Leadership Mini Series (Part 3) : Delegation of Authority

Article Contributed By
Lawrence Quek, AS Team


In our daily working hours, we often hear the following phases :
- Please settle this by today! Thanks!
- Your assistance to complete the updating of records by today is greatly appreciated!
- This is very urgent! Please do it now!


As leaders in today global organizations, delegation is part and parcel of leadership requirement. A leader is only a human being, and can only do the work of one person. A team is lead by a team leader, who delegates authority to the team members with care and consideration. The team members will help the team leader to accomplish the team’s goals and objectives within the timelines.

Rationales for refusal to delegate
Have you ever hesitate to delegate authority to your team members? I have experienced it and it was some of the following reasons:
- I can do it better myself.
- I fear of my team members making mistakes that cannot be “repair”, and I need to “fire fight” it.
- I fear giving them lot of works and responsibilities, and they can’t reach the timelines.
At the end of one year term, I almost “suffocate” myself although the club has achieved its goals and objectives.

Aspect of Team Building
Careful delegation of authority is one of the most important aspects of team building! After one year as Charter President of the club, I realized the following :
- With proper delegation, it plays to the team’s strengths and gives team members valuable experiences.
- It gives team members the opportunity to shine, while the team leaders have more time for more important roles and/or appropriate activities.

Ways and Means to delegate
While delegating authority and responsibility is important to the team success, we can follow the following guidelines:

Choose the right people – Every individual has its strength and weakness, we need to choose someone who is capable, able, and willing to take on responsibilities.

Make your expectations clear – Everyone has expectation of every project goals and objectives. The team members need to know the project objectives, project goals, project timelines, and the expected results.

The Progress Report – It is critical to inform our team members of the mode of submission of The Progress Report. It could be weekly submission, and/or monthly submission. The Progress Report can be submitted via email, and/or by hardcopy with authorized signatures.

Give appropriate authority – When assigning authority, we need to give appropriate authority. Don’t assign manager access to the team member who requires only officer access!

The person commitment – The team leader needs to get the members commitment of the roles and responsibilities, and must be willing to complete the work within the timelines.