Delegation

Delegation is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person.^[1] In management or leadership within an organisation, it involves a manager aiming to efficiently distribute work, decision-making and responsibility to subordinate workers in an organization. Delegation may result in creation of an accountable chain of authority where authority and responsibility moves down in an organisational structure.^[2] Inefficient delegation may lead to micromanagement.

There are a number of reasons someone may decide to delegate. These include:

to free themselves up to do other tasks in the pace of their own
to have the most qualified person making the decisions
to seek another qualified person's perspective on an issue
to develop someone else's ability to handle the additional assignments judiciously and successfully^[3]

Delegation is widely accepted as an essential element of effective management.^[4] The ability to delegate is sometimes seen as a critical skill in managing effectively.^[5] There are a number of factors that facilitate effective delegation by managers, including "Recognising and respecting others' capabilities; evaluating tasks and communicating how they fit in the big picture; matching people and assignments; providing support and encouragement; tolerating ambiguity and uncertainty; interpreting failure as a key to learning".^[5] With organisations being such complex and dynamic entities, the success of objectives relies heavily on how effectively tasks and responsibilities can be delegated.^[6]

Compare the Harzburg Model [de] (German: Harzburger Modell) (developed by Reinhard Höhn [de] at the Akademie für Führungskräfte der Wirtschaft Bad Harzburg [de] in the 1950s), which proposed "leadership through delegation" (German: Führung durch Delegation).^[7]^[8]

^ Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P., Simon, A., & McBarron, E. (2017). Management (6th ed., pp. 282–286). Brisbane: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
^ Meagher, Kieron J; Wait, Andrew (11 April 2021). "Worker Trust in Management and Delegation in Organizations". The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization. 36 (3): 495–536. doi:10.1093/jleo/ewaa008.
^ Portny, Stanley E. (2017). Project Management For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-119-34889-4.^{[page needed]}
^ G. Banford, Christopher; Ronald Buckley, M.; Roberts, Foster (30 September 2014). "Delegation revisited: how delegation can benefit globally-minded managers". International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. 44 (8/9): 646–654. doi:10.1108/ijpdlm-07-2013-0191. A model is proposed that suggests that the effectiveness of delegation in a local context is a function of the global leader's cognitions and perceptions of their subordinates. Further, it suggests that this relationship is moderated by the local cultural context in that some cultures may be opposed to being delegated authority.
^ ^a ^b Treher, E., Piltz, D., & Jacobs, S. (16 March 2011). Increasing effectiveness through delegation. In A Guide to Success for Technical Managers: Supervising in Research, Development, & Engineering (ISBN 9781118097731, pp. 89–111). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
^ Smith, Cassandra C. (2012). Recognizing the Need For, Impacts and Benefits of Effective Delegation In the Work Place (Thesis). DTIC ADA558768.
^ Franz, Thorsten (31 October 2012). Einführung in die Verwaltungswissenschaft (in German). Wiesbaden: Springer-Verlag. p. 100. ISBN 9783531194936. Retrieved 19 July 2024. Ein Beispiel eines Delegationsmodells bildet das Harzburger Modell. [...] Beim Harzburger Modell handelt es sich um ein von der Akademie für Führungskräfte der Wirtschaft in Bad Harzburg entwickeltes Modell der Unternehmensorganisation, wonach für jeden Mitarbeiter ein fest umgrenzter Aufgabenbereich mit entsprechenden Kompetenzen einzurichten ist, innerhalb dessen er selbständig und eigenverantwortlich handeln und entscheiden kann.
^ Stippler, Maria; Moore, Sadie; Rosenthal, Seth; Doerffer, Tina (19 August 2011). "A Look at Germany - The Harzburg Model". Leadership. Approaches - Development - Trends. Bertelsmann Stiftung Leadership Series. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung. p. 26. ISBN 9783867933995. Retrieved 19 July 2024. The Harzburg model, which was motivated by a desire to eliminate authoritarian leadership methods, represented the first departure from leadership trait theory. [...] It was developed in the 1950s at the Bad Harzburg leadership academy (Akademie für Führungskräfte) under the direction of Reinhard Höhn, the academy's founder. [...] Central to this approach is the delegation of responsibilities to individual employees, by providing job descriptions and general instructions.

[:0-1] Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P., Simon, A., & McBarron, E. (2017). Management (6th ed., pp. 282–286). Brisbane: John Wiley & Sons Australia.

[:1-2] Meagher, Kieron J; Wait, Andrew (11 April 2021). "Worker Trust in Management and Delegation in Organizations". The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization. 36 (3): 495–536. doi:10.1093/jleo/ewaa008.

[3] Portny, Stanley E. (2017). Project Management For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-119-34889-4.^{[page needed]}

[:5-4] G. Banford, Christopher; Ronald Buckley, M.; Roberts, Foster (30 September 2014). "Delegation revisited: how delegation can benefit globally-minded managers". International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. 44 (8/9): 646–654. doi:10.1108/ijpdlm-07-2013-0191. A model is proposed that suggests that the effectiveness of delegation in a local context is a function of the global leader's cognitions and perceptions of their subordinates. Further, it suggests that this relationship is moderated by the local cultural context in that some cultures may be opposed to being delegated authority.

[:2-5] Treher, E., Piltz, D., & Jacobs, S. (16 March 2011). Increasing effectiveness through delegation. In A Guide to Success for Technical Managers: Supervising in Research, Development, & Engineering (ISBN 9781118097731, pp. 89–111). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[6] Smith, Cassandra C. (2012). Recognizing the Need For, Impacts and Benefits of Effective Delegation In the Work Place (Thesis). DTIC ADA558768.

[7] Franz, Thorsten (31 October 2012). Einführung in die Verwaltungswissenschaft (in German). Wiesbaden: Springer-Verlag. p. 100. ISBN 9783531194936. Retrieved 19 July 2024. Ein Beispiel eines Delegationsmodells bildet das Harzburger Modell. [...] Beim Harzburger Modell handelt es sich um ein von der Akademie für Führungskräfte der Wirtschaft in Bad Harzburg entwickeltes Modell der Unternehmensorganisation, wonach für jeden Mitarbeiter ein fest umgrenzter Aufgabenbereich mit entsprechenden Kompetenzen einzurichten ist, innerhalb dessen er selbständig und eigenverantwortlich handeln und entscheiden kann.

[8] Stippler, Maria; Moore, Sadie; Rosenthal, Seth; Doerffer, Tina (19 August 2011). "A Look at Germany - The Harzburg Model". Leadership. Approaches - Development - Trends. Bertelsmann Stiftung Leadership Series. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung. p. 26. ISBN 9783867933995. Retrieved 19 July 2024. The Harzburg model, which was motivated by a desire to eliminate authoritarian leadership methods, represented the first departure from leadership trait theory. [...] It was developed in the 1950s at the Bad Harzburg leadership academy (Akademie für Führungskräfte) under the direction of Reinhard Höhn, the academy's founder. [...] Central to this approach is the delegation of responsibilities to individual employees, by providing job descriptions and general instructions.

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