Posted by Written by: Florian Wierzchowski
If you are a manager, a business owner and employ staff, then of course this topic is also most relevant. If you are a sole trader, have no employees and hence think that the topic of delegation is not for you, then I would like to lead you out of this mistake.
Well, but what is delegation all about anyway? Delegation is nothing more than the skilful distribution to other people of the work needed to be done in a company. And why do this if you can do everything perfectly well yourself? Because the activities that make up a manager’s tasks have their own weight and value in time.
The determinants of the importance and value of these activities are the importance, the necessary competences and qualifications and the responsibility for the company. Everyone should do a job commensurate with their qualifications and responsibilities, otherwise the company, to put it mildly, will not function properly.
To give an exaggerated example – the CEO in a company should not be in charge of clearing snow from the visitor’s parking space or picking out paint at the market to paint a wall in the office, making tea or coffee for the customers, taking out the rubbish even though he knows how to do it. Firstly, these are activities that do not require his competence and these things could be done by an employee with almost no managerial qualifications, or even an apprentice. Secondly, the opportunity cost of the CEO performing this activity is not performing other very important activities during this time that only the CEO can and should perform. Imagine that the CEO in the example above is clearing snow from the parking spaces, even though he or she should, at that time, be reviewing the details of a client who is about to arrive. In the course of the meeting, the CEO is unprepared (because he has wasted time shovelling snow), the client has figured it out, felt treated frivolously, insulted and, as a consequence, the CEO’s company has lost a chance for a contract it could have performed. In the other direction, let’s imagine that the porter is busy devising a marketing strategy for a new product (sic!). And it’s already interesting.
To answer the first part of the title question, too high an opportunity cost makes it necessary to delegate tasks. Thirdly, if there are employees in the company who are competent to perform tasks and they are deprived of the opportunity to do so, they feel unnecessary, undervalued, there may be a sense of lack of confidence, lack of opportunity for development. Fourthly, a person who does not delegate tasks becomes overloaded with responsibilities, stressed and ineffective, which ultimately is likely to affect their wellbeing – their mental health, physical health, relationships with family and friends. Add value – how much does such a CEO earn per hour? Let’s assume a lot. If the CEO shoves snow, the CEO picks paint, makes coffee, this work done by the CEO costs as much as the CEO’s salary for that time. Ultimately – you delegate, then you grow the company and work for the good of the company. You don’t delegate then you cost – a disaster. So get things in order and only deal with the key ones!
How do you delegate? Firstly – as immediately and frequently as possible, in fact all the time. Managers should be “lazy”, i.e. all the time looking for people in the organisation who are able to perform the activity as well as possible and according to competence. Secondly, by competence, i.e. one should have identified the available people in the company (army overview) and their competences. After all, organisational regulations play a supporting role in structuring delegation issues – they should show the areas of competence in the company of individual units and organisational units. Unjustified assignment of tasks according to other criteria is also an opportunity cost for the company. Thirdly – communicatively – the person to whom the task is assigned should know the content of the task, its purpose, the deadline for completion and other boundary conditions, if any. When entering into communication, make sure the person you are entrusting with the task understands it – have them repeat in their own words what is being asked of them. Fourthly – always keep a list of what tasks have been delegated, to whom and what the deadline was for completion.
And finally, for those who do not employ staff – things can be delegated, i.e. outsourced. The only difference is that you are then looking for resources of competence not in your own company, but in the market – an accounting firm, a company that will design your business cards, a snow clearing company, a painting company, a law firm, etc. And if you’ve ever wondered what the managerial function of organising consists of, it is, among other things, the delegation of tasks. Once you’ve delegated tasks, you’re faced with performing another managerial function – supervising.