The Delegation of Managers
The Oxford English Dictionary defines Delegation as “The action of delivering or assigning a thing to a person or to a purpose.” Delegation is very important in the Air Force and military in general. When managers do not delegate, they can become overwhelmed. The concept of delegation can be difficult to master. I was a Contracting Officer for 6 years. During that time, I not only saw delegation within the military structure but also to the contractors we employed.
Delegation seems like an easy concept, but not everyone understands it and completes it with confidence. Some managers use delegation to ensure that they are not the only ones to blame in a failure. Some managers will delegate the difficult jobs
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After market research was completed, we took over until the contract was negotiated and awarded to a company. At that point, most of the responsibility was delegated to the Quality Assurance Advisor on service type contracts. This individual was in charge of inspecting the contractors and verifying that the work was completed. Each month, the contractor would submit an invoice for payment for that month. The Quality Assurance Advisor would have to sign off on the invoice to ensure that the work was completed and payment is justified. As a Contracting Officer, you are too busy with negotiating other contracts and ensuring that the contractual part of all the contracts are being adhered to. If there are problems, it is usually the Quality Assurance Advisor that brings it to our attention. We can amend the contract or give the contractor a notice, but we can’t be at the site every day. For contracts for supplies, the customer requesting and receiving the supplies simply let us know when the item is received and correct. Once we are notified that the contract is complete, we release the payment to the contractor. This type of delegation is necessary for our office. The Quality Assurance Advisors must be recommended by their commander and go through a lot of training before they can claim that title. Some Quality Assurance Advisors are responsible for million dollar contracts.
Delegation of authority is the act of assigning powers or authority to another entity. In this paper, I will summarize a situation where I experienced delegation of authority, and explain how it correlates to the content of Chapter Six, (Bagley & Savage, 2010).
Duties included the administration of basic contracts and delivery/task orders against Basic Ordering Agreements and Indefinite Quantity contracts which encompass the spectrum of contract types from firm fixed price, cost types and special provisions. Reviewed contracts to determine required administrative functions to include coordination with the PCO, Contracting Officers Representative, contractor and DFAS. Monitored contractor performance for compliance with applicable laws, delivery schedules, payment provisions, contract data reporting requirements, and other contractual requirements. Analyzed contract funds status reports including the review and resolution of excess funds, request and review audits, monitor electronic payment functions, and resolve conflicting expenditures. Issued contract modifications and performed final closeout of assigned contracts to include reconciliation of funds and accounting for Government-Furnished property. Reviewed different types of audit reports to included systems, incurred costs and CAS issues and resolved penalty and other DCAA findings. Thoroughly researched inspection and acceptance problem tracked to a delegation issue, resolution enabling contract closeout. Provided Contract Audit Follow-up support to Administrative Contracting Officer on estimating
Effective and efficient use of the team’s knowledge & skills while planning to achieve work objectives
Delegation is a formal process through which a regulated health professional (delegator) who has the authority and competence to perform a procedure under one of the controlled acts delegates the performance of that procedure to another individual (delegatee) (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2014).
• 29. You must establish that anyone you delegate to is able to carry out your instructions
However, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (1995) also defines delegation as giving authorization to a capable individual to execute a particular nursing task in a particular situation. According to Lookinland et al. (2005) the registered nurse was solely responsible for the care of the patients but due to staff shortage, budgetary constraints and high rate of sicker patients, the need to delegate duties to other non registered personnel arose. Delegation provides a lot of benefits for both the organization and the staff. Cost effectiveness and time savings have been identified as the benefits of delegation as these helps the organization to utilize resources and staff in an appropriate manner (Finkelman 2006). Consequently, Pearce (2006) suggested that delegating repetitive tasks could lead to RN’s time being used effieciently for other tasks. Moreover, when tasks are assigned to others, it leads to the tasks being done in an efficient manner and an increase in productivitiy (Finkelman 2006). In the same light, Potter et al. (2010) stated with delegating duties to other staff, professional growth can occur as these staff have the opportunity of learning new skills, and having enough time in engaging in other activities. When delegation is used in an effective way, it builds up teams and improves quality
Delegation can save money and time, help in building skills, and motivate people. Poor delegation, on the other hand, might cause frustration and confusion to all the involved parties.
Delegation is widely acknowledged to be an essential element of effective management (Yukl, G. 1994). Delegation is basically a process of assigning responsibility, sharing authority, and producing accountability in organizations. It is a managerial instrument that allows managers to nurture subordinates to capitalize the subordinate’s potential and ability to meet organizational goals and objectives. As a form of employee involvement in decision-making, delegation describes a category of leader behavior that entails assignment of new responsibilities to subordinates and additional authority to carry them out (Yukl, G. 1998). Managers usually find it easier to speak about delegation of
Why it is important: Delegation is an important part of the nursing practice. It enables the nurse to provide multiple tasks in a more effective time. However, the nurse must delegate the right task to the appropriate UAP. How does it impact my work/nursing practice: When delegating, I understand that there is more than just assigning someone a task.
This paper will attempt to show what skills are necessary for effective delegation, and how the managers of the author 's organization uses delegation in his or her management responsibilities. The paper will also attempt to show how delegation could be used more effectively within the four functions of management in that same organization. Through delegation managers combine task responsibilities and the authority needed to carry out tasks in the organization. The author will also discuss some advantages of delegation as well as the issue of poor delegation.
A serious drawback for running projects in this operating environment is that they often must be layered, or applied on top of the ongoing duties of members of functional groups” (Pinto, 2013). This is another area of concern when considering delegation; what areas of responsibility may be compromised by other tasks and primary duties required of the people you expect to deliver finished tasks being taken away to perform their duties outside of the project/program implementation?
The company can increase employee responsibility through delegation. If they are responsible for a task a person is more likely to ensure that it gets done and done well, even more so if the task contributes to a team effort and they can expect to receive recognition for their contribution.
Delegation and empowerment involve authority to complete a task or accomplish a goal; they do not assign or transfer responsibility in any way. Management must always take care to remember they are ultimately responsible for tasks they delegate. As tasks are completed the manager must review the delegated work and ensure that it is complete, done properly, and meets your high standards. If you as the manager are satisfied then recognize those who accomplished the task but if it not acceptable then do not accept the work and do it yourself (Mind Tools, 2007). When managers delegate or empower their staff they must clearly articulate the
Delegation is the responsibility of the knowledgeable and educated nurse. The nurses understanding of the level of skill the person posses is imperative to the successful act of delegating. Once the skill is performed it is the responsibility of the professional nurse to evaluate if it was completed and documented accurately. “Professional nurses use nursing judgment in delegation” (CNN, 2015).
Successful organizations have strong leaders and managers that develop, support and encourage employee longevity within a company. There is a significant difference between leadership and management however both skills have to be used collectively and both are important to a profitable organization. Leadership is a notion of communicating an organization’s vision, whereas management is more of the implementation of the organization’s vision. The manager typically carries out the responsibilities written by the organization and has a good team underneath them to carry out the duties and meet the goals. Most companies have a mission statement that mirrors and supports a company’s vision. When referring leadership and management, the two