Principles of Management

Chapter 3 : Organizing: Nature and Purpose of organizing, Importance and process of Organizing,
Organizational structures: types and relevance, Line and Staff relationship, Delegation of
Authority.

Some definitions of ‘organising’ as a function of management:

“Organising is the process of defining and grouping the activities of the enterprise and establishing
authority relationships among them” – Theo Haimman
“Organising is the process of identifying and grouping the work to be performed, defining and
delegating responsibility and authority, and establishing relationships for the purpose of enabling
people to work most effectively together in accomplishing objectives”. – Louis Allen
“To organise a business is to provide it with everything useful to its functioning: raw materials,
machines and tools, capital and personnel”. – Henry Fayol
“In its broadest sense organising refers to relationship between various factors present in a giving
endeavor or enterprise”. – William Spriegel
“Organising is the establishing of effective authority relationships among selected work, persons and
work places in order for a group to work together efficiently”. – G. R. Terry

What is Organizing in Management – Nature

The nature of organising is discussed below:
1. Division of Labour:
According to Fayol, work of all kinds must be sub-divided and assigned to a number of persons. This
helps to make the work being carried out in a simpler and efficient manner. It, thus, leads to
specialization and increasing employees’ efficiency. By repeating a small part of work the individual
acquires speed and accuracy in its performance. This principle holds true for technical as well as
managerial tasks.

2. Coordination:
Different persons are assigned for different functions and yet all these functions have only one aim
i.e. accomplishment of the enterprise’s objectives.

To this end, an organisation has to adopt adequate methods to ensure that there is proper
coordination of the different activities performed at various work points. This means establishment
of correct and adequate relationships between an employee and his work; one employee with
another; and one department or sub-department with another.
3. Social System:
All parts of the organisational system are inter-dependent. Each part affects and is influenced by any
other part and also in turn by the system as a whole. An organisation is a social system. Its activities
are governed by social and psychological laws. People working in an organisation are influenced in
their actions and behaviour by their social and psychological needs.

Two aspects of an organisational social system are the formal or official and the informal or
unofficial. The organisation social system is dynamic, in the sense that inter-personal and group
relationships within it, keep on changing and are not dormant.

4. Objectives:
Any organisation structure is bound together by the pursuit of specific and well-defined objectives.
In fact, as objectives cannot be accomplished without an organisation, an organisation cannot exist
for long without objectives and goals.

5. Cooperative Relationship:
An organisation ensures co-operative relationship among the members of the group. It cannot be
constituted by one person. It requires at least two or more persons. Organisation is a system which
helps in creating meaningful relationship among persons both vertical and horizontal.

6. Well-Defined Hierarchy:
Hierarchy acts as a line of communication, as well as command, and shows the pattern of
relationships among people. Hierarchy of organisation refers to the positioning of people from the
highest level to the lowest rank in the organisation. It also helps to define authority and
responsibility attached to each position/person.

7. Communication:
Although every organisation has its own channels and methods of communication. For success in
management, effective communication is vital. This is because management is concerned with
working with others and unless there is proper understanding between people, it cannot be
effective. The channels of communication may be formal, informal, downward, upward or
horizontal.

What is Organizing in Management – 8 Main Features

The features of organizing are stated as here under:
1. Division of work – The total work should be divided into many parts for effective performance of
the work. Each part of work is to be performed by one person or a group of persons. In this way, the
division of work results in the creation of specialized persons.
2. Achieving organizational objective – There is a need of coordination among the employees in the
organization. The division of work is done keeping in view the overall objectives of the organization.
The organizing process is framed in such a way to achieve organizational objectives smoothly.

3. Authority-responsibility structure – The position of each of the executives is defined regarding the
extent of authority and responsibility vested in him to discharge his duties. Organizing arranges for
the delegation of authority and responsibility. It tries to bring harmony, authority, and responsibility.

4. Grouping of activities – Activities are needed to be grouped on certain well-defined basis such as
function, product, customer, process, territory, etc. This grouping process is called departmentation.
It helps in achieving the benefits of specialization and administrative control.

5. Scalar (step-by-step) principle – Authority is delegated from the upper level to the lower level and
the responsibility flows from the lower level to the upper level of organizational hierarchy. Provision
is to be made for the accountability of the assigned duties. Each employee of an organization must
know where his accountability lies.

