05. Managers as Delegators: Managerial Roles – II

Read MoreContinuing our exploration of different managerial roles, here is role…

2. Managers as Delegators

Manager: “Manav, since you have been handling this project for quite some time, I think you can now handle it independently with minimum guidance from me.”

Delegation involves getting things done by subordinates by transferring the responsibility of completing certain tasks to them.

Since it involves ‘transfer’ of responsibility, delegation is a role that can be adopted by managers only after an employee has been seen to be able to independently execute a task exactly as required.

Therefore, when delegating a task, it is essential that managers evaluate whether the employees to whom they’re transferring those responsibilities to possess the pre-requisite skills, abilities as well as the confidence and motivation to fulfill those tasks satisfactorily and independently. If they don’t, then managers need to first help the employee develop to a stage where they can execute the task independently and correctly.

For example, when on vacation, you might entrust the responsibility of creating management reports to one of your subordinates who is already well-versed with the nitty-gritties of preparing the report.

In this case – as a manager – you would essentially be telling your team member what must be accomplished and then allowing them the freedom to execute that task independently. Meaning you would be playing the role of a delegator.

In Conclusion:

‘Instructor’ and ‘Delegator’ are two of the three major roles that a manger needs to adopt and switch between on a regular basis.

We will look at the third role in the next lesson.

For now, please take the accompanying quiz.

Happy Quizzing!