Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - PM0013 - Managing Human Resources in Projects

Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 1

Question 1: Write short notes on:

a) Matrix Organizational chart
b) Hierarchical Organizational chart
c) Horizontal Organizational chart

Answer:

a) Matrix Organizational chart:

A matrix organizational chart describes the areas of communication on a matrix-shaped

chart. It couples hierarchy with multiple levels of communication responsibilities. This
structure is more complex than traditional structures, but allows for better understanding
of organizations where various levels may answer to more than one department head. The
matrix contains two axes of power--one vertical and one horizontal.

Every organization has a structure that defines how it operates. This can be either a formal
or informal structure. When it is a formally defined structure, an organizational chart shows
who reports to whom and at what level they function. Top-level management is normally at
the top of the organization chart with lower levels flowing down under the person to whom
they report. A matrix organizational chart is a specialized organizational chart that defines
more complex structures.

Matrix demands an open and transparent organizational culture. People working for the
same project should share same incentives despite which part of the organization they
belong. The incentives are based on openly communicated targets and guidance metrics.

Matrices fit well for growth businesses as it may be good tool for removing obstacles of
growth. Obviously the model itself is not going to change mature business to growth path.
When introducing the model in any scale in any organization, the importance of trust can’t
be too much underlined.

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b) Hierarchical Organizational chart:

A hierarchical organization is an organizational structure where every entity in the

organization, except one, is subordinates to a single other entity. This arrangement is a
form of a hierarchy. In an organization, the hierarchy usually consists of a singular/group
of power at the top with subsequent levels of power beneath them. This is the dominant
mode of organization among large organizations; most corporations, governments, and
organized religions are hierarchical organizations with different levels of management,
power or authority. For example, the broad, top-level overview of the general organization
of the Catholic Church consists of the Pope, then the Cardinals, then the Archbishops, and
so on.

Members of hierarchical organizational structures chiefly communicate with their

immediate superior and with their immediate subordinates. Structuring organizations in
this way is useful partly because it can reduce the communication overhead by limiting
information flow; this is also its major limitation.

A hierarchy is typically visualized as a pyramid, where the height of the ranking or person
depicts their power status and the width of that level represents how many people or
business divisions are at that level relative to the whole – the highest-ranking people are at
the apex, and there are very few of them; the base may include thousands of people who
have no subordinates). These hierarchies are typically depicted with a tree or triangle
diagram, creating an organizational chart or organogram. Those nearest the top have more
power than those nearest the bottom, and there being fewer people at the top then at the
bottom. As a result, superiors in a hierarchy generally have higher status and command
greater rewards than their subordinates.

The business owner traditionally occupied the pinnacle of the organization. In most modern
large companies, there is now no longer a single dominant shareholder, and the collective
power of the business owners is for most purposes delegated to a board of directors, which
in turn delegates the day-to-day running of the company to a managing director or CEO.
Again, although the shareholders of the company are the nominal top of the hierarchy, in
reality many companies are run at least in part as personal fiefdoms by their management;
corporate governance rules are an attempt to mitigate this tendency.

Hierarchies and hierarchical thinking has been criticized by many people, including Susan
McClary and one political philosophy which is vehemently opposed to hierarchical
organization: anarchism is generally opposed to hierarchical organization in any form of
human relations. Tetrarchy is the most commonly-proposed alternative to hierarchy and
this has been combined with responsible autonomy by Gerard Fairtlough in his work on
Tetrarchy theory.

Amidst constant innovation in information and communication technologies, hierarchical

authority structures are giving way to greater decision-making latitude for individuals and
more flexible definitions of job activities and this new style of work presents a challenge to
existing organizational forms, with some research studies contrasting traditional
organizational forms against groups that operate as online communities that are
characterized by personal motivation and the satisfaction of making one's own decisions.

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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 1

c) Horizontal Organizational chart:

Flat organization (also known as horizontal organization) refers to an organizational

arrangement with few or no levels of intervening management between staff and
managers. The idea is that well-trained workers will be more productive when they are
more directly involved in the decision making process, rather than closely supervised by
many layers of management. Responsibilities‟ that require additional or detail descriptions
are usually specified in text-oriented formats.

