Different people use a range of different styles of delegation. This exercise will help you to identify your delegation style and adapt it to deal with different circumstances.
The act of delegation implies a trust between the person delegating and the person taking over the delegated task and as a result it can be a morale-boosting exercise. Delegation can also cause problems, however, since too much responsibility, too soon can lead the person taking over the task to lose confidence if they find themselves unable to carry it out successfully. Therefore, delegation should be a gradual process, with the amount of responsibility allocated increasing as the individual grows in confidence and ability.
Whenever anyone delegates a task, they should consider their delegation style, i.e. what type of leader they are. There are two types of leadership that can be adopted:
Autocratic leader – someone who likes to centralise and control. They derive their power from their position of authority and control.
Democratic leader – someone who delegates authority, encourages participation and empowers employees. They derive their power from their personal qualities and team members’ respect.
The two types, however, are not mutually exclusive. As someone delegates more responsibility, they adopt a more democratic leadership style and give their team members a greater degree of freedom. But that is not to say their style is completely democratic. It may well have features of both.
Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s continuum shows that the two types of leadership are not mutually exclusive and that they can exist on a continuum running from high use of authority by the leader to high amounts of freedom given to ‘subordinates’:
Task
Having studied the diagram, think about your own attitude to delegation with your team. Then consider where you would fit on the continuum.
You might wish to consider:
the culture within your team
your management style
your own competence and confidence
physical location of yourself in relation to your team members
your own attitude to your team members’ delegation
1. On the blank management continuum below, draw a vertical line indicating where you think you sit:
2. Now consider your current method of delegation in more detail:
Is it the most appropriate method given your particular circumstances?
If you do not think it is, consider some alternatives using the continuum for guidance.
Think about the following factors:
Your team’s expertise and experience – Could they do with more guidance/supervision, or should you be giving them more freedom to use their judgement and perform tasks as they see fit?
Your team’s personal development – Are you doing enough to help them perform their jobs more effectively? Could you provide them with additional training, which might broaden their skill-set, or enable them to undertake existing duties more effectively?
Letting go – Are you delegating enough to make efficient use of your own time? Do you sometimes find yourself maintaining a hold on tasks that others could complete, and thereby not spending enough time on more specialist tasks?
3. Record some of your thoughts on the action plan attached:
In the first column, describe your current delegation style in your own words.
In the second column, record what you believe a more appropriate style would be for your current working situation.
4. Ask yourself the following questions and use the action plan to record your answers:
What can I do to change my delegation style?
What do I need in order to change?
What can I do to prepare my team for that change?
5. Now spend some time analysing what you have written. On the action plan, write down three key action points that you will try to carry out in practice over the course of the next few months.
6. Review your action points regularly to check that you are on track and implementing the required changes.
Delegation action plan
Self-reflection
My Current Delegation Style | My Ideal Delegation Style |
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What do I need in order to change?
What can I do to prepare my staff for that change?
Reference: Kurt Lewin, ‘Field Theory and Experiment in Social Psychology’, American Journal of Sociology, Vol 44 (1939).
R Tannenbaum and W H Schmidt, ‘How to Choose a Leadership Pattern’, Harvard Business Review (March/April 1958).
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