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4. PRINCIPLE OF DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

The very name of the principle contains a decoding of its main meaning - the transfer by the head 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 authority and was discussed when considering the problems of decentralization of control. 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 head of a part of the powers assigned to him, rights and responsibilities to his competent employees.

At its core, delegation is a way of doing work by others. This is the trick of a strong leader. Authority is delegated as far down as possible. Authorities are delegated only by the head to his subordinates to the level at which his competence and information for decision-making are located.

When delegating authority, the leader:

Delegates duties (establishes);

Defines rights;

Determines the level of responsibility in the exercise of authority.

Benefits of delegation of authority:

The ability to deal with tasks that require the personal participation of the leader;

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 business 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 of a more complex managerial level; at the same time, which is very important for the leader, compliance with the norm of manageability is ensured. At the same time, this method is a purposeful form of staff development, contributes to the motivation of their work, the manifestation of initiative and independence.

The main task of the manager is not to do the work himself, but to ensure the organization of the labor process by the forces of the team, to take responsibility and use power to achieve the goal. To build relations between the boss and subordinates on cunning, deceit or flattery is immoral and hopelessly wrong. People, with all their individual differences, behave predictably in a normal, regular 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 skills and professional knowledge, is well aware of the benefits of the trust placed in him, is proud of the consciousness of his significance and will try to justify the trust placed in him. Delegation of authority is possible and expedient if the leader has prepared worthy performers, trusts them and can skillfully manage them. The performer must be professionally trained, have experience practical work.

Methods for solving production and organizational problems are always multivariate, and if a subordinate uses his own, independent, yet, perhaps, non-optimal decision tactics, then this manifests another positive trait the principle of delegation of authority - the performer goes through a good and absolutely necessary school of managerial 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 manner. 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 guardianship will not give anything but harm (violation of the principle of least impact!), The lack of control can lead to disruption of work and anarchy. The solution to the problem of control - in a well-established feedback, in the free exchange of information between colleagues and, of course, in a fairly high authority and managerial skill of the leader. By the way, an experienced high-level official, wishing to form an objective opinion about the quality of the leader's work, is always interested in how his subordinates work (this characterizes the leader 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 affirmative answer of an employee 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 mechanism of stimulation and motivation is provided;

The subordinate will not receive "valuable instructions" from another boss over the head of his immediate supervisor;

The Contractor knows his rights and obligations without any uncertainties;

The performer is free in his actions: the less noticeable the participation of the leader in the choice of ways to implement the tasks, the better;

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

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

The subordinate will correctly understand the need to monitor progress and provide objective information about the deviation from the 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 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 situation is especially important when extreme situations, in a crisis, when the human factor becomes special meaning.

Leading experts in the field of management G. Kunz and S. O. Donnel in their well-known book on management emphasize the importance of selecting performers taking into account the nature of the task (the principle of compliance), the need to apply a remuneration system for effective delegation powers and constantly open lines of communication: there should be a free exchange of information between the leader 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. Delegating and "authorized" must own a single information base, a common set of organizational and methodological ideas.

Often a peculiar task of psychological choice arises: what task to entrust to the performer, familiar or fundamentally new. Most often, execution is delegated new task, especially if she seems unattractive, routine leader. This decision is not always correct. The problem is that having transferred the solution of the task to someone, the manager is still responsible for its implementation and control, and even more so it is much easier to simply observe (what is now fashionable to call monitoring) the implementation of a familiar problem. There is a danger that soon the commissioner will advance so much in solving the task entrusted to him that the leader 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 slightly more complex tasks than the subordinate is accustomed to doing. In this case, it is desirable to prepare the task in the form of a written order. Having received a difficult task, the performer reveals himself more fully and receives sincere satisfaction from the completion of the task and the trust placed in him. So, for example, in Japanese firms, they are of the opinion that the manager should be a specialist capable of working in any part of the company. Therefore, when improving qualifications, the head of a department or subdivision chooses for mastering new sphere activities in which he had not previously worked.

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 habitual stereotype of past activity. The head, who sorts the correspondence himself and types on a typewriter in front of a bored secretary, causes regret, but not sympathy. Sometimes the principle of delegation of authority does not give the expected effect - the performer does not fully perform the management functions assigned to him. Most often this happens in cases where it is necessary to make unpopular decisions in the team: the imposition of 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 of these problems to his leader in order to look in the eyes of the team from the best, as it seems to him, side. Among other reasons, most often there is uncertainty about the correctness of the responsible decision made, insufficient experience, and sometimes a fundamental disagreement with the opinion of the leader.

