Delegation

I have read many theories and methods about delegation and how to have successful or effective delegation. I believe that the best one is the Situational Leadership Style Model.

The Situational Leadership Style Model refers to when a leader or a manager of an organization must adjust her/his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to influence, i.e. the leader adjust the level of support or direction that is provided to the employee based on her/his development level in relation with the delegated task. To sum it up, The Situational Leadership Style model is based on the relationship between leaders and followers and serves as a framework to analyze each situation based on:

• The amount of guidance and direction (task behavior) a leader gives
• The amount of socioemotional support (relationship behavior) a leader provides
• The readiness level that followers exhibit in performing a specific task, function, or objective

In this model the employee development level determined based on the level of competence and commitment as follow:

Whereas the delegation styles are given in levels of supportive and directive behaviors as follow:

The below figure illustrates the Situational Leadership Style model: