Reasons Behind a Decision on Whether to Delegate or Act-On a Task - Essay Example

In an event where the resources of a company are to be used, the person delegating must be empowered to do so and it must be done by the company’s policies (Rue & Byars, 1993). A note to call Mary (sales clerk) about the vacation schedule is one of the issues that I agreed to “act on.” The supervisor is vested with the mandate to organize or arrange with his team of employees when they should take their vacations.

This is an important task to supervisors, who are working towards achieving company objectives, and most specifically their departmental objectives. Also, as a supervisor, I have to make sure that I have the right number of employees at all times, who I will work with to achieve my goals. Delegating this task therefore is not a prudent decision since not always will employees take vacations, when they require them. At times, the supervisor has to use his mandate and stop any vacations during high seasons. If a task of this nature is delegated and a fellow employee stops another from taking a vacation, a dispute might arise and cause quarrels within the workplace. This may reduce productivity and may eventually affect the sales of the company.

A customer complaint regarding product quality is one of the issues I disagreed with delegating. To me, this is a task of great importance, and if not properly handled it can lead to loss of the client. My attitude on this was not at all affected by my willingness not to delegate authority. I say firmly since I understand the importance of delegation. I will have more time to deal with complex issues and improve efficiency, and effectiveness. Nurturing talents and developing skills in the team, and better distribution of work in the group.

The attitude that this task “could not be delegated” was not part of me either in deciding not to delegate. I weighed and reviewed the process of delegation and on evaluating the expected results, I decided not to delegate. Clients are very sensitive at times and are very particular in their likes and dislikes. This particular complaint about quality, needed analysis to determine if the shoe was faulty and to what extent. Several other things needed to be checked. For instance, there was a need for an evaluation to assert the shoe vendor, a need for a replacement, or a credit note. Sample products from the same vendor would need to be evaluated for quality, and determine if there is a possibility of another faulty product. There may be a need to terminate the vendor who sold the faulty product.

My attitude was affected by the inclination to delegate but impacted by the difficulty I encountered in determining how the task could be effectively delegated taking care of our customer. Looking at my juniors, none is competent enough to handle this task, and they required a lot of time to train to handle such issues properly but I did not have this time. In addition, the sensitivity of the matter made it impossible for non-delegation of the task. An employee, who has tampered with a shoe, exchanged or colluded with vendors to sell non-original shoes, will do a shoddy job, and give conclusions in his favor if delegation falls in his hands. Sensitive issues, therefore, need to be acted upon quickly and by the right authority to determine the real causes. Customers also need to feel that they are an important part of the company by giving them the right attention especially when they have a problem with our products. Due care should be given with diligence, and by the most knowledgeable persons about the product, preferably those who have dealt with a similar case before.

Delegation, therefore, is an important part of management since through delegating, managers and supervisors can deal with more complex issues such as objective setting. Therefore, they achieve efficiency and effectiveness. Delegation acts like a training ground, where junior staff are equipped to perform tasks of higher nature. A manager should, however, take care of what tasks to delegate and argue out professionally why he should or not delegate. Any good manager or supervisor should have some employees who can perform the tasks he does and work should continue in his absence.