However, there is a set of managerial tasks, the solution of which should be left to the head. This is primarily the definition of goals, policies of the organization and the adoption of fundamental decisions. The duty of the first person to accept not himself the performance of tasks with a high degree of risk, of a particularly confidential nature and all unusual ones that go beyond the established regulations and traditions of the operation. Considering situations where a managerial decision can cause irreversible consequences, it is appropriate to draw 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 junior colleague, because at any moment he can join the treatment process, but the surgeon, with great discretion and caution, decides to entrust the operation to his student.

There is another delicate issue- the right to sign. Many leaders 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 for signature to the leader, who thus exercises his natural right of control. But this method of interaction indicates that only a 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 far from being fully trusted, and such uncertainty does not contribute to mutual understanding;

Decentralization of the right to sign accelerates the process of making managerial decisions and reduces the workload of the manager;

With the centralization of this right, it is difficult to establish the true culprits of an erroneous decision, often the leader 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 the right to sign, managers gain confidence in his significant superiority in knowledge over specialist performers, the manager often begins to identify his personality with the organization he leads

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. Giving some of my powers to others, they argue, I naturally reduce my rights, and this will not lead to good.

If the performer does not fulfill his new tasks, then he will have to urgently intervene and correct other people's mistakes. If the subordinate performs the tasks too well, then the authorities may quite reasonably think about my suitability for the position, i.e. fear that someone will do better;

Ambition 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 their actions from colleagues and superiors: he, they say, is a loafer, does not want to work, evades work and therefore likes to delegate his work to employees; it is incorrect to load 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 leadership with delegation of responsibility in a market economy (better known as the "Harzburg management model"). Moreover, the delegation of responsibility as a principle of leadership and organization of management has been practically implemented at a number of Russian enterprises: the GAZ automobile plant, the Shchekino 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 were actually used in Japanese model management "Line production".

The importance of the principle of delegation of authority is especially growing in the context of dominance economic methods management, the implementation of which is practically impossible without the independence and creative initiative of the performers. This principle once again confirms the validity of the well-known formula: "Never do yourself what your subordinates can do, except in those cases when a person's life is at stake."

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I will continue the series of articles on effective leadership, management and consider a very important component of it - delegation of authority. However, I want to draw your attention right away: it is possible and necessary to delegate authority not only to the leader: to some extent, this principle 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 the delegation of authority in management, management, but many of the principles described can be easily transferred to the life and affairs of any person.

If a person will take all the work, all the affairs only on himself - he will never be able to do all this efficiently, from excessive workload the results and efficiency of his work will be very low, he will not be in time for anything and will always have a bunch of unresolved cases that will constantly be accumulate. Such a principle is a dead end, it will not lead to anything good. An alternative to it is a competent delegation of authority.

After reading this article, you will learn in more detail why delegation of authority and responsibility is necessary in management and in life, how to delegate authority correctly, how this process should take place, what are the basic principles of delegation of authority, what mistakes are most often made, and what authority cannot be delegated under no circumstances. I think you will be interested.

Delegation of authority and responsibility.

Delegation of authority in management- This is the process of transferring the head of 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 to other people, but to properly 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 the important feature that distinguishes the performer from the manager. Even if a person occupies a high position, until he learns how to properly delegate authority, he will remain an ordinary performer, “over his head with work,” and only with skillful delegation will he become a manager.

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

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, the responsibility for which still remains with the manager (the employee does the work, reports to his manager, and he reports to a higher manager);

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

Goals and objectives of delegation of authority.

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

1. Concentration of attention of the head on the main thing. The manager does not need to know everything to the smallest detail in the work of his unit. For him, the main thing is the fulfillment of strategic tasks. If a manager “pokes his nose” into all the little things, he simply won’t have enough time for really important things, and the company/department will work inefficiently. If the leader seeks to do everything himself, then why does he need subordinates at all?

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

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

4. Improving overall labor efficiency. Each employee of the company has his own purpose, and his own work, which he can do better than others (including better than his leader). Through competent delegation of authority, transferring work tasks to those employees who will cope with them faster and better than others, you can achieve maximum efficiency in 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 perform the work entrusted to him with high quality, so the task of the manager is to correctly delegate authority, choosing those executive employees who will do the job in the best way.

