Delegation
Featured in the The Team Leader's Development Manual training manual
By Mike Fenwick
Category: People Management and Motivation
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
The newly appointed team leader is likely to have a number of concerns about their new role. Even more experienced managers find this one tricky to get right – just what do I delegate, how much and when? This is one of the main concerns of new team leaders and one of the more difficult aspects of management training. In this training activity, the participants will be introduced to the concepts of ‘extended’ and ‘contracted’ delegation. Although no one can tell the team leader exactly what they should or shouldn’t delegate, it is useful to think about the reasons why they might delegate more, or less, than they would consider to be right. Delegation is not a matter of deciding what is delegated and what is not, it is more a case of producing positive effects by considering good reasons for delegating or not delegating particular tasks in various circumstances.
You begin this training activity by asking participants to consider why a leader needs to delegate. Then you explain that there is no right or wrong answer to the question: What should I delegate? Using an overhead transparency, you introduce the participants to the ‘delegation model’, showing the leader’s responsibility split into two areas – entitled ‘team leader’s tasks’ and ‘area of delegation’. They go on to use this model to list what tasks they think fall into these two areas in the case of their own jobs. You then move on to introduce the concepts of ‘extended delegation’ and ‘contracted delegation’. In two groups, the participants discuss what reasons there are, both good and bad, for a team leader to use extended or contracted delegation. They then consider, again in groups, what effects may result, both positive and negative, from using extended and contracted delegation.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to show participants how to consider delegation in terms of ‘expanded’ or ‘contracted’ delegation, and to assess the reasons for and effects of doing each.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 18 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers as part of a management development programmes, or as a stand-alone training activity in a programme focusing on delegation skills. It can also be used in programmes on assertiveness, communication, considering colleagues, decision making, developing others, influencing others, leadership, motivation, planning, teamwork, and time management.
Download the training activity, Delegation as featured in the Fenman training manual; The Team Leader's Development Manual