3 C’s of Delegation

3 C’s of Delegation

Delegation is one of the most useful but quite under utilized management technique. Effective delegation saves time, creates capacity, empowers people and motivates team members. Let us look at the 3 C’s of delegation that can help us delegate effectively.

How Not to Delegate?

But, before that let us see how not to delegate. Let me illustrate with an example.

A kingdom was attacked by bees. The king assured his subjects that he will drive the bees out. He told the minister to do so and went away. The minister called the general and ordered him to drive the bees out. The general deployed the army to drive the bees out. In the end, the subjects got bitten by bees.

This tale highlights ‘How not to delegate’. While trusting your team is a very important factor in delegating, that is not sufficient. Where does a well-intentioned manager go wrong?

• Overconfidence or careless approach of the person delegating: This happens when the leader or supervisor treats delegation as goal setting. They would have a casual attitude, give an unclear message, and are not interested in knowing if the other person has understood what is required or just do not care.

• Missing capability or mismatched skills of person to whom delegation is done: People may have been asked to do tasks they may not have done earlier, or do not have the proficiency to do it or are raw and not as experienced as required.

What are the 3 C’s of Delegation?

Always remember, Accountability is never Delegated. You can make the people under you scapegoat, escape the consequences but the reality is that the one whom you have delegated to is in essence your agent.

Accountability remains with you. Keeping this in mind, then how should one delegate properly?

Try to remember the 3 C’s of delegation.

Capability:

Delegation can be done properly only when the person to whom you have delegated has the right capability. Hence it is important to assess the capability, not to over-delegate and understand if there is any ongoing coaching or training needs.

Clarity:

Team members should understand what is delegated to them – nature of the work, overall objective and time frame in which the work is to be completed. Vital aspects like resource requirement, protocols and sensitivities should also be discussed with the team member.

Checkpoint:

Periodic review of how team member is doing ensures directional alignment. Positive culture and open communication channel enable team members to timely escalate and cite concerns or road blocks.

Models of Delegation

Delegation has a wide spectrum. It is possible to give carte blanche to experienced team members. On the other hand, there is more review required when it is a developing team member or critical assignment. Involving the other person upfront in agreeing what is the right level of manager’s involvement is essential.

As often happens, there are certain exceptions – people who may never delegate:

Micro-manager:

One who will always want to keep an eye on every task that was delegated.

Worker Leader:

One who wants to be called leader but never delegates as that will compromise his/her indispensability to the organization.

For vast majority though, the 3 C’s of delegation are quite relevant. The next time you delegate, check the 3 C’s of delegation – Capability of the person, Clarity given to them and the Checkpoint you have in place.

About The Author

Rajiv Baheti is a commercially focused finance leader with over 20 years of experience in partnering with senior leadership to improve business performance and shareholder value.

He has worked across product focused and customer centric industries, including roles in MNCs (Nestlé, GE, Ford), in fast-paced new ventures, private businesses/SME and in leading advisory firms (EY, Accenture).