This structure is generally possible only in smaller organizations or individual units within
larger organizations. When they reach a critical size, organizations can retain a streamlined
structure but cannot keep a completely flat manager-to-staff relationship without impacting
productivity. Certain financial responsibilities may also require a more conventional
structure. Some theorize that flat organizations become more traditionally hierarchical
when they begin to be geared towards productivity.

The flat organization model promotes employee involvement through a decentralized

decision making process. By elevating the level of responsibility of baseline employees, and
by eliminating layers of middle management, comments and feedback reach all personnel
involved in decisions more quickly. Expected response to customer feedback can thus
become more rapid. Since the interaction between workers is more frequent, this
organizational structure generally depends upon a much more personal relationship
between workers and managers. Hence the structure can be more time-consuming to build
than a traditional bureaucratic/ hierarchical model.

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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 1

Question 2: Explain staffing management plan. Also describe Responsibility

Assignment Matrix.

Answer:

Staffing management plan:

It is an important output of the Human Resource planning process which establishes the timing
and methods for meeting project Human Resource requirements. The components of the
Staffing management plan are:

 Staff acquisition – Staff acquisition describes how the project will be staffed, where
the team will be working and the level of expertise needed.

 Resource calendars – The resource calendars show the timeframes for the project
team members either individually or collectively when resources are available for the
project.

 Release criteria – Release criteria lists the method and timing of releasing team
member.

 Training needs – Training needs is a plan which explains how to train the project team
members. The plan also identifies the need of it.

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 Recognition and rewards – Recognition and rewards are the criteria for rewarding
and promoting the desired team behaviors. To be more precise, recognition and rewards
should be based on the activities performed by each person in a team.

 Compliance – Compliance details the strategies for complying with regulations,

contracts and Human Resources policies.

 Safety – Safety procedures are listed to protect the team members.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix:

A Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is a chart displaying the resources assigned to a

project. It also shows the assignments that are responsible for. The RAM allows easy
identification of all responsibilities for a given resource.

A specific type of RAM is the RACI matrix. This shows the resources that are responsible,
accountable, consulted, and informed in project activities. Table 7.1 shows a typical RACI
matrix

Activity Person

A B C
Design Responsible Consult Accountable
Build Accountable Responsible Consult
Test Inform Accountable Consult

The matrix is typically created with a vertical axis (left-hand column) of tasks (e.g., from a
work breakdown structure or WBS) or deliverables (e.g., from a product breakdown structure
or PBS), and a horizontal axis (top row) of roles (e.g., from an organizational chart) – as
illustrated in the image of an example responsibility assignment (or RACI) matrix.

There is a distinction between a role and individually identified people: a role is a descriptor of
an associated set of tasks; may be performed by many people; and one person can perform
many roles. For example, an organization may have 10 people who can perform the role of
project manager, although traditionally each project only has one project manager at any one
time; and a person who is able to perform the role of project manager may also be able to
perform the role of business analyst and tester. The responsibility assignment matrix is
commonly known as a RACI matrix. RACI is an acronym derived from the four key
responsibilities most typically used:

 Responsible:

He is the one who has the liability to give account of his/her action towards accomplishing
the task. There is typically one role with a participation type of Responsible, although others
can be delegated to assist in the work required (see also RASCI below for separately
identifying those who participate in a supporting role).

 Accountable (also Approver or final Approving authority):

Those who are ultimately accountable for the correct and thorough completion of the
deliverable or task, and the one to whom Responsible is accountable. In other words, an

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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 1

Accountable must sign off (Approve) on work that Responsible provides. There must be only
one Accountable specified for each task or deliverable.

 Consulted:

Those whose opinions are sought; and with whom there is two-way communication.

 Informed:

Those who are kept up-to-date on progress, often only on completion of the task or
deliverable and with whom there is just one-way communication.

Very often the role that is Accountable for a task or deliverable may also be Responsible for
completing it (indicated on the matrix by the task or deliverable having a role Accountable
for it, but no role Responsible for its completion, i.e. it is implied). Outside of this exception,
it is generally recommended that each role in the project or process for each task receive,
at most, just one of the participation types. Where more than one participation type is
shown, this generally implies that participation has not yet been fully resolved, which can
impede the value of this technique in clarifying the participation of each role on each task.

The first step in creating a responsibility assignment matrix is to decompose your project
and create a work breakdown structure. Once you have completed this important first step,
you will know what the project deliverables will be. If you compose an organizational
breakdown structure - breaking the project down into a hierarchy of departments, it will
facilitate the process of assigning deliverables to responsible parties. Creating this second
chart is an option that is highly recommended.

Once you have the list of deliverables, open an Excel file. Down the left-hand side list each
deliverable. If there were intermediate deliverables discovered in the process of creating
the work breakdown structure, list those as well. After listing each deliverable down the
side, list each resource across the top of the table.

Now, you will assign deliverables to resources using the following code for roles:

R: Responsible – this is the resource that owns the work. Each deliverable should have at least
one person responsible for it.

A: Accountable – this is the person who approves the work. There is only one accountable
resource.

C: Consulted – this is the person who delivers information required to complete the work.

I: Informed: This is the person who is informed of the progress of the deliverable.

S: Supportive: This is the person who provides work in addition to the responsible party.

V: Verifies: This is the person who ensures that the work meets standards.

F: Final Authority: This person gives the final stamp on the completed work.

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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 1

Question 3: Describe in brief the following HR theories:

a) Maslow’s theory
b) McGregor theory

Answer:

a) Maslow’s theory:

The focus on human influences in organisations was reflected most noticeably by the
integration of Abraham Maslow's "hierarchy of human needs" into organisation theory.

Maslow's theories have two important implications for organisation theory:

1) People have different needs and are therefore motivated by different incentives to
achieve organizational objectives
2) People's needs change predictably over time, which means that – new needs arise as
the needs of people lower in the hierarchy are met.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Five stage models)

Maslow's Levels Detailed:

Self Actualization (Fulfillment Needs):

This is the rare level where people have need of purpose, personal growth and realization of
their potentials. This is the point where people start to become fully functional, acting
purely on their own volition and having a healthy personality.

Ego -Self Esteem Needs:

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We need to believe in ourselves and have healthy pride. At this level we need self-respect,
and respect from others.

Social:
Love and Belongingness Needs At this level the needs of love from family and friends are
important.

Security:
Safety Needs Here we might include living in a safe area away from threats. This level is
more likely to be found in children as they have a greater need to feel safe.

Body -Physiological Needs:

On this level are the very basic needs for air, warmth, food, sleep, stimulation and activity.
People can die due to lack of biological needs and equilibrium (homeostasis).

b) McGregor theory:

McGregor’s Theory X and Y are appealing to managers and dramatically demonstrate the
divergence in management viewpoints toward employees. As such, Theory X and Y have
been extremely helpful in promoting management understanding of supervisory styles and
employee motivational assumptions.

There are two aspects of McGregor’s Theory:

1) X Theory:

 Employees normally do not like to work and will try to avoid it

 Since employees do not like working, they have to be coerced, controlled,
directed and threatened with punishment to motivate them to work
 The average employee is lazy, shuns responsibility, is not ambitious, needs
direction and principally desires security

2) Y Theory:

 Work is as natural as play and therefore people desire to work

 Employees are responsible for accomplishing their own work objectives
 Comparable personal rewards are important for employee commitment to achieve
work goals.
 Under favorable conditions, the average employee will seek and accept
responsibility.
 Employees can be innovative in solving organizational problems.
 Most organizations utilize only a small proportion of their employees' abilities

Question 4: List and explain in brief the six phases of the business knowledge areas
to be processes by a project manager.

Answer:

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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 1

Business Knowledge in Project Professionals:

The business decision to assess how the expected loss compares to the cost of defraying all or
some of the loss and then talking the appropriate action, with project management, the risks
that need to be managed are those that will hurt the project itself. While the project may
impact the total business, the total business is not the domain of the project manager.

This would not be a viable proposition since we may not get many individual specialists in all
aspects of a cement project from limestone prospecting to cement dispatch to meet the
requirement of any country. Neither will those individuals be young and alert enough to be
trained in any new art and science of management.

We believe that this is not necessary. The reality of life teaches us that no individual in our
society, howsoever gifted he might be, can be complete by himself. We all do and need to
supplement each other to survive. This holds true for any system, and in project management
we talk of management-only through system approach.

