Introduction
As a manager, one has to undertake a series of decisions on how the organization and people should conduct themselves and perform. Managers may at times be required to delegate their roles depending on the kind of work. Employees also need to perform well and have the support and confidence of their managers to achieve their potential. To be a good leader, one has to adjust their behaviour to suit that of a leader. Changing behaviour is a process that must be followed carefully. The manager must also use participative management when dealing with a team of several employees. They need to use motivational strategies to keep their teams united and maintain good performance.
Exercise 8.1- Delegation
The decision of a manager or leader to delegate some of his duties to other leaders or junior employees is based on various factors. Managers can decide to delegate duties if the management system in the organization is decentralized and duties can be delegated to lower levels of leadership.
When delegating duties, managers have to select individuals who are capable of handling that particular issue. The manager must consider professionalism, ability, experience and rank of the individual before selecting them. When a manager wants to delegate accounting duties, he has to focus on someone who is qualified in this field. Someone who can manage the account is one who has vast experience in the accounting profession. He must be an accountant so as to ensure they fit into the system quickly. An accountant will know how to conduct themselves and fulfil the delegated roles.
The person must also be of good conduct and trustworthy. When delegating duties, a leader must consider the most honest and trustworthy individuals in the organization. This is for purposes of reliability. When a reliable person is placed to take charge of accounting, there will be accountability and transparency in the management of financial records of the company. Therefore, as a manager, I would select an experienced and reliable accountant to manage the account.
When planning to delegate duties to junior employees, a manger must prepare a list of the duties to be delegated. The manager must know what the delegation process entails and conduct it in an orderly manner. The manager must determine who will attend the meeting where duties will be delegated. The person receiving the delegated duties must be in attendance because this is where his duties will be outlined. The other stakeholders who may be affected by the delegation process must also attend to ensure that they know delegation has occurred. The manager must also ensure that he gives satisfactory reasons as to why he is delegating duties and why he settled on that particular individual to be in charge of the delegated duties.
The manager should explain the importance of delegation in the organization. There is a need to convince those in attendance that the delegation process will improve the firm’s performance and enhance the welfare of employees. Delegation decentralizes responsibility and decision making power from a senior manager to junior employees.
For employees to do a good job, there is a need for them to have sufficient training in that field of work. The must have adequate knowledge on the work they do to ensure they are confident in what they do. Employees must also be motivated through various ways. Factors such as good working conditions, motivating leaders and good compensation boost motivation levels. Furthermore, employees need guidance from senior managers and support from team members to perform effectively.
The manager has provided clear instructions concerning the task and the level of expectations. The information is sufficient and straight forward. The manager has announced the delegation of duties to other stakeholders during the meeting. The manager has given his support and motivation to the client to ensure the delegation process is successful. However, the manager has not yet provided the resources for the employee to perform the new responsibilities. This can cause a delay in the fulfilment of the goals of delegation. The employee is motivated and ready to fulfil the tasks given.
Exercise 8.2 Strategies for becoming a self-leader
There needs to be settings where new behaviours are practised. They include; at the workplace, at home and whenever there is a social event. There should be people to help during these rehearsals such as family members, friends and colleagues at work. There should be reminders to encourage the development of new behaviours. For example, friends and family who remind of your objectives, self-reminders such as personal guides and workplace colleagues such as the manager and colleagues. These three groups of individuals act as reminders and motivators towards achieving this objective.
As a leader, one has to set up punishments and rewards for his subjects to discipline and motivate. The rewards include pay raise, increased responsibility and recognition. Punishments include fines, suspensions and demotions. Punishments are used when someone has done something that is wrong and prohibited in the organization while rewards are given to those who have performed exceptionally. To stop unwanted behaviour, one can use financial fines for minor mistakes, demotions for gross misconduct and suspensions for defaulters depending on the level of the mistake.
294 PART III Leading
SELF-ASSESSMENT 8-1: DELEGATION SCALE
Using the following scale, indicate how much you agree with the following items.
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Somewhat disagree
3 = Neither agree nor disagree
4 = Somewhat agree
5 = Strongly agree
_5_ 1. I can do most jobs better and faster than my subordinates.
_4_ 2. Most of my tasks cannot be delegated to my subordinates.
_1_ 3. Most of my subordinates do not have the appropriate level of skills to do
the tasks that I could delegate to them.
_3_ 4. I feel uncomfortable delegating many of my tasks to my subordinates.
_5_ 5. I am responsible for my subordinates’ mistakes, so I might as well do the task myself.
_5_ 6. If my subordinates do too many of my tasks, I may not be needed any longer.
_4_ 7. Explaining things to subordinates and training them often take too much time.
_1_ 8. My subordinates already have too much work to do; they can’t handle any more.
_5_ 9. If my subordinates do the tasks, I will lose touch and be out of the loop.
_5_10. I need to know all the details of a task before I can delegate to my subordinates.
Scoring Key: Your total score will be between 10 and 50. The higher your score, the less inclined you are to delegate and you agree with many of the common excuses used by managers not to delegate tasks to their subordinates.
Total: 37
ISBN: 0-536-77915-5
The Art and Science of Leadership, Fifth Edition, by Afsaneh Nahavandi. Published by Prentice Hall.
CHAPTER 8 Participative Management and Leading Teams 295
SELF-ASSESSMENT 8-2: ARE YOU A TEAM LEADER?
Rate yourself on each of the following items using the scale provided here:
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Somewhat disagree
3 = Neither agree nor disagree
4 = Somewhat agree
5 = Strongly agree
_4_ 1. I enjoy helping other get their job done.
_1_ 2. Managing others is a full-time job in and of itself.
_5_ 3. I am good at negotiating for resources.
_5_ 4. People often come to me to help them with interpersonal conflicts.
_1_ 5. I tend to be uncomfortable when I am not fully involved in the task that
my group is doing.
_5_ 6. It is hard for me to provide people with positive feedback.
_5_ 7. I understand organizational politics well.
_3_ 8. I get nervous when I do not have expertise at a task that my group is performing.
_1_ 9. An effective leader needs to have full involvement with his or her team’s activities.
_5_10. I am skilled at goal setting.
Scoring Key: Reverse score for items 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9 (e.g., 1 _ 5, 5 _ 1). Add your score on
all items. Maximum possible score is 50. The higher the score, the more team leadership
skills you have.
Total: 35
ISBN: 0-536-77915-5
The Art and Science of Leadership, Fifth Edition, by Afsaneh Nahavandi. Published by Prentice Hall.
Summary
Delegation involves making decisions on whether to decentralize responsibility or not. The manager must identify a competent individual who is trustworthy and reliable to conduct the delegated duties. The delegation of duties should be communicated in an open meeting where other stakeholders will be aware of the details. The employee must understand the job they are assigned and be motivated to undertake it.
For one to become a self-leader, they must change their behaviour to suit that of a good leader. There should be objectives on how to achieve each behaviour. The objective should have a timeline and be measurable. The individual must rehearse and have people to support and motivate them to achieve the leadership qualities. He should have reminders to ensure he does not get derailed from the objective. Leaders should have punishments and rewards to help discipline and motivate employees.
References
Aguinis, H. (2009). Performance management (2nd Edition ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Gill, R. (2006). Theory and practice of leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nahavandi, A. (2009). The art and science of leadership (5th Edition ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th ed. ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
