegation remains accountable to the board of directors for management
and supervision of the whole of the enterprise.
 Allocate adequate resources (staff, equipment, expenses, etc).
 Ensure that clear reporting arrangements are made.
 Encourage the subordinate to request for further help if needed; when
delegating be sure to back up the subordinate when his/ her authority is called
into question.
 Inform the subordinate that early mistakes will be used as learning
opportunities.
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 Ensure that the task is completed according to agreed standards, by making
needed corrections to avoid getting off track.
 Appreciate the individual for their efforts.
 Clearly define the employee’s responsibility and authority as it relates to the
delegated task, by communicating the expectation, responsibilities, and
timeline.
 Do follow up meetings by focusing on monitoring progress and determining the
need for assistance.
 Choose the right person to delegate the task to by matching skills and attitude
to the task at hand.
 Set up minimum standards that they should follow when handling disciplinary
issues.

Advantages of delegation

 Relieves manager for more challenging jobs: Delegation makes it possible for
the managers to distribute their workload to others. Thus, managers are
relieved of routine work and they can concentrate on higher functions of
management like planning, organizing, controlling, etc.
 Leads to motivation of subordinates: Subordinates are encouraged to give their
best at work when they have authority with responsibility. They take more
initiative and interest in the work and are also careful and cautious in their work.
 Facilitates efficiency and quick actions: Delegation saves time enabling tile
subordinates to deal with the problems promptly. They can take the decisions
quickly within their authority. It is not necessary to go to the superiors for
routine matters.
 Improves employee morale: Delegation raises the morale of subordinates as
they are given duties and supporting authority. They feel that they are
responsible employees. The attitude and outlook of subordinates towards work
assigned becomes more constructive.
 Develops team spirit: Due to delegation, effective communication develops
between the superiors and subordinates. The subordinates are answerable to
superiors and the superiors are responsible for the performance of subordinates.
 Maintains cordial relationships: The superiors trust subordinates and give them
necessary authority. The subordinates accept their accountability and this
develops cordial superior-subordinate relationships.
 It acts as a training ground for management development. It gives opportunity
to subordinates to learn, to grow and to develop new qualities and skills. It
builds up a reservoir of executives, which can be used as and when required.

Disadvantages of delegation

 It is time consuming as it requires considerable amount of time to train

staff to handle delegation tasks
 There is the effect of low commitment on the side of staff
 Delegating work reduces the manager’s need for their position
 Risk of inferior results especially where delegation is to staff members who
are unfamiliar with the work or who have little experience performing the
task

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  Miscommunication of the requirement and other key information to the
appropriate staff members poor quality and missed objectives.

Why do managers fear to delegate?

 Fear of job replacement as the subordinate learn about what they do

 Fear that their hidden weaknesses may be revealed by subordinates
 Fear that some subordinates could be spies of other authority or groups
 Dishonesty of subordinates which may result into terrible losses to the
organisation due to embezzlement
 Selfishness of some bosses who do not want subordinates to know more than
expected
 Incompetence of subordinates
 Ignorance of managers about why and when to delegate
 The desire to get self-praise and retain it for good and the urge to cling in
power
 Inadequate materials for effective delegation

Why do subordinates fear to be delegated?

 Lack of self-confidence, capacity and initiative to handle the tasks given

 Inadequate information and resources
 Lack of positive incentives, where there is no personal gain, a subordinate
will refuse to be delegated
 Fear of criticism. A subordinate who fears to commit a mistake and who
doesn’t accept criticisms will not tolerate delegation
 Dependence on the superior. Subordinates who duped on their superiors to
take decision will not accept to be delegated

Activity

Maaka Ltd is engaged in the production of cosmetics and healthcare products. The
proprietor, Mr. Olupot, established Maaka Ltd in 2010 using his personal and family
savings. The company started by employing three people, Mr. Olupot, his wife and
their daughter. Maaka Ltd produces a range of products like cleansers, toners,
moisturizers, fragrances and lotions. Although it started as a small enterprise,
Maaka Ltd has grown and currently employs over 50 people including managers of
the different departments, transporters, marketers, researchers, chemists and
accountants.

As the company grew, the managers could not perform all the work themselves and
this necessitated teamwork. Some managers who believed that they were the only
experts in their departments have now started involving their subordinates. That
has left them with some time to do other managerial work and plan for their
departments.

The proprietor, Mr. Olupot, had been the man behind the finance department for
fear that other people would cause financial losses to his company. Stuck with a

By Kimuli Fred 0752818204

backlog of un-cleared invoices, he opted to engage professional accountants who
helped him to clear the backlog in the shortest time possible and according to his
specifications.

Mr. Olupot’s move motivated other managers, even those who thought they were
unable to involve their subordinates in decision making. This eased their work. Like
Mr. Olupot, they were conscious that their control measures were not adequate to
detect the problems arising from delegating to their subordinates. However, the
subordinates were excited about the trust, recognition and were longing for similar
opportunities since they learn a lot from such exercises. Mr. Wagoma is the
manager behind research work. He for one was particularly always reluctant to
involve subordinates since some of them were more qualified than him. However,
more often than not he failed to meet the company deadlines. This is how he
started involving his subordinates. He surprisingly realised that it did not take long
before deadlines could be met.
Required:
a) Explain why the managers of Maaka Ltd had been reluctant to delegate to their
subordinates.
b) Explain the benefits of delegation to the managers of Maaka Ltd.
END

By Kimuli Fred 0752818204