Delegation is a common topic in leadership and collaboration. Conflicts often arise between managers and teams because it is unclear how much coordination or consensus is needed for a particular issue. Managers often fear a loss of control when considering giving teams the opportunity for self-organization. And creative networkers often don’t know how to organize themselves. A Delegation Board (also called an Empowerment Board by some) enables teams to clarify the transfer of tasks and projects and to promote the sense of responsibility among both managers and employees.
The Seven Levels of Delegation
Many people find it difficult to relinquish control. Delegation is a context-specific process. There are many intermediate stages between boundless trust and total control. The seven levels of delegation by Jürgen Appelo help to structure this process and create clarity for all employees.
- Tell – You make a decision for others and possibly explain your reasons. A discussion about it is neither desired nor assumed.
- Sell – You make a decision for others, but try to convince them that you have made the right choice. You give them the feeling of having been involved in the decision.
- Consult – Before making a decision, you consult your team. The team’s various views are incorporated into the decision-making process.
- Agree – You lead a discussion with all involved parties and reach a consensus within the group.
- Advise – You will share your opinion with others and hope they listen to your wise words, but it will be their decision, not yours.
- Inquire – You leave the decision to others. Afterwards, you ask them to convince you of the wisdom of their decision.
- Delegate – You leave the decision to the team and do not even want to know the details of the decision-making process.
Delegation Board
A pragmatic solution is the Delegation Board. For recurring topics and tasks, the team decides once who can participate and decide in what form. This established pattern can then be used in daily work, saving time and nerves.
Regarding vacation, for example, it may turn out over time that the manager cannot make a decision alone due to a lack of detailed knowledge. The team then agrees on delegation level 4, which means absolute consensus. This allows all employees to cross-check whether the colleague in need of a vacation is dispensable for certain projects for a period.
To ensure the new decision-making principles remain present, they should be transparently visualized for everyone. The Delegation Board is a simple tool to make the delegation level between two parties visible, be it between manager and team or other constellations. Good questions for placement are: Should the team inform the manager about a decision (level 6: inquire)? Should they agree on a specific question (level 4: agree)? Are employees somehow involved in the decision-making process (level 3: consult)?
Nothing is set in stone with the Delegation Board. If it turns out at the next meeting that the team and the manager do not know who decides what in a certain area of responsibility, a look at the Delegation Board helps. An adjustment to the board may follow directly, either because the delegation level has changed or a new area of responsibility is added. Regarding vacation, the team might eventually reach a point where each individual is trusted to make a decision in the best interest of the organization.
Delegation Poker
Finding the right level of delegation is a balancing act. Decentralized control in a company is achieved when the delegation of authority extends as far as possible into the system. The respective level depends on the scope of the decisions and the maturity of the team. However, circumstances may require you to start with Level 1 (“Tell”) or 2 (“Sell”). Over time, you then gradually increase the delegation level of the team members.
Delegation Poker, a card game published by the Management 3.0 initiative, offers a playful approach: The goal of this game is to organize team decisions and tasks in a controlled environment. Each team member selects a card for a specific task area. The delegation levels 1-7 are available. Afterwards, the played cards (delegation levels) are discussed in the team to reach a solution. This is then visualized on a Delegation Board.
In this video, our Agile Trainer Alexander Schaaf explains what the Delegation Board is all about.
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At a glance
- Delegation is not a binary matter. There are many “shades of gray” between dictator and anarchist.
- Delegation is a gradual process. You transfer responsibility to other people in a controlled and incremental way.
- Delegation is context-dependent. You want to delegate as much as possible, but if you go too far, it could become chaotic.
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