It would be easy to supplement the inadequacies of a project manager if we are prepared to

accept the project manager's basic role as that of a system integrator and accept with humility
that what the world needs, particularly what India needs, is that people must work together
and nothing great can be achieved unless people can be made to work together. That is the
discipline or specialization we need for our survival, growth and prosperity.

It is the synergy that we need to bank upon, and not the energy of a few supermen for
completing our giant projects or completing the great task of elevating our standard of living
through techno-economic projects. If we have been able to achieve success in some of our
projects, without proper education or training in project management, we must admit we have
been able to do so because of a few supermen. We need education, and training in project
management, because no country in the world is lucky enough to have such supermen in large
numbers.

The Six Phases of the business knowledge areas to be possessed by a Project manager is given
below.

Phase Description
Phase 1: Discovery phase. The team investigates, discusses,
Knowledge about the clarifies, and defines the situation. It is important for the
environment or situations team to understand the root causes and evidence that
led to the need for a decision.
Phase II: Characterized by brainstorming and searching for new
Knowledge about handling ideas and alternatives for resolving the situation, which
teams should lead to better choices for the decision. Above all,
the team needs to avoid a rush to judgment
Phase III: Define the criteria for evaluating the alternative
Ability of making right decision decisions. This involves identifying the advantages and
disadvantages of each alternative. Whatever approach is
used, the result should be a ranking of alternatives from
most desirable to least desirable.

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Phase IV: Begins once the alternative is chosen. This is the

Decision action plan planning phase for the project team. The team
determines activities, resources, and time lines that are
required to implement the decision. This phase requires
a concerted effort to obtain buy-in from all affected
parties.
Phase V: Decision evaluation Learning opportunity for the project team. The team
planning identifies what did and did not work, as well as areas in
which it can improve and how to do so. The value of this
discussion lies in the team's willingness to be honest and
straightforward with one another
Phase VI: Evaluation of outcome Focuses on the quality of results. The team evaluates
and process the situation: Was the situation improved satisfactorily,
or will another round be required? Was the situation
defined correctly, or is revision required? Did the process
work as expected, or will it need adjustment for the next
attempt?

Question 5: Write short notes on the following knowledge areas:

a) Time management
b) Human resource management
c) Risk management

Answer:

a) Time management:

It is the process of estimating how long it will take to complete work, develop project
schedule, and ensure completion. Project Schedule for each project a project schedule
should be defined early on. Tasks should be identified down to the task/person level.
Project schedule templates (plans for software upgrades, software development etc…)
should be developed so that project managers have a “pool” to pull from. Some of the
strategies for effective Time management in executing any project are:

 All projects that have more than 5 resources and have duration of longer than 1 month
should utilize Microsoft Project to develop a project schedule.
 Requirements should be done prior to development work.
 In areas where business changes are needed, significant time should
be allotted to do this.
 Include entire project team in planning. This will help minimize tasks being overlooked
in the plan.
 Break the project into small pieces. Not all functionality has to be delivered with one
release.
Time needed for the project by the various resources needs to be better identified. Often the
time is underestimated.

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The cost estimate of a project is made by first making a morphological breakdown of the
project, estimating each component and then summing up the component estimates – to
arrive at the overall cost estimate. Time estimate, on the other hand, is made by making a
work breakdown of the project, estimating the time schedules for each work, putting them
in proper sequence, i.e. in series or parallel, as per technical or any other logical manner
and finally matching their build-up on a time scale with the available resources. The total
stretch on the time scale corresponding with the resources sets the target. Thus, it is not a
summing-up process; rather it is a manipulating process. Therefore, time is not merely
what-it takes to do work; it will also be governed by how much time we want the work to
take.

The estimated time for the completion of a project is dependent not only on the work
content or the sequence; it will also be influenced by resources and constraints. The basic
factors, i.e. work, constraints and resources are again dependent on the data available.
Obviously we cannot have all the data needed at the beginning of the project – the data will
get defined/ refined successively with the progress of the project.

In practice, therefore, instead of trying to accurately estimate the duration, a reasonable

duration is allocated and commitment obtained from the agency that will be held
responsible for implementation. If the duration is not acceptable to any agency, then it may
be changed.

