Delegating and Interfering

Delegation is a topic that interests me a lot. It seems to me that delegation can be viewed positively and negatively, and that it is not entirely in the leader's control how it is viewed. The positive benefits of a leader delegating jobs are clear, as it is not possible for a manager or leader to do all of the work, and if they can assign the jobs to people who are suited to the work, possibly if they have certain useful skills, then the work will be done quicker and more effectively. Delegation is therefore a very useful skill for a leader to have, and it would be fair to say that it is necessary for a leader to be able to do this correctly. However, it is quite possible that in delegating, the manager will take a step back from the work and it could be viewed that he will not be taking as much interest in the jobs, and not giving much input himself. But the other option for a leader is to take some part in each of the jobs, which can either be seen as the positive solution to the idea of being too removed from the work, but it is possible that it could be viewed as being too interfering  in the work, which many people find to be a big negative in a leader.

So as usual, it is fair to say that the position of a leader requires finding a balance. This time the balance needs to be found between being able to step back from work and delegate to the people who can work the most efficiently, and then being able to take part in activities and lead by example as well, which will inspire the people around as well.

: 31 Jan 2010 16:25 |  Tags: Le |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem