Delegation and Decentralization

Delegation of Authority

Delegation is the process by which authority passes from one organizational level to another. But for delegation of authority, organizations would remain forever small. Delegation is the only solution to cope with the increasing work load of managers as the organization grows. Because of the-constraints of time and ability, a manager cannot perform all the tasks himself. Therefore, he delegates certain of the tasks to the subordinate and gets, them done.

The process of delegation has the following steps:

a) Entrustment of duties or assignment of responsibilities

b) Granting of authority:

c) Creation of accountability:

Mark Colvard, a United Parcel manager in San Ramon, California, recently faced a difficult decision. One of his drivers asked for two weeks off to help an ailing family member. But company rules said this driver wasn't eligible. If Colvard went by the book, the driver would probably take the days off anyway and be fired. On the other hand, Colvard was likely to be criticized by other drivers if he bent the rules. Colvard chose to give the driver the time off. While he took some heat for the decision, he also kept a valuable employee.

Had Colvard been faced with this decision six months earlier, he says he would have gone the other way. What changed his thinking was a month he spent living in McAllen, Texas. It was part of a UPS management training experience called the Community Internship Program (CIP). During his month in McAllen, Colvard built housing for the poor, collected clothing for the Salvation Army, and worked in a drug rehab center. Colvard gives the program credit for helping him empathize with employees facing crises back home. And he says that CIP has made him a better manager. "My goal was to make the numbers, and in some cases that meant not looking at the individual but looking at the bottom line. After that one-month stay, I immediately started reaching out to people in a different way."

Responses to "Do you think individuals can learn empathy from something like a one-month CIP experience? Explain?"