Delegation: pros and cons

Delegation: pros and cons Delegation, like any other management tool, has its pros and cons. Every leader needs to learn how to use it correctly in order to avoid serious problems in the company.

Delegation is always the transfer of managerial tasks, managerial functions, powers and responsibilities from the head of the company to his employees. And if any serious violations occurred in the process of delegation, the delegators themselves are to blame for them, first of all.

However, it should be remembered that delegation is always a two-way process that affects both the manager and his subordinates. And to consider the pros and cons of this process must be considered from the perspective of these two sides.

Advantages of delegation for the leader

• “Brings” the management decision to the “point” of the problem (task);
• Develops and trains employees;
• Forms a team and identifies a managerial reserve;
• Gives you the opportunity to better solve strategic problems;
• Saves energy and time to solve the most important tasks;
• Develops managerial (including leadership) skills of a leader;
• Allows you to achieve a high level of management culture in the organization;
• Getting the best result by applying the expert knowledge of the employee;
• Employee motivation by setting interesting, responsible and diverse tasks;
• Increasing the loyalty of employees to the company and the manager by achieving “employee involvement” and understanding of the tasks of a higher level.

Disadvantages of delegation for the manager

• Distrust of subordinates, unwillingness to delegate;
• The habit of doing everything yourself, confidence only in one’s rightness (“conservative”);
• Ignorance of delegation technique;
• Fear of losing control, authority, power, status, “educate competitors”;
• “Double delegation”;
• Negative past experience of delegation (fuzzy tasks, poor control, “reverse delegation”, conflicts, etc.)

Benefits of delegation for employees

• Provides a variety of work, a new interesting experience;
• It gives you the opportunity to prove yourself, to show what you are capable of; learn, grow, become more competent;
• Strengthens relationships with management and boards;
• Develops leadership skills;
• Increases motivation, job satisfaction (with successful solution of complex delegated tasks);

Provides a base for career growth, an opportunity to show one’s strengths, abilities, “declare oneself”

Cons of delegation for employees

• Passivity, the habit of being a performer, fear of taking responsibility;
• Lack of information, knowledge, experience, skills, competence in general;
• Fear of consequences (punishments, psychological pressure, moral sanctions, etc.);
• Lack of motivation (including additional) to complete the delegated task;
• General low level of labor motivation, job dissatisfaction due to many factors;
• Work overload;
• “Delegation-stigma”;
• “Fake Delegation”

In order to level the problems existing in the delegation of the company, we recommend consulting with more experienced colleagues or attracting external consultants.

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The main thing to remember is that you should not aim at an impeccable delegation system right away, in which everything would be taken into account and work like clockwork. This is something from the realm of fantasy.

Further, it is very important to predict possible risks before delegation. Analyze the entire workflow, remember what mistakes you made when you first started working, what “blunders” are likely in your employee’s activities.

Relying on folk wisdom “if he wants to live, he will swim out” is simply economically unprofitable: as long as the employee swims out, you will incur losses.

Be doubly careful and careful when delegating managerial powers, and some powers cannot be delegated in principle …

The main rule of delegation is that it must be really necessary. It is not worth delegating if the true motive is to “should” responsibility from oneself: this is not a transition to more effective management, but a fiasco of the leader.