For this, important delegation rules. Consider what you need to consider when choosing an employee to delegate a task:

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

2. Experience in 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 “overwhelmed” with work, you do not need to delegate additional tasks to him, even if he is best suited to perform them. In case of excessive load, in any case, losses in the quality of work are inevitable.

4. performance and stress tolerance. And finally, it is necessary to take into account personal psychological qualities employee: the task is best performed by an employee who wants to complete it, who is motivated by it, who is psychologically ready and positively disposed to perform it. And, on the contrary, if the delegation of the task only drives the employee into stress, then he will not be able to perform it qualitatively, even being a professional in this field.

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

Principles of delegation of powers.

1. End result indication. The assignment of a task to a subordinate should begin with an indication of the specific end result to which he must come, at which the work will be considered completed. At the same time, focus on 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.) - so the employee will be better motivated.

2. The level of delegation of authority, deadlines, responsibility. Immediately, it is necessary to clearly identify the levels of delegation of authority, that is, the degree of independence of the employee in making decisions when performing the task. There are 5 levels in total:

Level 1 . Strict adherence to directions. In this case, the employee clearly follows the instructions of the head and strictly executes them. No “left and right steps”. 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 implies a little independence of the employee in choosing ways to complete the task, but he must notify the manager about all these methods and apply them only after receiving approval.

Level 3 . Recommendations. The leader gives the subordinate advice on the performance of work, which are advisory in nature. If desired, an employee can go beyond these recommendations if this will allow him to complete the work faster and more efficiently, without prior approval from the 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 timing of the task. On the part of the head, only general planned control is carried out.

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

3. Discussion with an employee. The third principle of delegation of authority is that in order to increase the efficiency of the workflow, it is advisable to first discuss the task with the employee, find out his attitude towards it, how he sees himself as an executor, what options for solving the problem he is ready to use. Delegation of authority to employees will be most effective if it is based on the principle of partnership, and not 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 too little of them will not make it possible to do the job effectively. It is also important here not to “overdo it” with access to confidential information, as well as to clearly define the level of responsibility of the employee for 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 its direct performers. Therefore, if you delegate the task associated with such details to a senior employee, even if more experienced and professional, then it will take him more time to complete, since he will first spend time getting the 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 do 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 the implementation of the task, if he needs it: advice, recommendations, praise, etc. So the task will be completed faster and more efficiently.

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

8. Delegation of interesting and important work. In no case should a manager delegate to his employees only the most “dirty”, rough, routine work that 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 general one. It is necessary to entrust subordinates with important, interesting, creative tasks in which they could fully reveal their potential.

9. Prevention of attempts to further delegation and return of authority. Imagine this picture: the head of the company delegates the task to his deputy, he delegates it commercial director, that - to his deputy, that - to the head of the department, that - to the head of the sector, that - to the head of the shift, that - to a specific worker-performer. It's a waste of time and it's completely inefficient! And, unfortunately, in fact, this is what happens in many companies. Therefore, it is best to immediately assign the task to the direct executor (using the 5th principle of delegation of authority), and if you trust someone to do 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 competently motivated to do it. Note that these are not the same! Motivation increases the efficiency and loyalty of employees, and excessive stimulation, on the contrary, reduces it.

Powers that cannot be delegated.

In conclusion, I would like to identify those types of powers that are not subject to delegation and must be performed by oneself.

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

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

3. Thanks to the staff. If you want to express gratitude to a certain employee on behalf of the company, this must be done exclusively personally and preferably in front of the whole team.

4. High-level important and risky tasks. There is no need to delegate authority to perform work that can have a significant impact on the company's business. These tasks should also be done by yourself.

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

In the end, I would like to remind you about prioritizing work and. Given this effective tool, it is necessary to delegate authority, first of all, to carry out unimportant, but urgent matters. So 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. Properly delegate authority and do not forget to monitor the performance of subordinate tasks. See you at!

Powers represent a limited right and responsibility to use the resources of the organization, independently make decisions, give orders and implement .

Powers are presented to the position, and not to the person who occupies it.

Permissions come in two general types:

• linear;
• hardware (staff).

Line powers

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

The successive chain of arising linear powers creates a hierarchy of levels of control. The most obvious example of a command chain is a hierarchy military organization. With a long chain of commands, a significant slowdown in the speed of information exchange is observed.

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 controllability.

