The principle of delegation of powers to GOST ISO. Key indicators of delegation effectiveness. Bonus for attentive readers: general principles of working with Open Studio Clients

4. PRINCIPLE OF DELEGATION OF POWER

The very name of the principle contains a decoding of its main meaning - the transfer by the manager of part of his official functions to his subordinates without active interference in their actions. This optimization technique is usually called the method of delegation of powers and was discussed when considering the problems of decentralization of management. The role of the method of delegation of authority in management is so great that many researchers and practitioners tend to consider it as separate principle management.

The principle of delegation of authority consists in the transfer by the manager of part of the powers, rights and responsibilities assigned to him to his competent employees.

At its core, delegation is a way of getting work done by others. This is a technique of a strong leader. Authority is delegated as far down as possible. Only the manager delegates authority to his subordinates to the level at which his competence and information for decision-making are located.

When delegating authority, the manager:

Delegates responsibilities (establishes);

Defines rights;

Determines the level of responsibility when exercising authority.

Benefits of delegation of authority:

Ability to engage in tasks that require the personal participation of the manager;

Focus on strategic objectives and long-term plans for the development of the enterprise;

Delegation - The best way motivation of creative and active workers;

Delegation is the best way to learn;

Delegation - as a way professional career.

Let's take a closer look at the importance practical application delegation in enterprise management.

The main practical value of the principle is that the manager frees his time from less complex everyday affairs, routine operations and can concentrate his efforts on solving problems at a more complex management level; at the same time, which is very important for the manager, compliance with the controllability norm is ensured. At the same time, this method is a targeted form of employee training, promotes the motivation of their work, the manifestation of initiative and independence.

The main task of a manager is not to do the work himself, but to ensure that the work process is organized by the team, take responsibility and use power to achieve the goal. Building relationships between a boss and his subordinates on cunning, deception or flattery is immoral and hopelessly wrong. People, with all their individual differences, still behave predictably in an ordinary, routine situation - if the team knows its tasks and understands the methods used by the leader to achieve the goal with minimal difficulties, then you can confidently count on the support of the majority and find performers who can trust independent decision local and sometimes multifunctional tasks. Such an employee, singled out from the team for his undoubted organizational abilities and professional knowledge, is well aware of the benefits of the trust placed in him, is proud of the awareness of his importance and will try to justify the trust placed in him. Delegation of powers is possible and advisable if the manager has prepared worthy performers, trusts them and can skillfully manage them. The performer must be professionally trained and have experience practical work.

Methods for solving production and organizational problems are always multivariate, and if a subordinate uses his own, independent, and perhaps still suboptimal tactics of solutions, then this reveals another positive trait the principle of delegation of authority - the performer goes through a good and absolutely necessary school of management development, and learns to be independent. The performer asserts himself, his self-confidence and initiative grow. At the same time, it is important to remember that the performer has the right to make a mistake, and in this case the manager is obliged to provide him with all possible assistance in the most tactful form. After all, one of the main tasks of a leader is to develop the abilities and skills of a subordinate.

A particularly delicate aspect of this principle is the organization of control over the actions of subordinates. Petty supervision will do nothing but harm (violation of the principle of least impact!), lack of control can lead to disruption of work and anarchy. The solution to the control problem lies in a clearly established feedback, in the free exchange of information between colleagues and, of course, in the fairly high authority and managerial skill of the leader. By the way, an experienced high-level official, wanting to form an objective opinion about the quality of the manager’s work, is always interested in how his subordinates work (this characterizes the manager very well).

The principle of delegation of authority will be effective if:

Subordinates really know and understand what new responsibilities have been transferred to them. An employee’s affirmative answer to the question whether everything is clear to him is not always truthful: he may be mistaken, or he may be afraid to admit that he did not understand everything;

The employee is prepared to perform new functions in advance, there is confidence in his ability to complete the task and the incentive and motivation mechanism is ensured;

A subordinate will not receive “valuable instructions” from another superior over the head of his immediate superior;

The Contractor knows his rights and obligations without any uncertainty;

The performer is free in his actions: the less noticeable the manager’s participation in choosing ways to implement the assigned tasks, the better;

The performer is confident in his right to take calculated risks and the right to make mistakes. This is also important as a way to combat routine and inertia in the activities of the management apparatus;

Specific goals and deadlines for completing the assignment will be established;

The subordinate will correctly understand the need to monitor progress and provide objective information about deviations from planned indicators;

The Contractor understands that he not only has the right to make operational decisions, but is also obliged to apply it if necessary. A person who has received authority not only can, but is also obliged, if the situation requires it, he must know that he will have to account not only for his decisions, but also for inaction. This provision is especially important when extreme situations, in a crisis, when the human factor becomes special meaning.

Major specialists in the field of management G. Kunz and S. O. Donnell, in their famous book on management, emphasize the importance of selecting performers taking into account the nature of the task (the principle of correspondence), the need to use a reward system for effective delegation powers and constantly open lines of communication: there must be a free exchange of information between the manager and the subordinate, with the help of which the performer receives the information necessary to make a decision and correctly understand the essence of the delegated powers. The delegator and the “authorized” must have a common information base, a common set of organizational and methodological ideas.

Often a unique task of psychological choice arises: which task to entrust to the performer, a familiar one or a completely new one. Most often, execution is delegated new task, especially if it seems unattractive and routine to the manager. This decision is not always correct. The problem is that having delegated the solution to a task to someone else, the manager is still responsible for its implementation and control, and even more so simply observing (what is now fashionable to call monitoring) the progress of the implementation of a familiar problem is much easier. There is a danger that soon the authorized person will advance so much in solving the task entrusted to him that the manager will not be able to recognize even its initial contours and he will have to “catch up” with the performer, i.e. still study the problem and the proposed methods for solving it. Experienced administrators often assign capable performers tasks that are slightly more complex than the subordinate is accustomed to performing. In this case, it is advisable to prepare the task in the form of a written order. Having received a difficult task, the performer opens up more fully and receives sincere satisfaction from completing the task and the trust placed in him. For example, Japanese companies are of the opinion that the manager must be a specialist capable of working in any area of ​​the company. Therefore, when upgrading qualifications, the head of a department or division chooses to master new area activities in which he had not worked before.

It should be noted that the principle of delegation of authority is timidly applied by persons who have recently received a promotion, because It is difficult for them to abandon the usual stereotype of past activities. A manager who sorts correspondence himself and types on a typewriter in front of a bored secretary evokes regret, but not sympathy. Sometimes the principle of delegation of authority does not give the expected effect - the performer does not fully perform the leadership functions assigned to him. Most often this happens in cases where it is necessary to make unpopular decisions in the team: imposing penalties for violations labor discipline, deprivation of bonuses, investigation of immoral acts of employees, etc. under various pretexts, the performer tries to transfer the solution to these problems to his manager in order to appear, as it seems to him, on the best side in the eyes of the team. Among other reasons, most often there is uncertainty about the correctness of the responsible decision being made, insufficient experience, and sometimes fundamental disagreement with the opinion of the manager.

However, there is a set of management tasks, the solution of which should be left to the manager. This is, first of all, defining the goals, policies of the organization and making fundamental decisions. It is the duty of the first person to undertake tasks with a high degree of risk, of a particularly confidential nature and all unusual operations that go beyond the established regulations and traditions. When considering situations where a management decision can cause irreversible consequences, it is appropriate to make a comparison between the responsibility of a general practitioner and a surgeon. The therapist can more easily trust the treatment of the patient to his younger colleague, because can be involved in the treatment process at any moment, but the surgeon, with great prudence and caution, decides to entrust the operation to his student.

There is another sensitive issue- right to sign. Many managers believe that it is reasonable to centralize this right: the executor, the trustee, has thought through the decision, prepared the appropriate document and submits it to the manager for signature, who thus exercises his natural right of control. But this method of interaction indicates that only part of the rights is delegated to the performer and there are many objections to this method:

The performer, deprived of the right to sign, has every reason to believe that he is not fully trusted and such uncertainty does not contribute to mutual understanding;

Decentralization of signature rights speeds up the process of making management decisions and reduces the manager’s workload;

With the centralization of this right, it is difficult to establish the true culprits of an erroneous decision; often the manager signs the document, either without reading it, or without delving into its essence; the direct executor develops a tendency to transfer all responsible decisions to more high level management;

With the centralization of signature rights, managers become confident in their significant superiority in knowledge over executive specialists; the manager often begins to identify his personality with the organization he heads.

The effectiveness of delegation of authority is obvious, but not all managers are in a hurry to apply it for the following reasons:

Doubt about the competence of other employees, fear that they will do worse;

Fear of losing power and position. By giving part of my powers to others, they argue, I naturally reduce my rights, and this will not lead to good.

If the performer does not complete his new tasks, then he will have to urgently intervene and correct the mistakes of others. If the subordinate completes the tasks too well, then the management may quite reasonably think about my suitability for the position, i.e. fear that someone will do better;

Ambitiousness and distrust of subordinates. Low grade the abilities of their employees and inflated self-esteem give rise to distrust of the staff - it’s better to do everything yourself;

Fear of receiving a negative assessment of one’s actions from colleagues and superiors: oneself, they say, is a slacker, does not want to work, shirks work and therefore likes to delegate one’s work to employees; It is incorrect to overload already busy people.

The practical value of this management principle is obvious, and it is no coincidence that it is the basis of the European concept of management with delegation of responsibility in a market economy (better known as the “Harzburg management model”). Moreover, delegation of responsibility as a principle of leadership and management organization has been practically implemented at a number of Russian enterprises: the GAZ automobile plant, the Shchekinsky chemical plant, a number of construction and food enterprises. The ideas of the Harzburg model have been used in companies for more than 30 years Western Europe(including Volkswagen, OTTO, etc.). and in the early 90s they were actually used in Japanese model"Line production" management.

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I will continue the series of articles about effective leadership and management and will consider its very important component - delegation of authority. However, I would like to immediately draw your attention: it is possible and necessary to delegate powers not only to the manager: this principle, to some extent, must be applied to absolutely any person, and not only at work, but also in personal life, in everyday affairs. Today I will write about delegation of authority in management, but many of the principles described can be easily transferred to the life and affairs of any person.

If a person puts all the work, all the affairs only on himself, he will never be able to do it all effectively; due to excessive workload, the results and efficiency of his work will be very low, he will not have time to do anything and will always have a bunch of unresolved matters that will constantly be accumulate. This principle is a dead end, it will not lead to anything good. An alternative to it is competent delegation of authority.

After reading this article, you will learn in more detail why delegation of powers and responsibilities is necessary in management and in life, how to delegate powers correctly, how this process should occur, what are the basic principles of delegation of powers, what mistakes are most often made, and what powers cannot be delegated under no circumstances. I think you will find it interesting.

Delegation of powers and responsibilities.

Delegation of authority in management is the process of a manager transferring his specific tasks to a subordinate, taking into account his qualifications, skills, abilities and experience.

The purpose of delegation of authority is not to shift one’s work and responsibility onto other people, but to correctly distribute it among all participants in the business process, so that the overall result of the company or its division is as high as possible. By how competently a manager delegates authority, one can judge his effectiveness as a leader.

Delegation of authority is an important feature that distinguishes a performer from a manager. Even if a person holds a high position, until he learns to delegate authority correctly, he will remain an ordinary performer, “up to his ears with work,” and only with skillful delegation will he become a manager.

Delegation of authority to employees is what distinguishes a manager from a performer.

Types of delegation of authority.

There are 2 main types of delegation of authority:

1. Delegation of authority without transfer of responsibility– this is the transfer of work tasks to another employee, responsibility for which still remains with the manager (the employee performs the work, reports to his manager, and he reports to his superior manager);

2. Delegation of powers and responsibilities- this is the transfer to another employee of both tasks and responsibility for their implementation to senior management (the employee performs the work and reports to the senior manager).

Goals and objectives of delegation of authority.

Let's consider why delegation of authority is necessary, what goals and objectives it solves.

1. Concentration of the leader's attention on the main thing. The manager does not need to know everything down to the smallest detail in the work of his department. For him, the main thing is to fulfill strategic tasks. If a manager sticks his nose into every little thing, he simply won’t have enough time for really important things, and the company/division will work ineffectively. If a leader strives to do everything himself, then why does he need subordinates at all?

2. Creation of a personnel reserve. Delegating authority to employees allows you to identify the most responsible and effective performers among them in order to ensure their career growth and advancement.

3. Creating a healthy psychological climate in the team. By delegating authority, the manager must show that he trusts his subordinates to carry out important and responsible tasks. Thanks to this, they will feel their importance for the company and their contribution to the common cause. We can say that competent delegation of authority is one of the methods.

4. Increasing overall labor efficiency. Each employee of the company has his own purpose and his own job, which he can do better than others (including better than his manager). Through competent delegation of authority, transferring work tasks to those employees who can cope with them faster and better than others, you can achieve maximum efficiency of the company.

How to delegate authority?

So, we have already seen how important and necessary delegation of authority is, what strategic goals and objectives it solves, and now let’s talk about how to delegate authority correctly, competently and as efficiently as possible.

Not every employee can efficiently perform the work assigned to him, so the manager’s task is to correctly delegate authority, choosing those performing employees who will cope with the work in the best possible way.

To do this, you need to comply with important rules of delegation of authority. Let's consider what you need to consider when choosing an employee to delegate a task:

1. Skill level. The employee must be sufficiently qualified to perform the specific job;

2. Experience performing similar tasks. In addition to qualifications, it is highly desirable that the employee already has experience in successfully performing similar work;

3. Workload level. If an employee is already swamped with work, there is no need to delegate additional tasks to him, even if he is best suited to perform them. With excessive load, in any case, losses in the quality of work are inevitable.

4. Efficiency and stress resistance. And finally, it is imperative to take into account personal psychological qualities employee: the task will be best completed by an employee who wants to complete it, who is motivated by it, who is psychologically ready and has a positive attitude towards its implementation. And, conversely, if delegating a task only puts stress on the employee, then he will not be able to complete it efficiently, even if he is a professional in this field.

When the specific performer of the task is determined, you can proceed to the process of delegation of authority. Here, too, certain principles must be observed.

Principles of delegation of authority.

1. Indication of the final result. Setting a task for a subordinate should begin with indicating the specific end result to which he must arrive, at which the work will be considered completed. At the same time, emphasize the importance of this work for the company and specifically for the employee to whom you delegate it (for example, this will mean for him professional growth, new necessary experience, etc.) - this way the employee will be better motivated.

2. Level of delegation of authority, deadlines, responsibility. The levels of delegation of authority should also be clearly defined, that is, the degree of independence of the employee in making decisions when performing the assigned task. There are 5 such levels in total:

Level 1. Strict adherence to directions. In this case, the employee clearly follows the instructions of the manager and strictly implements them. No “steps left and right”. If he encounters something that the manager did not indicate to him when setting the task, he will have to ask him what to do in this situation.

Level 2. Tight control. This level of delegation of authority assumes that the employee has little independence in choosing ways to complete the task, but he must notify the manager about all these methods and use them only after receiving approval.

Level 3. Recommendations. The manager gives the subordinate advice on how to do the job, which is advisory in nature. If desired, an employee can go beyond these recommendations if this will allow him to complete the job faster and more efficiently, without prior approval from his boss.

