3 Things You Didn’t Know About Delegation

What is the art of delegation? Is there a science behind it? As a managerial technique, it simply means the assignment of a task to an associate—along with the correlating authority to accomplish it. This could be as simple as summarizing a report; or as breath-taking as doing a presentation in front of the CEO and a couple of huge stakeholders in the company. It has revolutionized the workplace by streamlining projects in order to efficiently create results. Read on to figure out 3 things you didn’t know about delegation.

Number 1: Delegation empowers. 

A 2017 research on leader’s behaviors indicates that delegation has a positive effect to work productivity and employee empowerment. 

According to this research, when a responsibility or authority is delegated, associates find themselves engaged in complex tasks. These are characterized by varying levels of difficulty and require different levels of skills. In the process, associates become accountable to work outcomes and feel that their job has meaning. In addition, delegation gives them autonomy and an active stance in decision-making. They feel empowered as the tasks make them competent; and they believe that they make a difference. Empowered employees are happy, motivated, innovative and loyal. 

Number 2: Empowerment is positively linked to feedback-seeking behaviour.

Strive to be better; this is a goal that every employee must keep in mind. Natural talent and even skills will look pale if there is no drive to improve. One of the ways to do that is ask for feedback. These let you know the areas you did great at; and those that need improvement. The drawback is that it could be a double-edged sword. Feedback could be positive or negative; and the problem lies when the feedback is less savoury than what is expected. This could cause some employees to avoid or distort negative comments about their work. They could lose face and lose self-esteem.

However, research indicates that employees tend to seek feedback when they feel empowered. They are confident and comfortable to ask their managers or supervising officers whether their work was satisfactory or needed improvement. In other words, feeling empowered encourages feedback-seeking behavior, regardless of the quality of feedback received.

Number 3: There is more empowerment when delegation is from a higher position.

The research indicates that power distance affects the link between delegation and psychological empowerment. Apparently, a heightened form of empowerment is realized when the delegation is made from a higher position. In other words, an employee is more encouraged if the task was assigned to him by the manager, rather than say—by a team leader. 

Conclusion

There is more to delegation than simply assigning tasks or assessing efficiency among employees. Delegation empowers and encourages feedback-seeking behaviour. And that is why it is highly advisable that leaders from a higher position delegate more tasks to their associates, and contribute to this sense of empowerment.

I hope you enjoyed this read! See the complete research here. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5461250/)