The Delegator

Instructions:  You are a manager for a busy, medium-sized company. You have recently been ill, and the doctor has told you that you need to cut your workload in half. Your administrative assistant offers to take over some of the jobs you currently handle. The assistant has been with you for one year and has been an excellent employee. Which activities will you delegate and to what degree?

Respond using the scale below.

0      Do not delegate.

1      Investigate and report back.

2      Investigate and recommend action.

3      Investigate and advise on action planned.

4      Investigate and take action; advise on action taken.

5      Investigate and take action.

____          1.   Reviewing your mail and e‑mail, deciding what to discard, what to answer directly, and what to pass along to you.

____          2.   Screening your calls and voice mail, deciding who gets to talk to you, who leaves a message, and who is handled personally.

____          3.   Keeping your calendar, setting appointments, and deciding how much time each person needs after discussing it with the caller.

____          4.   Tracking the budget for your department, making sure spending is in line with expectations, and letting you know of any major discrepancy.

____          5.   Coordinating the absence reports for the nonmanagerial employees on the staff, getting the information from each person every two weeks, filling in the forms, and sending them to Human Resources.

____          6.   Calculating the numbers for the monthly revenue reports, generating revenue figures and matching them to expense figures, and highlighting the unusual changes for you to discuss in the comments section of the reports.

____          7.   Handling the inquiries from field operations, including trying to find the answer to their issues before discussing them with you.

____          8.   Handling inquiries from clients, including trying to find the answers to their issues before discussing them with you.

____          9.   Supervising the word-processor and the file clerks, coordinating their work loads, and managing their performance, including discipline if necessary.

____        10.   Tracking your projects and reminding you when deadlines are coming or when something needs to be followed up.

                        GROUP PAPER:  In your group paper, indicate the activities that you would delegate and to what degree (0-5).  Explain why you choose this degree of delegation and not a lower or higher level of delegation.