Level 4. Complete freedom of action and accountability. The manager provides the employee with the opportunity to independently search for any options for solving the problem, complete freedom of choice. The main condition is that he regularly reports on the progress of the task.

Level 5. Complete freedom of action. At the highest, fifth level of delegation of authority, the employee is given the opportunity to fully reveal his creative potential and act as he sees fit. In this case, it may not even be limited by the deadlines for completing the task. The manager exercises only general planned control.

It is very important for a manager to correctly select and distribute levels of delegation of authority for each task and for each employee, since in different situations it is advisable to choose different levels.

3. Discussion with the employee. The third principle of delegation of authority is that in order to increase the efficiency of the work process, it is advisable to first discuss the assigned task with the employee, find out his attitude towards it, how he sees himself in the role of performer, what options for solving the problem he is ready to use. Delegation of authority to employees will be most effective if it is built on the principle of partnership rather than on the principle of leadership and subordination.

4. Distribution of powers and responsibilities. The next principle of delegation of authority and responsibility is to give the employee exactly as much authority as he needs to complete the task. Giving too much of them can lead to malpractice, and giving too little of them will prevent you from doing the job effectively. It is also important not to “overdo it” with access to confidential information, and also to clearly define the level of responsibility of the employee for completing the task.

5. Lower-level employees know the details better. The fifth principle of delegation of authority says that the details and subtleties of a particular work are always better understood by those directly performing it. Therefore, if you delegate a task related to such details to a senior employee, even one who is more experienced and professional, then he will take longer to complete because he will first spend time getting details from lower-level employees. Thus, it is better not to build such a chain, but to delegate the task immediately to someone who can handle it better and faster, regardless of position.

6. Artist support. The manager should not just delegate authority and forget, but provide the necessary support and assistance to the performer in implementing the task, if he needs it: advice, recommendations, praise, etc. This way the task will be completed faster and more efficiently.

7. Glasnost and publicity. All employees of a department or company should know who has been delegated what powers so that no misunderstandings arise between them. Of course, if we are not talking about performing some kind of secret work. Therefore, it is best to communicate the delegation of authority to employees publicly so that everyone can hear it.

8. Delegating interesting and important work. Under no circumstances should a manager delegate to his employees only the most “dirty,” menial, routine work, which he himself wants to get rid of. Such an approach will only have an extremely negative effect on the moral climate in the team and, as a result, the overall morale. It is necessary to entrust subordinates with important, interesting, creative tasks in which they could fully reveal their potential.

9. Suppression of attempts to further delegate and return powers. Imagine this: the head of a company delegates a task to his deputy, who delegates it commercial director, that one - to his deputy, that one - to the head of the department, that one - to the head of the sector, that one - to the shift supervisor, that one - to a specific performing employee. It's a waste of time and completely ineffective! And, unfortunately, in fact, this happens in many companies. Therefore, it is best to immediately entrust the task to a direct performer (using the 5th principle of delegation of authority), and if you entrust someone with the work, make sure that he does not delegate it to others. In addition, if an employee has been delegated powers, he should not return them without objective reasons.

10. The right motivation. And finally, the last rule of delegation of authority is that employees not only need to be loaded with work, but also properly motivated to do it. Please note that this is not the same thing! Motivation increases the efficiency and loyalty of employees, while excessive stimulation, on the contrary, reduces it.

Powers that cannot be delegated.

In conclusion, I would like to outline those types of powers that cannot be delegated and must necessarily be executed personally.

1. Strategic planning. The strategic directions of the company's development should be determined only by the manager. At the same time, he, of course, can consult with employees, be interested in their ideas, for example, using, but not delegate authority to determine plans for the development of the enterprise.

2. Hiring and firing staff. In a small company, all personnel issues should also be resolved by the immediate manager - the same applies to the work of a structural unit of a large company.

3. Gratitude to the employees. If you want to express gratitude to a certain employee on behalf of the company, this must be done exclusively in person and preferably in front of the entire team.

4. Important and high-risk tasks. There is no need to delegate authority to perform work that could have a significant impact on the company's business. Such tasks should also be performed personally.

Now you see what important role delegation of authority plays a role in management, you know how to delegate authority, what principles and rules must be followed.

In the end, I would like to remind you about prioritizing your work and... Considering this effective tool, it is necessary to delegate authority, first of all, to perform unimportant but urgent matters. This way, your use of working time will be as efficient as possible!

I wish you success in the practical implementation of the advice and recommendations received. Delegate authority correctly and do not forget to monitor the execution of assigned tasks by subordinates. See you again at !

Authority represent a limited right and responsibility to use the organization’s resources, make decisions independently, give orders and implement.

Authority is vested in the position, not the person holding it.

Authority comes in two general types:

• linear;
• hardware (headquarters).

Line authority

They are transmitted directly from the boss to the subordinate and further along the chain to other subordinates. A manager with line authority also has the right to make decisions and act in certain matters without the approval of other managers, for example, within the limits established by law or the organization's charter.

The sequential chain of emerging linear powers creates a hierarchy of management levels. The most obvious example of a chain of command is hierarchy military organization. When the chain of commands is long, there is a significant slowdown in the speed of information exchange.