6. Installing sound communication system – The success of management depends upon effective
system of communication. It helps the management by providing information about the duties,
responsibilities, authority, positions, and jobs. Coordination can be maintained among various
related departments by making exchange of information on a regular basis.

7. Flexibility – The organizing process should be flexible so that any change can be incorporated as
and when required. It ensures the ability to adapt and adjust the activities in response to the change
taking place in the external environment. The programs, policies, and strategies can be changed as
and when required if the provision for flexibility is made in the organizing process.

8. Coordination – Coordination ensures the unity of action in the realization of a common objective.
It is an arrangement of group effort to achieve organizational goals. Coordination of different
personnel and departments are needed for ensuring higher efficiency and effectiveness.

What is Organizing in Management – Process - 5 Important steps

First the goals and objectives are understood and then divide the work into functional groups into
practical units of similar activities. Then each group/department is kept under a manager, who has
related functional knowledge and capability. This manager will look after the work of that
department, by maintaining organizational relationships with other department managers to work
toward the goal or objective of the enterprise.
Top management must clearly specify the duties of all departmental managers, by providing them
necessary resources. In the words of Terry “Organizing is the establishing of effective behavioural
relationships among selected work persons, and work place in order for the group to work together
effectively.”
Organizing is the managerial function and this function of organizing is known as process of
organization. To organize is to harmonize, co-ordinate or arrange in a logical and orderly manner.
Making the rational division of work into groups of activities and tying together the positions
representing grouping of activities for accomplishment of desired objectives is the function of
management and this function is known as organizing.
Various steps involved in this process are:
Step # 1. Determination of Objectives:
Any business is established or started by entrepreneurs to achieve some objectives. These objectives
must be clearly stated so as to understand the very purpose and existence of the business.
Depending on the objectives the work to be done is decided and it is divided into groups and they
are organized in an orderly way. It is to say that organizations are built around objectives; hence
deciding the objectives is the first step in building up an organization.
Step # 2. Enumeration (division) of Activities:
The work of an industrial concern is divided into essential activities. For example, it is divided as
production, financing, purchasing, marketing, personnel, like wise.
Step # 3. Classification of Activities:
The next step is to classify activities according to similarities and common purposes and function by
taking the available human and material resources into account. For each class of activities, there
will be a department and for each sub-class there will be section of the department and so on. For
example, marketing may be one department, in which packing, dispatching, sales, consumer service
etc. may be sections.
Step # 4. Fitting Individuals into Functions:
Once the departmentalization and formation of sections is over, each section should be allocated to
a subordinate and each department should be allocated to one executive. Hence, next duty is to fix a
suitable and well-qualified and capable person to fit into these activities. The rule is right peg in a
right hole. Each person in the group is given a specific work and made responsible correctly and
effectively. This step consists of appointment of workers and defining their responsibility of each one
of them.
Step # 5. Assignment of Authority for Action:
Now suitable persons are fitted in their respective jobs and made responsible to accomplish the job.
He can only proceed to do the work, when he is given adequate authority to proceed to do the work.
The delegation authority to take steps to complete the assigned part of the job is next step in
organization. Once the authority is given the concerned manager will have power to command his
subordinates and get the work done by them.
All the above supports the definition of organization i.e., Organization embraces the duties of
designating the departments and the personnel that are to carry on the work, defining their
functions and specifying the relations that are to be exist between departments and individuals.