According to principle of unity of command an employee should receive authority from only one boss and answer to him.

Controllability rate is the number of employees who report directly to the 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 recommendatory, coordinating, control and reporting, conciliation.

Recommendations powers lie in the fact that their owner, if necessary, can give advice to managers or executives who need them, how best to solve one or another narrowly professional issue.

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

Control and reporting powers enable their holders to carry out, within the officially established framework, check the activities of managers and executors, require them to provide mandatory information, analyze it and send the results obtained along with the findings 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 authority and responsibility."

Delegation- is the process of 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 head of a part of the powers, rights and responsibilities entrusted to him to his competent employees.

• routine work;
• specialized activity;
• private and unimportant questions;
• preparatory work.

However, there is a set of managerial tasks, the solution of which should be left to the head. The duty of the chief executive of the firm is to take on high-risk tasks that contain aspects of strategic importance and are of a confidential nature and all unusual, outside the established regulations and traditions of the operation.

• establishment;
• development of the organization's policy;
• management of employees and their 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 in the exercise of authority.

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

• doubts 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

The delegation of authority takes place not only at the official, but also for the most part on a semi-official or even informal basis, and implies the presence of a favorable moral and psychological climate in the team and mutual trust between leaders and performers. Delegation of authority is preceded by significant preparatory work. It consists in determining: for what, to whom, how to delegate authority? What benefits can be obtained for him, the 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 daily affairs, routine operations and can concentrate his efforts on solving problems of a more complex managerial level. At the same time, this method is a purposeful form of staff development, contributes to the motivation of their work, the manifestation of initiative and independence.

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

A particularly sensitive aspect of the delegation principle is organization of 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 well-established feedback, in the free exchange of information between colleagues and, of course, in a sufficiently high authority and managerial skill of the leader.

Often there is a problem of psychological choice: what task to entrust the performer of a familiar or fundamentally new. Most often, the implementation of a new task is delegated, especially if it seems unattractive, routine to the manager. This decision is not always correct. The problem is that, having transferred the solution of the task to someone, the manager still bears responsibility for its implementation and control, and even more so, it is much easier to simply observe (so-called monitoring) the implementation of a familiar problem.

Experienced administrators often assign a capable performer a little more challenging tasks than he is accustomed to doing. In this case, it is desirable to prepare the task in the form of a written order. Having received a difficult task, the performer reveals himself more fully and receives sincere satisfaction from the completion of 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 habitual stereotype of past activity. However, the leader, who sorts the correspondence himself and types on a typewriter in front of a bored secretary, causes regret, but not sympathy.

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

• The powers must be sufficient to achieve the goals facing the subject. Therefore, it should be remembered that goals are always primary and determine the amount of authority granted.
• The powers of each entity 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.
• The authority in the organization must be clear, so that each employee knows: from whom he receives them, to whom he transfers, to whom he is responsible and who should answer to him.
• Performers must independently solve all problems within their competence and bear full responsibility for their work and results.

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

1. The principle of delegation based on expected results.

Since the meaning of authority is to provide the manager with some tool to make an appropriate contribution to the achievement of the goals of the enterprise, the authority delegated to the individual manager should be sufficient to ensure that the expected results can be achieved. Too many managers seek to divide and define powers in terms of the amount of rights to be delegated or acquired, instead of 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 authority in strict accordance with the requirements that he then imposes on the subordinate. Often the manager has an idea of ​​what needs to be done, but does not think about whether the subordinate has the necessary authority to do so. Sometimes he simply does not want to admit that the task requires giving more freedom of action to the subordinate, and he also does not clearly imagine the expected results. Therefore, it is not surprising that the misconception about the delegation of "responsibility" has become widespread in enterprises.

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

2. The principle of functional definition.

Structural division is a grouping of activities that ensures the achievement of goals, and the manager of each of the departments must have the authority necessary to coordinate the actions of this department with the enterprise as a whole. Based on this, the principle of functional definition means that: the more clearly the results expected from the manager or structural unit are defined, the more clearly and fully the directions of their activities and delegated organizational powers are defined, the more clearly the official and informational relationships with other managers and units are realized, the more these managers can contribute and structural units to achieve 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. A clear definition of the content of the work and the delegation of the powers necessary for its implementation in most cases require patience, high intelligence and a clear idea of ​​\u200b\u200bgoals and plans. It is clear that it is very difficult to define the content of the work if the manager does not have a clear idea of ​​​​what results he wants to receive.