There are two concepts that must always be taken into account: the principle of unity of command and the need to limit the norm of control.

According to the principle of unity of command an employee must receive authority from only one superior and answer to him.

Controllability rate— this is the number of employees who directly report to this manager.

Staff powers

These powers help the organization to use specialists without violating the principle of unity of command to solve problems of an advisory or service nature.

The main types of staff powers are divided into recommendation, coordination, control and reporting, and conciliation.

Recommendations powers lie in the fact that their holder, if necessary, can give advice to managers or performers who need them on how best to resolve this or that narrowly professional issue.

Coordination powers are associated with the development and adoption of joint decisions.

Control and reporting powers provide the opportunity for their holders to carry out, within an officially established framework, verification of the activities of managers and performers, require them to provide mandatory information, carry out its analysis and send the results obtained, together with the conclusions received, to the relevant authorities.

The principle of delegation of authority

Within the framework of the management structure, there is a rational distribution and redistribution of rights, duties and responsibilities between its subjects. This process, the principles of which were developed in the 1920s. P.M. Kerzhentsev, was called “delegation of organizational powers and responsibility.”

Delegation- is the process of a manager transferring part of his official functions to subordinates without active interference in their actions.

The principle of delegation of authority consists in the transfer by the manager of part of the powers, rights and responsibilities assigned to him to his competent employees.

• routine work;
• specialized activities;
• private and minor issues;
• preparatory work.

However, there is a set of management tasks, the solution of which should be left to the manager. The duty of the first person in the company is to undertake tasks with a high degree of risk, containing aspects of strategic importance and of a confidential nature and all unusual ones that go beyond the established regulations and traditions of the operation.

• establishment;
• development of organizational policy;
• employee management and motivation;
• high-risk tasks;
• unusual and exceptional cases;
• tasks of a strictly confidential nature.

When delegating authority, the manager delegates (establishes) responsibilities; determines the rights and level of responsibility when exercising powers.

• the ability to engage in tasks that require the personal participation of the manager;
• focusing on strategic objectives and long-term plans for the development of the enterprise;
• this is the best way to motivate creative and active workers;
• this is the best way to learn;
• it is a way to have a professional career.

• doubt about the competence of other employees, fear that they will do worse;
• fear of losing power and position;
• distrust of subordinates, low assessment of their abilities;
• ambition and high self-esteem;
• fear that his actions will be misinterpreted by colleagues and superiors.

Let us consider in more detail the importance of the practical application of delegation in enterprise management.

Practical application of delegation in enterprise management

Delegation of powers occurs not only in the official, but also for the most part on a semi-official or even unofficial basis, and presupposes the presence of a favorable moral and psychological climate in the team and mutual trust between managers and performers. Delegation of authority is preceded by significant preparatory work. It consists of determining: why, to whom, and how to delegate authority? What benefits can be obtained for him, his subordinates themselves and the organization as a whole? What obstacles might arise?

Main practical value The principle of delegation of authority is that the manager frees his time from less complex everyday affairs, routine operations and can concentrate his efforts on solving problems at a more complex management level. At the same time, this method is a targeted form of employee training, promotes the motivation of their work, the manifestation of initiative and independence.

The main task of a leader- not to do the work yourself, but to ensure the organization of the labor process with forces, take responsibility and use power to achieve the goal.

A particularly sensitive aspect of the principle of delegation is organizing control over the actions of subordinates. Constant guardianship only hurts. Lack of control can lead to disruption and anarchy. The solution to the problem of control lies in clearly established feedback, in the free exchange of information between colleagues and, of course, in a sufficiently high authority and managerial skill of the leader.

The problem of psychological choice often arises: Which task should be entrusted to a performer familiar or fundamentally new?. Most often, a new task is delegated, especially if it seems unattractive and routine to the manager. This decision is not always correct. The problem is that, having delegated the solution to a task to someone else, the manager is still responsible for its implementation and control, and even more so, it is much easier to simply observe (so-called monitoring) the progress of the implementation of a familiar problem.

Experienced administrators often entrust a capable performer with a little more complex tasks than he is used to doing. In this case, it is advisable to prepare the task in the form of a written order. Having received a difficult task, the performer opens up more fully and receives sincere satisfaction from completing the task and the trust placed in him.

It should be noted that the principle of delegation of authority is little used by people who have recently received a promotion, because It is difficult for them to abandon the usual stereotype of past activities. However, a manager who himself sorts correspondence and types on a typewriter in front of a bored secretary evokes regret, but not sympathy.

Sometimes principle of delegation of authority does not give the expected effect: the performer does not fully perform the leadership functions assigned to him. Most often this happens in cases where it is necessary to make unpopular decisions in the team: imposing penalties for violation of labor discipline; deprivation of bonuses; investigation of immoral acts of workers, etc. Under various pretexts, the performer tries to transfer the solution to these problems to his manager in order to appear, as it seems to him, on the best side in the eyes of the team. Among other reasons, the most often cited are uncertainty about the correctness of the responsible decision being made, insufficient experience, and fundamental disagreement with the opinion of the manager.

