When we delegate, we give someone else responsibility and authority to get results. We are trusting the individual and we are willing to support and help as needed. You are in it together. You still hold accountability for the outcomes while trusting another with the action to achieve those outcomes.
Delegation without authority
However, if you don’t delegate the authority needed to take action, then you are not truly delegating. You are effectively handing out tasks, or worse, abdicating. If you do that, you can’t legitimately blame someone if they do what you asked, but the results are not there. If you delegate with the requisite level of authority to make decisions, then they become your partner in delivering results.
With authority there needs to be more than just the ability to spend money. It can also entail getting the support of managers in other departments to follow the lead. Without that, departmental silos can get in the way, However, the managers must realize where the interactions really matter – they can be hidden.
Responsibility without Authority
All too often, managers will “delegate”, without full authority, and then walk away entirely. They are essentially washing their hands of responsibility, thinking they’ve got “one throat to choke” if things don’t work out. Yet, they still hold accountability for results. Abdication usually entails little or no guidance and an absence of expectations and it is truly a setup for failure. I see this a lot. The manager believes the “specialist” (a less senior manager) can and will handle it, but without authority they can’t.
For example, a maintenance manager with no authority in stores and supply chain can’t possible fix the maintenance problem due to inadequate spare parts supply. A lot of problems that arise in keeping physical assets running well, cannot be “fixed” by maintenance alone.
If the one delegating (often a GM) has an operations / production background (as they often do), they often know little about maintenance. They also tend to be quite controlling (that’s needed in operations). It’s also possible they sense the lack of experience and confidence in their own managers. You need asset performance and giving up a bit of control might just be needed. If you are uncomfortable with that, or with getting outside help, you can end up with less than the performance you want.
Without authority hands are tied. If you’re in charge and you feel the need to be in the loop on decisions, you are at risk. You will probably ask for explanations and question whether or not there are alternatives. Chances are, they’ve already been considered, but you ask anyway. That slows your people down, prevents them from learning to handle greater responsibilities, and erodes whatever trust they have in you. In the long term, that doesn’t work well for anyone.
Abdication
“Here, you’ve got this, don’t bother me with details, I’m too busy”. If you delegate and then walk away, you’ve abdicated. Two things can go wrong here. First, the one you are handing off to may not be entirely competent and you probably don’t know enough to see that. Secondly, you may not be completely free of accountability and this can really bite hard later if mistakes are made.
Connecting the dots
Most General Managers and Executives tend to have little knowledge of maintenance and reliability. Sadly, many managers in the M&R have come up through the ranks and don’t actually know what they don’t know. They come across as knowledgeable and confident, and they are trustworthy, but they may be letting you down in ways they don’t even realize. How can you tell?
Specialists in most companies have risen through the ranks or come in from elsewhere. If they haven’t been in a variety of roles as they rose, they may not be able to connect the dots and see where collaboration is truly needed. In the last few years the workforce has gained a lot of smart younger people, and lost a lot of experience. With heavy reliance on computer systems to handle work flows we tend to know less and less about entire processes and how they must interact. Without that knowledge, the dots remain disconnected and results disappoint.