3. Scalar principle.

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

This scale is described by Fayol as:

“...a chain of leaders from the top manager to the bottom. The line of authority is the path along which all communications pass (through each link in the chain) from the highest manager to the lowest and vice versa. This is due to both the need to maintain communication and the principle of one-man command, but it is not always the shortest. In large concerns, and especially in government ones, it is sometimes menacingly long.

A clear understanding of the scalar principle is necessary condition for the normal functioning of the organization. Subordinates must know, firstly, who delegates authority to them, and secondly, to whose discretion they should delegate the solution of problems that are beyond their authority. And although the command chain may well be used on its own to transmit only information, the rejection of it when making decisions leads to a violation of the decision-making system and undermines the control 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 are decision-making powers within the competence of the enterprise. The principle of the level of authority means that: maintaining the effectiveness of delegation requires that decisions within authority individual employees accepted by them rather than forwarded to the highest organizational levels. In other words, at each level, managers should make all those decisions for which they have enough authority, and at the discretion of their management to transfer the decision only to those issues that are beyond their competence. Often, top managers, while claiming to understand the importance of delegation down, make it clear that they are much more worried about the spread among subordinates of the practice of delegation "up". In other words, as one of the senior managers pointed out in a conversation with the authors, it often happens that, having entrusted the solution of a problem to their subordinates, top managers after a few days or a few days find that the issue is again referred to their discretion. Obviously, in order to avoid this, it is necessary to prevent problems from being redirected upwards. If decision-making power is properly delegated, then the manager should resist the temptation to make the decision himself. Subordinates usually quickly figure out which of the leaders willingly makes decisions for them.

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

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 subordination of a subordinate and the leader, 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 (with the exception of cases of mandatory separation of powers) the right of freedom of action in a certain area of ​​activity is transferred to a subordinate by only one leader. Although a subordinate can in principle be empowered by two or more supervisors and therefore be accountable to all of them, the significant difficulties involved in reporting to two or more supervisors are obvious. Since the commitment is essentially personal in nature, the delegation of authority by several leaders to one person often leads to contradictions in both authority and responsibility. The principle of unity of command is very useful for clarifying the relationship between authority and responsibility. Thus, the president of a firm usually does not distribute sales activities between sales, production, public relations, finance, accounting and personnel, if they are not led by one person. Instead, since sales is a kind of linking activity, the management of this work is entrusted to the sales manager. If, instead of one manager, the president appoints an executive committee to manage the sales department, then there will be no one-man command. To force every responsible employee of the sales division to report not to one manager, but to each of the members of the committee is to cause confusion and disrupt efficiency.

6. The principle of unconditional responsibility.

Since responsibility, being assumed by an obligation, cannot be delegated, then no leader can, through delegation, be released from responsibility for the activities of subordinates, since it is he who delegates authority and distributes responsibilities. Subordinates, having accepted the assignment and received the powers necessary for its implementation, are fully responsible to the leaders for their activities; leaders, in turn, are responsible for organizational activity subordinates.

7. The principle of correspondence of powers and responsibilities.

Since authority is the right to do the work assigned, and responsibility is the obligation to do it, it follows logically that authority must correspond to responsibility. From this obvious circumstance it follows next principle: responsibility for certain actions cannot exceed the expected amount of delegated authority, 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 assign the procurement of raw materials and equipment, as well as the hiring of employees, 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, subordinates should not be given more authority than their duties require. Often, managers ask 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 authority for certain actions, but control over them correct use missing. However, in this case, there is only ineffective leadership, which has nothing to do with the principle of correspondence of authority and responsibility.

It is said that managers are sometimes empowered to do things for which they cannot be held responsible; thus, a sales manager has the power to sell goods, 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 should be his responsibility as a manager for the proper management of personnel and material resources and his sales authority.

The very name of the principle contains a decoding of its main meaning -

the transfer by the head 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 authority and was discussed when considering the problems of decentralization of control. 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 head of a part of the powers assigned to him, rights and responsibilities to his competent employees.

At its core, delegation is a way of doing work by others. This is the trick of a strong leader. Authority is delegated as far down as possible. Authorities are delegated only by the head to his subordinates to the level at which his competence and information for decision-making are located.

When delegating authority, the leader:

Delegates duties (establishes);

Defines rights;

Determines the level of responsibility in the exercise of authority.