• The powers must be sufficient to achieve the goals set for the subject. Therefore, it should be remembered that goals are always primary and determine the scope of the powers granted.
• The powers of each subject must be linked to the powers of those with whom it has to cooperate in order to ensure their interaction and, ultimately, the balance of the entire management system.
• Authority in the organization must be clear so that each employee knows from whom he receives it, to whom he transfers it, to whom he is responsible and who must answer to him.
• Performers must independently solve all problems within their competence and bear full responsibility for their activities and their results.

The principles of delegation discussed below are fundamental to proper delegation of authority. Failure to comply with them in practice can lead to the fact that delegation will be ineffective, the organization will not be viable, and the management process will be significantly hampered.

1. The principle of delegation based on expected results.

Since the meaning of authority is to provide the manager with a certain instrument to make an appropriate contribution to achieving the goals of the enterprise, the authority delegated to the individual manager must be sufficient to ensure the ability to achieve the expected results. Too many managers seek to divide and define authority by the extent of delegated or acquired rights, rather than first understanding the goals that need to be achieved and only then determining the freedom of action necessary to achieve this. Only in this way is the manager able to delegate powers in strict accordance with the requirements he then places on the subordinate. Often a manager has an idea of ​​what needs to be done, but does not think about whether the subordinate has the necessary authority to do it. Sometimes he simply does not want to admit that completing a task requires granting more freedom of action to a subordinate, and he also does not clearly imagine the expected results. Therefore, it is not surprising that the erroneous idea of ​​​​delegating “responsibility” has become widespread in enterprises.

Delegation in accordance with expected results assumes that goals are established and plans are developed, that they are communicated to and understood by subordinates, and that appropriate positions are introduced that will contribute to the accomplishment of the assigned tasks. In addition, this type of delegation indicates that planning is a necessary prerequisite for the implementation of any goals facing managers and that in practice all the functions of the manager are merged into a single type of activity.

2. The principle of functional definition.

Structural division is a grouping of activities that ensures the achievement of set goals, and the manager of each division must have the powers necessary to coordinate the actions of this division with the enterprise as a whole. Based on this, the principle of functional definition means that: the more clearly the results expected from a manager or structural unit are defined, the more clearly and completely the directions of their activities and delegated organizational powers are defined, the more clearly the official and information relationships with other managers and units are understood, the greater these managers can contribute and structural units in achieving the goals of the enterprise. Failure to comply with this principle can cause confusion and confusion about what exactly and from whom exactly should be expected. This principle (which applies to both delegation and structural division), while conceptually very simple, is often difficult to apply in practice. Clearly defining the scope of work and delegating the necessary authority to complete it in most cases requires patience, high intelligence and a clear understanding of goals and plans. It is clear that it is very difficult to define the content of work if the manager does not have a clear idea of ​​​​what results he wants to obtain.

3. Scalar principle.

The scalar principle refers to the chain of direct official relations between managers and subordinates throughout the organization. There should always be a person who has supreme power in the organization. The clearer the line of official communication between the top manager and each of his subordinates, the more effective the decision-making process and communication.

This scale is described by Fayol as:

“...a chain of management from top management to the lowest. The line of authority is the path along which all communications pass (through each link in the chain) from the top manager to the lower ones and vice versa. This is determined both by the need to maintain communication and by the principle of unity of command, but it is not always the shortest. In large concerns, and especially in government ones, it is sometimes threateningly long.”

A clear understanding of the scalar principle is necessary condition for the normal functioning of the organization. Subordinates must know, firstly, who is delegating authority to them, and secondly, to whose discretion they should delegate the solution of problems beyond the scope of their authority. And although the chain of command may well be used independently to transmit only information, failure to use it when making decisions leads to a disruption of the decision-making system and the undermining of the management system itself.

4. The principle of the level of authority.

The principle of the level of authority follows from the combination of the principle of functional definition and the scalar principle. At each organizational level there is authority to make decisions within the competence of the enterprise. The level of authority principle means that: maintaining the effectiveness of delegation requires that decisions be made within the scope of authority individual employees accepted by them rather than forwarded to higher organizational levels. In other words, at each level, managers must make all those decisions for which they have the authority, and delegate to the discretion of their management only those issues that are beyond their competence. Often, senior managers, claiming that they perfectly understand the importance of delegating authority downward, make it clear that they experience much greater anxiety in connection with the spread of the practice of delegation “upward” among subordinates. In other words, as one of the high-level managers pointed out in a conversation with the authors, it often happens that, having entrusted the solution of a particular problem to their subordinates, senior managers after a few days or a few discover that the issue has again been transferred to their discretion. Obviously, to avoid this, it is necessary to prevent problems from being forwarded upward again. If the right to make decisions is properly delegated, then the manager should not give in to the temptation to make the decision himself. Subordinates usually quickly learn which leaders are willing to make decisions for them.

Based on the level of authority principle, it becomes clear that if managers want to achieve effective delegation and thereby relieve themselves of some of the decision-making burden, they must be sure that the authority is clear to the subordinate, that he is clearly aware of it.

5. The principle of unity of command.

One of the basic principles of management is the principle of unity of command, which is formulated as follows: the more complete the relationship between the subordinate’s subordination and the manager, the less likely he is to receive conflicting instructions and the higher the sense of personal responsibility for the results of work. When considering the issue of delegation of powers, it was assumed that (except for cases of mandatory division of powers) the right of freedom of action in a certain area of ​​activity is transferred to a subordinate by only one manager. Although a subordinate may in principle receive authority from two or more supervisors and therefore be accountable to all of them, the significant difficulties inherent in working under two or more supervisors are obvious. Because the commitment is essentially personal, the delegation of authority by several managers to one person often leads to conflicts in both authority and responsibility. The principle of unity of command is very useful for clarifying the system of relationships between authority and responsibility. Thus, the president of a company usually does not distribute sales activities between the sales, production, public relations, finance, accounting and personnel, if they are not led by one person. Instead, since sales is a kind of connecting activity, the leadership of this work is entrusted to the sales manager. If, instead of one manager, the president appoints an executive committee to manage the sales division, then there will no longer be unity of command. Making every responsible person in the sales department report not to just one manager, but to each of the committee members, means creating confusion and disrupting work efficiency.

6. The principle of unconditional responsibility.

Since responsibility, being an assumed obligation, cannot be delegated, no manager can, through delegation, free himself from responsibility for the activities of subordinates, since it is he who delegates powers and distributes responsibilities. Subordinates, having accepted the assignment and received the necessary powers to carry it out, bear full responsibility to their managers for their activities; managers, in turn, bear full responsibility for organizational activities subordinates.

7. The principle of correspondence of powers and responsibilities.

Since authority is the right to carry out the assigned work, and responsibility is the obligation to carry it out, it logically follows that authority must correspond to responsibility. From this obvious circumstance it follows next principle: responsibility for certain actions cannot exceed that assumed by the volume of delegated powers, but should not be less than it. This correspondence is not of a mathematical nature, but rather of a spatio-temporal order, since both authority and responsibility relate to the performance of the same task. For example, the president of a firm may delegate the purchasing of raw materials and equipment, as well as the hiring of workers, to the vice president of production. The latter can carry out this work only if he is given sufficient freedom of action to perform these tasks. At the same time, one should not give subordinates greater powers than their duties require. Often, managers charge their subordinates for work for which they do not have the necessary authority, which, of course, is fundamentally wrong. It also happens that a subordinate is delegated sufficient powers for certain actions, but control over them correct use absent. However, in this case, there is only ineffective leadership, which has nothing to do with the principle of correspondence of powers and responsibility.

It is said that managers are sometimes given authority to do things for which they cannot be held responsible; Thus, a sales manager has the authority to sell products, but cannot force people to buy them. At the same time, the sales manager has the authority to use certain material and human resources for the widest possible sale of goods, therefore, in accordance with this, there must be his responsibility as a manager for the proper management of personnel and material resources and the sales powers he has.

The name of the principle itself contains a decoding of its basic meaning -

transfer by the manager of part of his official functions to subordinates without active interference in their actions. This optimization technique is usually called the method of delegation of powers and was discussed when considering the problems of decentralization of management. The role of the method of delegation of authority in management is so great that many researchers and practitioners tend to consider it as a separate management principle.

The principle of delegation of authority consists in the transfer by the manager of part of the powers, rights and responsibilities assigned to him to his competent employees.

At its core, delegation is a way of getting work done by others. This is a technique of a strong leader. Authority is delegated as far down as possible. Only the manager delegates authority to his subordinates to the level at which his competence and information for decision-making are located.

When delegating authority, the manager:

Delegates responsibilities (establishes);

Defines rights;

Determines the level of responsibility when exercising authority.

Benefits of delegation of authority:

Ability to engage in tasks that require personal involvement

manager;

Focus on strategic objectives and long-term plans

enterprise development;

Delegation is the best way to motivate creative and active people.

workers;

Delegation is the best way to learn;

Delegation - as a way to a professional career.

Let's take a closer look at the importance of practical application

delegation in enterprise management.

The main practical value of the principle is that the manager frees his time from less complex everyday affairs, routine operations and can concentrate his efforts on solving problems at a more complex management level; at the same time, which is very important for the manager, compliance with the controllability norm is ensured. At the same time, this method is a targeted form of employee training, promotes the motivation of their work, the manifestation of initiative and independence.

The main task of a manager is not to do the work himself, but to ensure that the work process is organized by the team, take responsibility and use power to achieve the goal. Building relationships between a boss and his subordinates on cunning, deception or flattery is immoral and hopelessly wrong. People, with all their individual differences, still behave predictably in an ordinary, routine situation - if the team knows its tasks and understands the methods used by the leader to achieve the goal with minimal difficulties, then you can confidently count on the support of the majority and find performers who can trust the independent solution of local and sometimes multifunctional problems. Such an employee, singled out from the team for his undoubted organizational abilities and professional knowledge, is well aware of the benefits of the trust placed in him, is proud of the awareness of his importance and will try to justify the trust placed in him.

Delegation of powers is possible and advisable if the manager has prepared worthy performers, trusts them and can skillfully manage them. The performer must be professionally trained and have practical experience.

