Delegation of Authority

 What is Delegation of Authority.

In any organization, no individual can perform all duties and accomplish all tasks by himself. It is physically impossible for a single individual to look after the affairs of a large business. His skill lies in his ability to get things done through others. As an organization grows in size and the manager's job increases beyond his personal capacity. His success lies in his ability to multiply himself by training his subordinates and sharing his authority and responsibility with them. The only way he can achieve more is through delegation - through dividing his workload and sharing responsibilities with others.

The sharing of power or authority with another subordinate for the performance of certain tasks and duties is known as the delegation of authority.

 

Delegation, Responsibility and Accountability. 

To delegate means to grant or confer; hence the manager who delegates, grants, or confers (authority) on others (subordinates) to accomplish certain goals in the form of work.

According to O. Jeff Harris, it is an authorization to a subordinate manager to act in a certain manner independently. The delegation of authority is the delivery by one individual to another the right to act, to make decisions, to acquire resources, and to perform other tasks in order to fulfill job responsibilities.

L. A. Allen has defined delegation as an entrustment of a part of the work, or the responsibility and authority to another, and the creation of accountability for performance.

Responsibility is the work assigned to a person. Authority is the sum of powers and rights entrusted to make possible the performance of the work delegated.

Accountability is the obligation to carry out responsibility and exercise authority in terms of performance standards established.

It is the obligation of an individual to render an account of the fulfillment of his responsibilities to the boss to whom he reports.

 

Nature of Delegation of Authority. 

 

Just as no one person in an enterprise can do all the tasks necessary for the accomplishment of goals. It is not easy. As the enterprise grows, for one person to exercise all the authority for making decisions is very difficult and risky. There is a limit to the number of persons to whom the manager can effectively supervise and make decisions. Once this limit is passed, the authority must be delegated to subordinates, who will make decisions within the area of their assigned duties.

The question is how authority is delegated when decision-making power is vested in a subordinate by his superior. Clearly, superiors cannot delegate authority they do not have. It is equally clear that superiors cannot delegate all their authority without, in effect, transferring their position to their subordinates. The entire process of delegation involves four steps. They are:

1. The determination of results expected from persons in a position
2. The assignment of tasks to persons
3. The delegation of authority for accomplishing tasks
4. The holding of people responsible for the accomplishment of these tasks.


Therefore, delegation is the process that a manager follows in dividing the work assigned to him so that he performs that part, through which he can perform effectively as a manager/leader.

There is a difference between delegation and work assignments. Delegation constitutes a master-agent relationship while work assignment constitutes a master-servant relationship. An employee's work assignment may be reflected in his job description while delegated duties may not form the part of the employee's normal duties.

Delegation is a legitimate authorization to a manager or an employee to act in a specified way. It enables him to function independently without reference to the supervisor but within the limits set by the supervisor and the normal framework of organizational objectives, policies, rules, and procedures.