© 2010 Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LL C Umiker's Management Skills for the New Health Care Supervisor, Fifth Edition Charles McConnell
© 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.