MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How to Delegate More Effectively: Four Approaches
- 8m
- Beth K. Humberd, Scott F. Latham
- MIT Sloan Management Review
- 2024
Trust between people is not enough to make delegation work. Leaders must also scrutinize the level of trust in the process — and match their approach carefully.
Delegation still bedevils many leaders. From the overworked manager trying to alleviate burnout to the vice president trying to take a vacation, many leaders need to delegate more but avoid it. Transferring responsibilities to someone else often creates worry, friction, or unsatisfying results. But delegation is not optional: Individuals and organizations can’t grow unless people learn how to effectively delegate both tasks and decision-making.In our work over the past decade, we’ve seen delegation arise as a leadership challenge in organizations across many industries. Indeed, in health care, manufacturing, and life sciences companies alike, the question of when and how to delegate remains difficult. To address this problem, we developed a framework based on two core dynamics at the heart of effective delegation: people and process. Trust in people is nothing new to conversations on effective delegation; however, trust in organizational processes is an equally important but underappreciated consideration in delegation decisions.
About the Author
Beth K. Humberd, Ph.D., is an associate professor of management at the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Scott F. Latham, Ph.D., is a professor in strategy at the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
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MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How to Delegate More Effectively: Four Approaches