What is Organizing in Management – 7 Important Trends and Practices

Organisations are not static but are dynamic. Many business organisations have lived for long
crossing century mark. GE, The Hindu and many such organisations who are still functioning with
force and recognition bear testimony to this. The concepts like “change management” and “learning
organisation” pervade all organisations and organisations established long back live today with
totally a different structure. Organisational activities expand and restructuring the design and
configuring authority relationships as per changed requirement will take place. This is a continuous
activity in every organisation.
Effective and efficient management of the organisations are expected throughout their life. Practices
such as decentralisation, considering the span of management, chain of command, unity of
command, delegation and empowerment, designing the structure and configuring it, establishing
departments as per directions, formulating committees, preparing manuals have been the order in
every enterprise.
These trends and practices are briefly analysed in the following paragraphs:
1. Chain of Command:
This concept exhibits flow of authority. It is a system whereby authority flows down from the top
through a series of executive positions in which each functional manager is accountable to the
immediate superior. This is a structure concerning decision-making which shows. The flow of
responsibilities from the higher levels of authority to the lower levels. This concept was originated
from defence operations. In military hierarchy, the succession of commanding officers from a
superior to a subordinate, commands are exercised.
It is a continuous chain of authority that links the most junior worker to the top brass. The concept
of the chain of command was first introduced to management theory by Henry Fayol under one of
the fourteen principles, he propounded, viz., “Scalar Chain”. According to this principle, people at
the top of the organisation have all authority and other individual’s authority scales down as per
their relative position in the hierarchy.
Thus, chain of command, which is practiced in military structure is extended to organisations. In the
organisational context, it means that the commands or orders flow from the top down the line to
last worker of the organisation. Persons or line managers who receive the command from their
immediate superior are accountable to them only and they do not normally have direct link with the
top management.
Supposing, two or more units are functioning and the command is to be given to both units from one
unit officer. The authority flow from the executive of one unit cannot directly take place. It should
pass through the unit head of another unit except under permitted circumstances.
The flow of command takes place only in the concerned line and not in lines which are adopted for
special purposes such as health cares, sports, etc., activities of the organisation. If any order is to be
executed in these units, it should be sent to the unit head in the form of request to implement it or it
has to be transmitted through top class.
Thus, chain of command is the flow of authority from top to bottom in written form. The concept
which was originated in military operations, is extended to organisations. This indicates the set of
relationships as to who gives direction to whom and who reports to whom.
2. Unity of Command:
This concept focuses on “one command” to one issue and not multi-commands. In hierarchical
organisation, which is pyramidical in feature. Person in charge of a function (production, finance,
etc.) receives command from the top and has to follow it implicitly. The central point in unity of
command is that “no subordinate should report to more than one boss”. Receiving two commands
from two bosses for one activity will hamper the implementation of that activity. This is one of the
principles propounded by Henry Fayol.
If many bosses give order to one individual, the situation leads to confusion and chaos. Because the
orders may be conflicting and may contradict each other. Therefore, a subordinate should report to
only one boss. Two bosses are not better than one.
3. Span of Control:
The term ‘span of management’ is also referred to as span of control, span of supervision, span of
authority or span of responsibility. It indicates the number of persons that a manager can manage
effectively. A manager’s ability to manage a large number of subordinates is limited by his time and
energy. In order to enable him to give personal attention to work performance, he should have a
manageable number of subordinates.
If the manager is made to supervise a large number of subordinates, not only will he have mental
and physical strain; but also his supervision may become ineffective. This means, he will not be able
to produce satisfactory results, the concept of span of management has a significant influence on
the overall performance of an enterprise and hence its importance has been recognised by modern
management experts.
4. Delegation and Empowerment:
(i) Delegation
This is a concept concerned with the division of labour and organisational effectiveness. When the
organisational grows, irrespective of size, the activities cannot be managed by one boss. Particularly
in medium and large-sized business houses many levels of management prevail. The leaders or
managers of these levels should have authority responsibility and accountability to carry out the
tasks assigned to them. “Delegation” refers to this.
Delegation is a process of giving power or assigning task to someone or to the immediate lower
authority so that persons who receive the authority are responsible for part of what they normally
do.
When the authority is delegated to any person to do certain tasks, that person has to strictly follow
the set of rules or protocol to perform the tasks. Those persons cannot take any independent
decision, except that such decisions are well within the approved and delegated framework of
authority. Personal innovations which deviate from the set rules, cannot be implemented without
