Delegation of Authority: Principle and Problems

After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. Concept of Delegation of Authority 2. Elements of Delegation of Authority 3. Principles 4. Problems.

Concept of Delegation of Authority:

An individual is only one man power. Single-handed, he can accomplish only so much in a day. The only way he can achieve more is through delegation — through dividing his load and sharing his responsibilities with others.

Probably the most important of all the skills a manager must possess is delegation-the ability to get results through others. Delegation is important because it is both the gauge and the means of a manager’s accomplish­ment. Once a man’s job grows beyond his personal capacity, his success lies in his ability to multiply himself through other people (subordinates).

How well he delegates determines how well he can manage. A manager who carries a full brief case home, is often overloaded-overworked because he does not know how to delegate. Delegation may be defined as the entrustment of responsibility and authority to another and the creation of accountability for performance.

Elements of Delegation of Authority:

The essential elements of delegation are:

1. Assignment of work (or responsibility) to another (person) for performance.

2. Grant of authority to be exercised.

3. Creation of an obligation or accountability on the part of the person accepting the delegation to perform in terms of the standards established.

The word Accountability indicates liability for the proper discharge of duties by the subordinate. It is the obligation to carry out responsibility and exercise authority in terms of performance standards established.

Responsibility is the work assigned to a position. Responsibility refers to the mental and physical activities which must be performed to carry out a task or duty. Delegation of Authority merely means the granting of authority to subordinates to accomplish a particular assignment while operating within prescribed limits and standards established.

Principles of Delegation of Authority:

(1) Parity between Authority and Responsibility:

There should be complete parity between authority and responsibility. If authority is more than responsibility, people will make misuse of their authority and if responsibility is more than authority, the results can never be achieved.

(2) Responsibility in Terms of Results:

To be effective, delegation of authority should always be in terms of exact results of responsibi­lity. In other words, responsibility should be specific on a specific person, because everybody’s responsibility is nobody’s responsibility.

(3) Principle of Unity of Command:

To avoid confusion, conflicts and duplication of work—orders, instructions and guidelines should flow to a subordinate from a single particular executive only.

(4) Delegation of Responsibility Authority can be Delegated:

But, responsibility and accountability cannot be delegated.

By delegating authority, an executive does not escape from responsibility, He is, in addition, responsible for the act of his subordinates also.

(5) Overlapping of Responsibilities:

While delegating authority, it must be ensured that duties and responsibilities of subordinates do not overlap.

(6) Free Flow of Information:

In delegation of authority, there should be free two way communication (as regards exchange of ideas, instructions, guidelines, clarifications, suggestions etc.) between an executive and a sub­ordinate.

(7) Delegated Authority:

Authority delegated to the subordinate should be adequate, enough and as per the status and position of the subordinate, in order to achieve optimum results.

Problems of Delegation of Authority:

Though delegation appears to be a simple process, many problems or difficulties come in the way of effective delegation of authority.

These difficulties may be classified under the following heads:

1. On the Part of Management/Executive:

(a) Feeling of Perfection:

Some executives feel that they can do any job better than their subordinates and therefore they are reluctant to delegate authority.

(b) Lack of Ability to Direct:

If the executive lacks the ability of giving proper directions and clear instructions to his subor­dinates, he will not delegate authority.

(c) Lack of Confidence in Subordinate:

If an executive has little or no confidence in the subordinate’s ability to perform assigned job, he will not delegate authority.

(d) Fear of Being Exposed:

If the executive is inefficient, he will always be under fear that if he delegates authority, his subordinates may outshine him.

(e) Absence of Controls:

If the executive does not have adequate controls to assure himself that the authority is being used to accomplish the given assignments, he will hesitate to delegate authority.

(f) Conservative Attitude:

An executive may be handicapped by a temperamental aversion to take a chance. He is afraid that the subordinate may not spoil the work.

(g) Desire of Dominance:

The desire of dominance over the work of subordinates at each step hampers the process of delegation.

2. On the Part of the Subordinate:

Sometimes the process of delegation suffers because a subordinate avoids to accept the respon­sibility due to the following reasons and there being no fault on the part of the executive.

(a) Dependence on Boss:

If a subordinate always depends upon his boss for tackling problems, he may avoid accepting authority.

(b) Fear of Criticism:

A subordinate may not accept authority and new challenges due to fear of committing mistakes and being criticised by the executive (boss).

(c) Lack of Self-Confidence:

A subordinate lacking in self-confidence will always be under fear of failure and will generally try to shirk authority and responsibility.

(d) Overburdened with Work:

A subordinate who is already overburdened with work may hesitate to accept additional responsibility.

(e) Lack of Proper Facilities:

Inadequacy of authority, information and working facilities for performing the duties, may compel a subordinate not to accept the responsibilities.

(f) Lack of Incentives:

A subordinate may hesitate in accepting authority if he does not get sufficient positive incentives in the form of recognition, higher pay, credit, better position etc.

3. On the Part of Organisation:

The process of delegation of authority may suffer due to some internal organisational problems such as:

(a) Defective organisation structure and non-clarity of authority-responsibility relationships.

(b) Defective and inadequate planning and policy formulation.

(c) Lack of unity of command.

(d) Lack of effective control mechanism in the organisation.