52.2 Delegation and Control

 52.2 Delegation and Control

Question:

What are the important factors to be considered when delegating work to employees?

 

Answer:

After verifying that an employee can accomplish a task

with the identified resources, assign the task to him and

leave him alone to discharge his duties.                                           (Couplet – 517)

Once the right man has been selected for a task, assign

complete responsibility and make him own that task.                      (Couplet - 518)

இதனை இதனால் இவன்முடிக்கும் என்றாய்ந்து

அதனை அவன்கண் விடல்.                                                    (குறள் – 517)

வினைக் குரிமை நாடிய பின்றை அவனை

அதற்குரிய னாகச் செயல்.                                                     (குறள் – 518)

 

Explanation:

              Valluvar believes that before delegating work to a person, it must be carefully and thoroughly checked out whether that individual can deal with the assignment with the instruments and means at his disposal. Once the decision is made after careful consideration of all the factors, the individual selected should be fully trusted and left alone to do his job in order to bring out the very best in him. Once the responsibility for a task is delegated to an individual, he should also be given the necessary authority needed to do his job. An employee can perform his task effectively only if he has the authority along with the responsibility.

              Very often, managers tend to interfere with employees and micromanage them. Micromanaging an employee destroys his motivation and productivity. A well-known example of a micromanager is  Steve Jobs, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Inc. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was an example of a micromanager extraordinaire who was reformed into a successful executive. His first attempt at Apple was not very successful. When he was let go from Apple, he started the company NeXT Computer. At NeXT, Steve Jobs micromanaged just about everything. The failure of NeXT is attributed to Steve job’s management style. When he started Pixar company, he did not make the mistake of micromanaging. He gave complete authority and responsibility to his managers. Pixar was very successful. He continued the same style of management when he returned to Apple and turned it to be one of the most valuable companies in the world. Valluvar is in favor of delegation and avoiding micromanaging.