the approval of higher ups.
Delegation comprises of the following aspects:
a. Assignment of rights and duties to the right people.
b. Give authority to perform the tasks.
c. Time should be set to complete the task.
d. Critical tasks should be discussed and should not be delegated to do in a routine way.
(ii) Empowerment:
Today, revolution is taking place regarding organisational effectiveness. Organisations are realising
that tighter controls, greater pressures more clearly defined jobs and tighter supervisions as found in
delegation may not work fully to achieve goals. Attention is shifting to the need for employees to
take personal responsibilities for the success of business and hence the empowerment.
Empowerment may be defined as “according official authority or legal power to a person to perform
a task independently with strength and confidence on his/her own initiative”. Empowerment instills
a sense of power in performer as he/she gets decision-making authority. It creates opportunities to
those who have competencies to take independent decisions. This is more concerned with giving
someone more control over their own life or situation. Empowerment makes employees full
partners in decision-making process and gives them the necessary tools and rewards.
Employment requires shared values, analysing identical or typical situation, identifying
commonsense solutions and defining common sense as value. Empowering is a “Mentor-Mentee”
process. As a mentor, leader assigns task to competent worker to work independently and monitor
the progress. However, certain critical activities cannot be empowered and can only be delegated.
Empowerment allows the performer to assume leadership position but he works under the mentor.
Through Empowerment, individual’s potential is converted into productivity. Empowerment is a
building block of progressive management. In this process, “Power” is an unlimited resource which
authoritarian managers do not give.
A leader who empowers his people not building a great work, but builds great is people. When
people are empowered, they will be able to take ownership of the task that they have to perform.
The leader need not be present during the course of performing the task as in case of delegation.
Decision to empower the employee depends upon the nature of the task to be assigned. If the
competent people are not available, the task has to be delegated.
Empowerment realises and reconceptualises the relationship among tasks, achievements and
connectedness. It can serve to re-energise recollective spirit and focuses on out performing our
competitors while looking for better to live together. Empowerment has become a building block of
progressive management. In this process “power” is identified as an unlimited resource. “The more
power you give, the more power you have” has become the dictum.
Authoritarian managers do not like to give more power to their employees. Because of this,
empowerment has become slow. But empowered employees who get power in a previously
powerless situation have the feeling of control and self-efficacy.
As empowerment is emerging as the order of the day, managements should provide more tools and
techniques to their employees to make them empowered.
5. Decentralisation:
As organisations grow, many problems crop up regarding administration. Authority cannot be
centralised when the organisation is expanding authority should disperse to the lower levels for
smooth functioning of the organisational activities. Decision-making becomes easy at all levels, if
authority flows downwards. The process of dispersing the authority to the lower levels of
administration is called “Decentralisation”.
“Decentralisation” means the transfer of authority and responsibility for smooth functioning of
organisational activities. It may be applied to any type of organisation including the government. It is
a complex multifaceted concept. Different types of decentralisation should be distinguished.
Because each type has its own features, policy implications and conditions for success. The types,
include, political, administrative, fiscal and organisational. Our analyses is made in the context of
organisations.
In decentralisation, decision-making process is dispersed or deregularised. But it is a matter of
degree. In an organisational structure, if the managerial levels are more, decentralisation of
authority will also be more. If the levels or subunits are more autonomous, then the decentralisation
will be most effective. In such situations, cost-benefit analysis can be independently made.
Cost is governed by – (i) manager’s perceptions to look at their division and relegating back the
overall objectives of the organisation, (ii) costly duplication of services and (iii) increase in cost to
obtain information required by the submits.
6. Organisational Design and Configuration
To design various types of structures, certain influencing factors have to be considered. It is really
challenging to design an effective and workable organisation structure. The designer has to bear in
mind the attributes such as – (i) cultural alignment, (ii) transparency and (iii) communication to have
well laid structure.
Besides these three basic attributes, (i) talent retention and (ii) well-defined goals of the organisation
and vision have to be considered in designing. Challenges and constraints are also identified in
drafting the structure. These aspects are widely discussed with stakeholders to understand the
intensity of each attribute across the proposed set-up. This will facilitate the designer to come up
with best structure.
7. Designing Other Aspects:
Although fundamental and traditional structures act as base for exhibiting roles, responsibilities and
authority relationships to develop an organisation structure today, many softwares have emerged to
design a customised structure. Varieties of templates showing different structures have been
designed. Any structure shown in the templates can be adopted suiting to be the adopted suiting to
the organisational needs. One such template is shown here to understand the possible structures
that can be drawn.

