© 2010 Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC

Umiker's Management Skills for the New Health

Care Supervisor, Fifth Edition

Charles McConnell

© 2010 Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC

Chapter 31

Delegation Delegation

and and

EmpowermentEmpowerment

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Assigning vs. Delegating

Assigning is telling a person what to

do, how to do it, and when the task

must be completed.

Delegation is the transfer of

authority, responsibility, and

accountability.

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Why Supervisor’s Fail to Delegate

They are workaholics or perfectionists.

They are insecure, afraid that (1) the

individual will fail, (2) the employee will

do it better, or (3) they will be accused

of dumping.

They do not like to turn over tasks they

enjoy doing.

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Why Supervisor’s Fail to Delegate

They do not believe their employees

are ready or willing.

They have had unpleasant experiences

with delegation.

They do not know how to delegate

properly and effectively.

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The Non-Delegator’s Excuses

“I don’t have the time.”

“The last time I tried that it didn’t

work.”

“If you want things done right,

you’ve got to do them yourself.”

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The Non-Delegator’s Excuses

Why delegate it? I can do it faster

and better.”

“When I try to delegate, the

employees say that it’s not in their

position descriptions, or they ask

what’s in it for them.”

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Employees Are Agreeable to Delegation if:

they believe themselves to be

qualified,

their previous efforts have

succeeded,

they believe they have sufficient

time available,

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Employees Are Agreeable to Delegation if:

they like the delegated activity or

see some reward in it,

they believe they will have enough

authority to get the job done,

they believe the delegator will

support them,

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Dumping

Dumping occurs when employees

are loaded with repetitive, mundane

work that has little value to the

organization or to their careers—

when they get only what the

supervisor doesn’t want to do.

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It’s Dumping When Employees --

have poor working relationships

with their superiors,

have been dumped on in the past,

know that others have resisted

undertaking the same task,

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It’s Dumping When Employees --

fail to see any personal advantage in

carrying out the assignment,

have not been told that they will

sometimes be asked to do things that

are not in their position descriptions, or

see the delegator wasting time while

they do all the work.

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To Pick What to Delegate:

Consider something that someone else in

your group could do.

Look at successful temporary assignments.

Ask employees at performance reviews.

Select tasks from your position description

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What Can Be Delegated

Any of your tasks that can be

described as technical or non-

managerial can be delegated.

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What Cannot Be Delegated

No form of decision-making that has

to do with personnel management

can be delegated—hiring, firing,

promotion, demotion, finalizing

disciplinary action, etc. can be

delegated.

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What is Delegated:

It is always task performance

AUTHORITY that is delegated.

Responsibility and accountability are not

delegated—the delegating supervisor

remains responsible and accountable for

what the employee does.

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Implementing a Delegated Action

Select the right task and the right

person.

If it’s a major change, get permission.

If you are operating in a team mode,

discuss the change with your team.

Provide essential training, resources, and

authority.

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Implementing a Delegated Action

Agree on an action plan. Listen

carefully to delegates’ ideas about

how to get it done.

Set up checkpoints to monitor

progress and to give some pats on

the back.

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Horizontal Delegation

Delegating to people over whom

you have no authority requires

persuasiveness, influence,

interpersonal skills, rapport, and

other factors.

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Reverse (Upward) Delegation

Upward delegation is the art of

passing along to superiors what

employees do not want to do.

Employees are often successful in

this because some bosses just

cannot say no.

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Hopscotch Delegation

Hopscotch delegation occurs when your

manager bypasses you and gives

assignments directly to your

subordinates. This is a dangerous

practice that tends to undermine your

authority; any reasonable higher

manger will not do it.

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Empowerment

“Empowerment” and “delegation”

are offered as synonyms for each

other; but to be accurate we could

say the empowerment is proper,

thorough, and total delegation.

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Steps that Empower

Know what each of your employees

does and how well the tasks are done.

Decide what additional authority they

can handle right now.

Ascertain what preparation each of

your employees needs to achieve what

will empower them.

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Steps that Empower

Conceptualize a supervisory role that

matches the level of supervision with the

ability, maturity, and motivation of each

employee.

Ensure that workers know the purpose

(mission) of their jobs.

Delegate activities that involve decision

making and problem solving.

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Steps that Empower

Delegate activities that involve decision

making and problem solving.

Review your education and training

program.

Make tasks more challenging.

Provide sufficient resources.

Emphasize commitment over conformity.