Benefits of delegation of authority:

Ability to take on tasks that require personal involvement

leader;

Focus on strategic objectives and long-term plans

enterprise development;

Delegation is the best way to motivate creative and active

workers;

Delegation is the best way to learn;

Delegation - as a way of a professional career.

Let us consider in more detail the importance of practical application

delegation in business 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 of a more complex managerial level; at the same time, which is very important for the leader, compliance with the norm of manageability is ensured. At the same time, this method is a purposeful form of staff development, contributes to the motivation of their work, the manifestation of initiative and independence.

The main task of the manager is not to do the work himself, but to ensure the organization of the labor process by the forces of the team, to take responsibility and use power to achieve the goal. To build relations between the boss and subordinates on cunning, deceit or flattery is immoral and hopelessly wrong. People, with all their individual differences, behave predictably in a normal, regular 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 solution of local and sometimes multifunctional tasks. Such an employee, singled out from the team for his undoubted organizational skills and professional knowledge, is well aware of the benefits of the trust placed in him, is proud of the consciousness of his significance and will try to justify the trust placed in him.

Delegation of authority is possible and expedient if the leader has prepared worthy performers, trusts them and can skillfully manage them. The performer must be professionally trained, have practical work experience.

Methods for solving production and organizational problems are always multivariate, and if a subordinate uses his own, independent, yet, perhaps, non-optimal decision tactics, then this is another positive feature of the principle of delegation of authority - the performer goes through a good and absolutely necessary school of managerial 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 manner. 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

actions of subordinates. Petty guardianship will not give anything but harm (violation of the principle of least impact!), The lack of control can lead to disruption of work and anarchy. The solution to the problem of control lies in well-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, wishing to form an objective opinion about the quality of the leader's work, is always interested in how his subordinates work (this characterizes the leader 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 affirmative answer of an employee 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 provided

operation of the incentive and motivation mechanism;

The subordinate will not receive "valuable instructions" from another boss over the head of his immediate supervisor;

The Contractor knows his rights and obligations without any uncertainties;

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

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

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

inertia in the activities of the administrative apparatus;

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

The subordinate will correctly understand the need to control the course

implementation and provide objective information about the deviation 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 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 the event of extreme situations, in a crisis, when the human factor is of particular importance.

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 habitual stereotype of past activity. The head, who sorts the correspondence himself and types on a typewriter in front of a bored secretary, causes regret, but not sympathy. Sometimes the principle of delegation of authority does not give the expected effect - the performer does not fully perform the management 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, investigation of immoral acts of employees, etc. under various pretexts, the performer tries to transfer the solution of these problems to his leader in order to look in the eyes of the team from the best, as it seems to him, side. Among other reasons, most often there is uncertainty about the correctness of the responsible decision made, insufficient experience, and sometimes a fundamental disagreement with the opinion of the leader. However, there is a set of managerial tasks, the solution of which should be left to the head. This is primarily the definition of goals, policies of the organization and the adoption of fundamental decisions. The duty of the first person to accept not himself the performance of tasks with a high degree of risk, of a particularly confidential nature and all unusual ones that go beyond the established regulations and traditions of the operation.

There is another delicate issue - the right to sign. Many leaders 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 for signature to the leader, who thus exercises his natural right of control. But this method of interaction indicates that only a 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 far from being fully trusted, and such uncertainty does not contribute to mutual understanding;

Decentralization of the right to sign accelerates the process of making managerial decisions and reduces the workload of the manager;

With the centralization of this right, it is difficult to establish the true culprits of an erroneous decision, often the leader 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 a higher level of management;

With the centralization of the right to sign, managers become confident in its significant superiority in knowledge over specialist executives, the manager often begins to identify himself with the organization he leads. 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. Giving some of my powers to others, they argue, I naturally reduce my rights, and this will not lead to good.

If the performer does not fulfill his new tasks, then he will have to urgently intervene and correct other people's mistakes. If the subordinate performs the tasks too well, then the authorities may quite reasonably think about my suitability for the position, i.e. fear that someone will do better;

Ambition and distrust of subordinates. A low assessment of the abilities of their employees and an overestimated self-esteem give rise to distrust of the staff - it's better to do everything yourself;

Fear of receiving a negative assessment of their actions from colleagues and superiors: he, they say, is a loafer, does not want to work, evades work and therefore likes to delegate his work to employees; it is incorrect to load already busy people.

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

except when life is at stake."