Types of Organizational Structures

Functional Structure
Four types of common organizational structures are implemented in the real world. The first and
most common is a functional structure. This is also referred to as a bureaucratic organizational
structure and breaks up a company based on the specialization of its workforce. Most small-to-
medium-sized businesses implement a functional structure. Dividing the firm into departments
consisting of marketing, sales, and operations is the act of using a bureaucratic organizational
structure.
Divisional or Multidivisional Structure
The second type is common among large companies with many business units. Called the divisional
or multidivisional (M-Form) structure, a company that uses this method structures its leadership
team based on the products, projects, or subsidiaries they operate. A good example of this
structure is Johnson & Johnson. With thousands of products and lines of business, the company
structures itself so each business unit operates as its own company with its own president.
Divisions may also be designated geographically in addition to specialization. For instance, a global
corporation may have a North American Division and a European Division.
Team-Based
Similar to divisional or functional structures, team-based organizations segregate into close-knit
teams of employees that serve particular goals and functions, but where each team is a unit that
contains both leaders and workers.
Flat (Flatarchy) Structure
Flatarchy, also known as a horizontal structure, is relatively newer, and is used among many
startups. As the name alludes, it flattens the hierarchy and chain of command and gives its
employees a lot of autonomy. Companies that use this type of structure have a high speed of
implementation.
Matrix Structure
Firms can also have a matrix structure. It is also the most confusing and the least used. This
structure matrixes employees across different superiors, divisions, or departments. An employee
working for a matrixed company, for example, may have duties in both sales and customer service.
Circular Structure
Circular structures are hierarchical, but they are said to be circular as it places higher-level
employees and managers at the centre of the organization with concentric rings expanding
outward, which contain lower-level employees and staff. This way of organizing is intended to
encourage open communication and collaboration among the different ranks.
Network Structure
The network structure organizes contractors and third-party vendors to carry out certain key
functions. It features a relatively small headquarters with geographically-dispersed satellite offices,
along with key functions outsourced to other firms and consultants.
Benefits of Organizational Structures
Putting an organizational structure in place can be very beneficial to a company. The structure not
only defines a company's hierarchy but also allows the firm to lay out the pay structure for its
employees. By putting the organizational structure in place, the firm can decide salary grades and
ranges for each position.
The structure also makes operations more efficient and much more effective. By separating
employees and functions into different departments, the company can perform different
operations at once seamlessly.
In addition, a very clear organizational structure informs employees on how best to get their jobs
done. For example, in a hierarchical organization, employees will have to work harder at buying
favour or courting those with decision-making power. In a decentralized organization, employees
must take on more initiative and bring creative problem solving to the table. This can also help set
expectations for how employees can track their own growth within a company and emphasize a
certain set of skills—as well as for potential employees to gauge if such a company would be a good
fit with their own interests and work styles.
Line & Staff Relationship
A line relationship is simply known as a relationship of authority between the superior and
subordinates in a hierarchical arrangement. The direct line superior has control over his immediate
subordinates. In this case, authority flows downward and accountability goes upward in a straight
line.
The line functions are those which are direct responsibility for achieving the organizational goals.
Production and Sales (and sometimes finance) are classified as line functions. Line positions are
engaged with line personnel and line managers. Line personnel carry out the primary activities of a
firm and are considered significant to the basic functioning of the organization. Line managers make
the majority of the decisions and direct line staff work to achieve company goals. An example of a
line manager is a finance executive.

The staff functions are those who provide service & help and advice the line to work most effectively
in accomplishing the objectives of the enterprise. Staff positions serve the business by indirectly
supporting line functions. Staff positions include staff personnel and staff managers. Staff personnel
contribute technical competencies to support line personnel and aid top management in various
business activities. Staff managers provide support, advice, and knowledge to other individuals in the
chain of command.
Even though staff managers are not part of the chain of command related to direct production of
products or services, they do have authority over personnel. An example of a staff manager is a legal
adviser. He or she does not actively engage in profit-making activities, but does provide legal support
to those who do. Therefore, staff positions, whether personnel or managers, engage in activities that
are supportive to line personnel.

