Case Study 2 Testing the Rhetoric ofEmpowerment (29%) Everyone says they are in favour of delegating, but truly effective proponents of the art, being creative, are rare. For decades, management gurus have preached the benefits of pushing decisions down the line, allowing those doing the work to say how resources should be used. This has been given various names delegation, empowerment, involvement, commitment. And the logic is irrefutable. More can be achieved, people will be motivated, managers are free to think about strategy and so on. Yet every day I am struck by the number of minor decisions blocked by head-office diktat. As a group, managers are not good at delegating. In surveys, TIN/u of mangers rate it one of their weakest skills. And they get worse at delegating once they reach their late forties, say their staff. Of the 3D% who think they are effective dele, ators, only one in three are thought to be good by their subordinates. The rest are rated as 'dampers' who believe delegation means clearing their desk by dumping accumulated trivia on to everyone else. In the past week alone, I encountered three examples of poor delegation. The rst was a large European business with annual sales of 5 6m and SDDD staff. One 45-year-old divisional head has worked for the company for 25 years. He is totally trustworthy and very experienced but he has no control over the salaries he pays his people. A global financial services company I w 1Visited is little better. In the past financial year, one employee, a 36-year-old woman, generated a fee income of 2m for her employer. Yet she has to seek approval from her boss in New York before hiring an assistant. And on Monday, I attended the morning meeting of partners in a firm of accounts. The senior partner monopolised the entire meeting, while his supported colleagues sat in total silence. I have learnt five things about delegation. First. \"Empowerment\" is more about rhetoric than sharing power. Second, other centralizing forces, such as information systems, minimize the impact of that movement. Third, work organisations remain the least democratic and centralized power structures in most western societies. Fourth, those who criticize bosses for not delegating are usually guilty of the offence themselves. And fth, the poor record of delegation, often reects a mutually convenient arrangement between bosses and their direct reports. 1When you observe people=s career progress, it soon becomes clear why delegation is such a difficult issue. Managers in their twenties know little about delegation. Childhood hardly encourages it: schools are familiar with the practice of a pupil delegating maths homework to a friend. It is called cheating. However, young managers are eager to control the decisions that affect them. They are usually highly critical of their boss's unwillingness to delegate. During these early years, managers do learn something: that delegation is much easier in theory than in practice. That is partly because the effect of decisions can be dramatically different from what they anticipated. To commit a serious cock-up is a relatively simple- And frighteningly public achievement. Because delegation is political process, understand its politics is essential. Armed with these insights, managers move into their thirties and middle management. At that movement, they realize that it becomes clear to a majority that preserving the status quo is more attractive than foisting revolution. Delegation is all very well, but exposes them o'ain uncomfortable scrutiny. Before long, these middle managers tend to look for havens where they can sit on resources and watch for threats. Do not misunderstand me: many are brilliant managers of the status quo. Routine services are their forte. They centralise control, minimize delegation and insist that others follow their systems. And it works until the all-poweril central figure le4aves or retires. Among these middle managers are some real delegators. These people get rid of what they are doing now and badger their bosses for more power and excitement. There are notable exceptions, but most are in their thirties or early forties and will not rest. They leant in their twenties that their future depended on delegating. They are risk takers who delegate courageously and expect others to deliver. But even among this small number of hig h-yers= time will eventually tell. Younger managers leave to create their own excitement. Older managers become less willing to take risks. The head ofce tightens its grip. Can people who are poor deleg ators learn to do better? Surveys by London Business School's Interpersonal Skills Programme suggest it is not easy. We can reiterate the logic that others develop when tasks are delegated= but most managers know this already. They ignore that advice= because it suits them and their direct reports. The bosses can continue under the illusion that they are indispensable. Their subordinates are guaranteed an easier life after all. everyone seeks some stability. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement that skills must attempt to improve delegation. Delegation is an individual choice that requires effort. You have to want to change the way you manage. If you do want to improve, then begin by asking some basic questions. Why do you end up with all the work? What sort of impression and you giving others about your capability for bigger things? a so ck Here to enter text. Learn to say A'\"No-'. Be especially wary of 'dumpers'. After any transaction ask: 'Who ended up with the work? There is no prize for being everyone=s workhorse; it is not an admired role in work org anisation. Source: Professor John 'W. Hunt: Financial Tim es: 1?: October 2000. Questions 1. How easy is it to delegate? John Hunt, the author of the piece above, asks these questions: Can you answer them? And What do the answers tell you about adopting a participative style of leadership? Is your experience in delegation has been disappointing, examine how you went about it. RVas the task clear? Did you agree tog schedule? Was the person capable or did they need training? Did you delegate or abdicate? Did you regularly monitor the work and coach the person so that they knew exactly what you wanted, by when and in what format? In short, were you, in your own way, one of the dumpers? _t~.J Instructions 1. You are required to read the above case and answer the four questions based on the concepts, principles and theories you have learnt from the module. The answers must be word-processed in 12 -size Times New Roman with 1.5 spacing. You are to ensure that the answers follow the questions asked. Deadline for submission of the assignment: week 6. Any delay in the submission of the assignment, marks will be penalised. Ix.) 51.9.5