Delegation of authority is the first thing a manager must learn

Unless you’re Superman, there’s no way that you can do whatever has been assigned to you all by yourself. There are targets to meet and promises to keep, and the only way to go about making sure they are all met is to undertake a certain amount of delegation of authority. Simply put, delegation of authority means that you split your workload and give a certain amount of power to a subordinate who will get things done for you. It’s all about entrusting someone to get the job done for you. It’s a transference of work and authority in order to get the job done in the best possible way.

There are three key elements to delegation of authority. The first of these is, of course, authority in itself. The second is responsibility and the third is accountability. As a masked superhero once said, “with great power comes great responsibility”. In a business sense, a transference of authority means that you can trust someone to make decisions and allocate duties so that organizational goals are met. But this authority shouldn’t be misused under any circumstances. Generally, authority will flow from top to bottom. This is how a superior gets his subordinates to do whatever work is assigned to them.

But giving someone this authority doesn’t mean that the person has freedom to do whatever they want to do. With it comes responsibility and accountability. If someone is given a task, he or she must ensure it gets done without making any excuses later on. At the same time, it must be ensured that the responsibility and delegation of authority is matched. Not giving enough authority will lead to an inadequate job being done and potentially a feeling of inadequacy in the person in question. If something is not done as expected, answers will be sought. Similarly, if it is a job well done, expect praise to be lavished.

Accountability is something that cannot be delegated though. The buck has to stop somewhere. For example, if A gives B a task to do, then the responsibility to get it done rests with B but there is still accountability invested in A for his decision. Accountability is nothing more than being answerable for the end result and performing or taking decisions up to a certain standard. It is in many ways a by product of responsibility.