Merits of Line and Staff Organization

1. Relief to line of executives- In a line and staff organization, the advice and counselling which
is provided to the line executives divides the work between the two. The line executive can
concentrate on the execution of plans and they get relieved of dividing their attention to
many areas.
2. Expert advice- The line and staff organization facilitates expert advice to the line executive
at the time of need. The planning and investigation which is related to different matters can
be done by the staff specialist and line officers can concentrate on execution of plans.
3. Benefit of Specialization- Line and staff through division of whole concern into two types of
authority divides the enterprise into parts and functional areas. This way every officer or
official can concentrate in its own area.
4. Better co-ordination- Line and staff organization through specialization is able to provide
better decision making and concentration remains in few hands. This feature helps in
bringing co-ordination in work as every official is concentrating in their own area.
5. Benefits of Research and Development- Through the advice of specialized staff, the line
executives, the line executives get time to execute plans by taking productive decisions
which are helpful for a concern. This gives a wide scope to the line executive to bring
innovations and go for research work in those areas. This is possible due to the presence of
staff specialists.
6. Training- Due to the presence of staff specialists and their expert advice serves as ground for
training to line officials. Line executives can give due concentration to their decision making.
This in itself is a training ground for them.
7. Balanced decisions- The factor of specialization which is achieved by line staff helps in
bringing co-ordination. This relationship automatically ends up the line official to take better
and balanced decision.
8. Unity of action- Unity of action is a result of unified control. Control and its effectivity take
place when co-ordination is present in the concern. In the line and staff authority all the
officials have got independence to make decisions. This serves as effective control in the
whole enterprise.
Demerits of Line and Staff Organization
1. Lack of understanding- In a line and staff organization, there are two authorities flowing at
one time. This results in the confusion between the two. As a result, the workers are not
able to understand as to who is their commanding authority. Hence the problem of
understanding can be a hurdle in effective running.
2. Lack of sound advice- The line official gets used to the expertise advice of the staff. At times
the staff specialist also provides wrong decisions which the line executive have to consider.
This can affect the efficient running of the enterprise.
3. Line and staff conflicts- Line and staff are two authorities which are flowing at the same
time. The factors of designations, status influence sentiments which are related to their
relation, can pose a distress on the minds of the employees. This leads to minimizing of co-
ordination which hampers a concern’s working.
4. Costly- In line and staff concern, the concerns have to maintain the high remuneration of
staff specialist. This proves to be costly for a concern with limited finance.
 5. Assumption of authority- The power of concern is with the line official but the staff dislikes
it as they are the one more in mental work.
6. Staff steals the show- In a line and staff concern, the higher returns are considered to be a
product of staff advice and counselling. The line officials feel dissatisfied and a feeling of
distress enters a concern. The satisfaction of line officials is very important for effective
results.

Delegation of Authority

The delegation of authority refers to the division of labour and decision-making responsibility to an
individual that reports to a leader or manager. It is the organizational process of a manager dividing
their own work among all their people.

Delegation of Authority means division of authority and powers downwards to the subordinate.

What is the meaning of delegation?

The delegation of authority refers to the division of labour and decision-making responsibility
to an individual that reports to a leader or manager.
It is the organizational process of a manager dividing their own work among all their people. It
involves giving them the responsibility to accomplish the tasks that are delegated to them in
the way they see fit.
Along with responsibility, they also share the corresponding amount of authority. This ensures
that tasks can be completed efficiently and that the individual feels actually responsible for
their completion.
On one level, delegation is just dividing work into tasks that others can do.
At its best, delegation is empowering people to do the work they are best suited to. It allows
them to invest themselves more in the work and develop their own skills and abilities. It also
allows the manager to do other important work that might be more strategic or higher-level.
In other words, delegated authority is more than just parsing out work. It is truly sharing
responsibility, ownership, and decision-making. Delegated authority is shared authority.
Delegating authority can also improve efficiency by making more employees accountable for
their own work and activities. Less time and energy is spent on monitoring and micro-managing
employees who are capable and competent. Your team becomes more capable and able to
achieve higher performance as a result.
Delegation is about entrusting another individual to do parts of your job and to accomplish
them successfully.
6 steps to effective delegation in management