Methods for solving production and organizational problems are always multivariate, and if a subordinate uses his own, independent, and perhaps still, suboptimal decision tactics, then this reveals another positive feature of the principle of delegation of authority - the performer goes through a good and absolutely necessary school of management development, learns to be independent. The performer asserts himself, his self-confidence and initiative grow. At the same time, it is important to remember that the performer has the right to make a mistake, and in this case the manager is obliged to provide him with all possible assistance in the most tactful form. After all, one of the main tasks of a leader is to develop the abilities and skills of a subordinate.

A particularly sensitive aspect of this principle is the organization of control over

actions of subordinates. Petty supervision will do nothing but harm (violation of the principle of least impact!), lack of control can lead to disruption of work and anarchy. The solution to the problem of control lies in clearly established feedback, in the free exchange of information between colleagues and, of course, in a sufficiently high authority and managerial skill of the leader. By the way, an experienced high-level official, wanting to form an objective opinion about the quality of the manager’s work, is always interested in how his subordinates work (this characterizes the manager very well).

The principle of delegation of authority will be effective if:

Subordinates really know and understand what new responsibilities have been transferred to them. An employee’s affirmative answer to the question whether everything is clear to him is not always truthful: he may be mistaken, or he may be afraid to admit that he did not understand everything;

The employee is prepared to perform new functions in advance, there is confidence in his ability to complete the task and is ensured

the action of the stimulation and motivation mechanism;

A subordinate will not receive “valuable instructions” from another superior over the head of his immediate superior;

The Contractor knows his rights and obligations without any uncertainty;

The performer is free in his actions: the less noticeable the participation

the leader in choosing ways to implement the assigned tasks, the better;

The performer is confident in his right to take calculated risks and the right to make mistakes. This is important both as a way to deal with routine and

inertia in the activities of the management apparatus;

Specific goals and deadlines for completing the assignment will be established;

The subordinate will correctly understand the need to control progress

implementation and provide objective information about deviations from

planned indicators;

The Contractor understands that he not only has the right to make operational decisions, but is also obliged to apply it if necessary. A person who has received authority not only can, but is also obliged, if the situation requires it, he must know that he will have to account not only for his decisions, but also for inaction. This provision is especially important in extreme situations, in crisis conditions, when the human factor becomes especially important.

It should be noted that the principle of delegation of authority is timidly applied by persons who have recently received a promotion, because It is difficult for them to abandon the usual stereotype of past activities. A manager who sorts correspondence himself and types on a typewriter in front of a bored secretary evokes regret, but not sympathy. Sometimes the principle of delegation of authority does not give the expected effect - the performer does not fully perform the leadership functions assigned to him. Most often this happens in cases where it is necessary to make unpopular decisions in the team: imposing penalties for violations of labor discipline, deprivation of bonuses, investigating immoral acts of employees, etc. under various pretexts, the performer tries to transfer the solution to these problems to his manager in order to appear, as it seems to him, on the best side in the eyes of the team. Among other reasons, most often there is uncertainty about the correctness of the responsible decision being made, insufficient experience, and sometimes fundamental disagreement with the opinion of the manager. However, there is a set of management tasks, the solution of which should be left to the manager. This is, first of all, defining the goals, policies of the organization and making fundamental decisions. It is the duty of the first person to undertake tasks with a high degree of risk, of a particularly confidential nature and all unusual operations that go beyond the established regulations and traditions.

There is another delicate issue - the right to sign. Many managers believe that it is reasonable to centralize this right: the executor, the trustee, has thought through the decision, prepared the appropriate document and submits it to the manager for signature, who thus exercises his natural right of control. But this method of interaction indicates that only part of the rights is delegated to the performer and there are many objections to this method:

The performer, deprived of the right to sign, has every reason to believe that he is not fully trusted and such uncertainty does not contribute to mutual understanding;

Decentralization of signature rights speeds up the process of making management decisions and reduces the manager’s workload;

With the centralization of this right, it is difficult to establish the true culprits of an erroneous decision; often the manager signs the document, either without reading it, or without delving into its essence; the direct executor develops a tendency to transfer all critical decisions to a higher level of management;

When the signature right is centralized, managers become confident in his significant superiority in knowledge over executive specialists; the manager often begins to identify his personality with the organization he heads. The effectiveness of delegation of authority is obvious, but not all managers are in a hurry to apply it for the following reasons:

Doubt about the competence of other employees, fear of what they will do

Fear of losing power and position. By giving part of my powers to others, they argue, I naturally reduce my rights, and this will not lead to good.

If the performer does not complete his new tasks, then he will have to urgently intervene and correct the mistakes of others. If the subordinate completes the tasks too well, then the management may quite reasonably think about my suitability for the position, i.e. fear that someone will do better;

Ambitiousness and distrust of subordinates. A low assessment of the abilities of your employees and inflated self-esteem give rise to distrust of the staff - it is better to do everything yourself;

Fear of receiving a negative assessment of one’s actions from colleagues and superiors: oneself, they say, is a slacker, does not want to work, shirks work and therefore likes to delegate one’s work to employees; It is incorrect to overload already busy people.

This principle once again confirms the validity of the well-known formula: “Never do yourself what your subordinates can do,

except in cases where human life is at risk."