Let’s take a look at six steps you can use to delegate effectively.
1. Plan and prepare
Before starting a formal delegation process, take the time to think through the task and decide
who you’ll delegate to and the outcome you want.
In addition, identify a goal and purpose for the delegated functions. Your goal will determine
the approach you take.
2. Discuss the task to be delegated
Engage the employee in a specific conversation about the task you want to delegate. Then
make sure you both are in agreement regarding the task and the outcome you desire.
This step is useful to set expectations and state the quality of work that needs to be completed.
It is also useful to state why you are delegating the task to that person.
Alex Cavoulacos, the founder of The Muse, says:
“When you select people to delegate to, tell them why you chose them specifically and how
you hope to see this help them grow.”
3. Identify the deadline for completion
Make sure your deadline is realistic and achievable.
This is particularly important when delegating a stretch goal or something the person has not
done before.
If you think the employee might need some revision time, build it upfront. This ensures that
you do not end up at the deadline with an outcome that is different from the one you wanted.
When setting the deadline, consider where the delegated task fits in with the person’s existing
job responsibilities.
4. Outline the level of authority
Clearly outline the level of authority you want the person to have. Different levels of authority
include the following.
 Recommend. If the risk associated with the task is high or the person has little
experience, you may ask the person for a recommendation on a course of action. But
you make the final decision.
  Inform and initiate. If the risk associated with the task is moderate and the person has
some experience, the person will inform you before they take action.
 Act. The person has full authority to act on his or her own if either the risk associated
with the task is low or the person has plenty of experience.
5. Build in checkpoints or progress reports
Set regular checkpoints right at the beginning to provide support and follow-through. You can
use checkpoints to review the work and give feedback or even provide encouragement and
coaching.
6. Conduct a final debriefing
The final debriefing consists of a two-way discussion about how the delegated task went.
Debriefing involves a mutual inquiry:
1. Ask the employee to reflect on their own performance on the task or project. It helps to
ask questions, such as what they thought went well, what they thought could have
been better about the project, and what they would do differently if they could do it
again.
2. Provide feedback on how you think they did
3. Have the person provide feedback on your performance as a delegator. Again, specific
questions can be helpful: Where could I have been more clear? What other types of
support would have been helpful to you?
Delegation of authority case studies
In order to further illustrate what delegation of authority in management looks like, let’s take a
look at three case studies:
Delegation of authority case study 1:
Seth Kehne, the owner of Lawn Butler in East Tennessee, started his company in 1999. He
watched it grow slowly from a small side business, then suddenly he realized revenue had
doubled.
But because the growth was gradual, he never took steps to put a management system in place
for a larger company. With everyone reporting to Kehne, he was stretched thin.
It limited the company’s growth because managers didn’t feel they had the freedom to do their
jobs without his approval.
Plus, as the chief executive officer, Kehne was working too many hours “managing instead of
delegating.”
“By failing to delegate, I’d been holding back my managers. They didn’t have the complete
authority they needed to do what they needed to do.” Kehne says.
Part of the solution was to implement an organizational chart. It included managers’ new
duties and delegated responsibilities.
It also reduced the number of people reporting directly to Kehne from more than 20 down to
four.
“To be honest, I thought I had already delegated a lot of my responsibilities. But once we had
this organization chart in place, I realized that I really hadn’t,” Kehne shared.
As managers and employees assumed their new roles, operations became increasingly
smoother. This allowed for even more growth.
“Things just operate better now,” Kehne said, adding sales are up 50% since he implemented
the change two years ago.
Other improvements include:
 Better work hours thanks to more efficient operations (at least five to 10 fewer hours
per week)
 Positive customer response
 Better employee job satisfaction
Delegation of authority case study 2:
Jane is a senior manager at an IT firm and has a team member Amanda who reports directly to
her.
Things have not been smooth for them for the last few weeks. In the last project that Jane
delegated to Amanda, she started to feel she would be better off doing it herself.
While Amanda is willing to take on additional assignments, she just doesn’t seem to be willing
to be responsible for the assignment. She won’t do anything without first checking in with Jane.
The last time Amanda came into the office, Jane told her to forget what she is doing, and she’ll
give it to someone else who can handle the assignment. After Amanda left, Brian realized she
didn’t handle that well.
Jane later sat down with Amanda to discuss the situation further and figured out how best to
proceed in collaboration with Amanda. She apologized to Amanda for how she handled the last
encounter and realized that she had to delegate the tasks differently to Amanda.
She asked Amanda to help her understand why she feels like she cannot take steps to complete
an assignment.
Through an honest conversation with Amanda, Jane learned how best to delegate to Amanda.
Through a conversation, Jane learned more about her skills and experiences and where her
comfort level is. This will enable Jane to more effectively manage delegated assignments.
Delegation of authority case study 3:
Anthony was promoted to Director of Finance. He had been chosen because he had the ability
to fill the role, and his level of thinking and values matched what was needed for success in the
position.
Prior to the promotion, he had served as a team leader of purchasing.
Six months later, several of his staff had approached the VP of Finance with their concerns that
he was doing too much of the work that could be delegated. The team felt that he didn’t trust
them and that they were not learning or growing.
Anthony was given feedback and coached to create an action plan. This included proper
delegation of tasks to staff in line with their capabilities.
Anthony created the plan and appropriately delegated large portions of his responsibilities.
Staff members felt a welcome relief and reported that Anthony was now taking the time to
coach them. He was explaining clearly and distinctly their results on work assignments.
Anthony had more time to both complete his work and improve his department. This created
an increase in employee satisfaction and retention.