The best completed project of the past, either in the same industry or in allied technological
area, with a cut in the time estimate to induce challenge could provide the reasonableness
one would be looking for in this case. Estimating time duration, therefore, reduces people to
binding to time durations.

b) Human resource management:

Project manager does not need an intimate knowledge of and to be skilled in working with
the technology involved, he or she does need to have sufficient knowledge to know what
questions to ask, how to interpret the answers, and whether he or she is being given the
technical information needed to make a management decision. It means making effective
use of people.

 Knowledgeable resources should be identified for the project team and involved as soon
as possible. If staff is unable to devote time necessary, then tasks should be prioritized.
 End users should be involved early in the project and updated throughout.
 If a project requires some special skills (i.e. knowledge of SQL etc..), staff need to have
the training made available at the right time. This may be something that should be
included in the project plan – training assessments of project team.
 Staff should be given release time for participating in projects spanning a long time or
requiring significant staff effort.
 Clearly define staff roles and responsibilities

c) Risk management

It involves identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks. In project management a risk is

some future happening that results in a change, either positive or negative, to the project.
For the most part, risk is associated with loss, at least in the traditional sense, Loss can be
estimated, and the estimate is a combination of two factors:

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 The Probability that the event will occur

 The severity of the loss if the event occurs.

Note: Newer risk theories deal with entrepreneurial risk where there is not only a
probability of loss, but a possibility of gain; this is common in business where capital is put
at risk in order to fund a few business volumes. For the most part, in this book we deal with
risk in the traditional sense where risk is the possibility of loss.

Risk management is a broad and deep topic, and we are only able to brush the surface in
this book. A number of reference books on the topic are available. The bibliography in
Appendix B lists some specific titles you can use as reference. Risks need to be identified
prior to project. In addition, procedures on how to handle these risks if they arise need to
be documented. Staff turnover will most likely occur on projects spanning a long time. A
management plan needs to be devised on how new staff will be brought up to speed.

To establish the risk management for the project, the project manager and project team
must go through several processes. The first is identifying risk. In this part of the process
the entire team is brought together to discuss and identify the risks that are specific to the
current project. We recommend that the meeting focus solely on risk. A meeting with such
a single focus lets the entire project team know how important risk management is and
gets every one thinking about the various risks involved in the project.

As mentioned there are two major factors in assessing risk. The first one is the probability
that the risk event will occur. For instance, if a project involves migrating legacy systems to
new systems, the interface points between the tow are often where problems occur. The
professional project manager will have a type of good sense of these types of risks and
chances they will occur. When the team puts together the risk identification list, nothing
should be ruled out at first, Let the team brainstorm risk without being judgmental. The
team will put up some risks with small probabilities.

The next step in risk management is to plan, as much as possible, the responses that will
be used in the event that the identified risks occur. For instance you may want to include a
clause in your hardware contract with the vendor that if the servers don’t get to you by a
certain date, they will pay a penalty. This penalty gives the vendor an incentive to perform
and mitigate the risks. Involved in the late delivery of key equipment, for all the risks listed
in the risk identification that you choose to act upon, you should have some type of action
in mind. It is not enough simply to list the risks you need to plan to do something about the
risk events if they occur.

Question 6:
Explain effects on individuals of work environment.
List & explain the major issues related to delegation which
need close scrutiny.

Answer:

Explain effects on individuals of work environment:

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The working environment has the following effect on individuals:

 The job provides enough to meet the individual’s basic needs and often much
more. For example, 50 years ago in the United Kingdom, food and shelter were a
person's basic needs. Today, most families consider that the basic needs also
include a car, television, overseas holiday, etc.

 The job may or may not provide ample security. Most individuals seek a secure
job, whereas there are others who seek high pay for a limited period but with
limited security.

 The job provides an identity to an individual. As a member of an organisation,

the person carries out a specific function.

 The job gives the worker companionship, freedom from boredom, and an interest
during the person’s working life.

 The job provides self-fulfilment for individuals, where the job is creative in nature
and gives job satisfaction.

 The job provides status to an individual.

 The job will:

• Affect the spirit of the team

• Determine whether the team achieves the objectives set by the
organisation
• Determine the degree of cooperation provided by the team
• Motivate the team to give their best
• Determine whether the human relations within an organisation are good
or bad
• Affect the relations between management and trade unions

b) List & explain the three major issues related to delegation

which need close scrutiny.

Delegation is considered essential when one has to be at more than one place and doing
more than one thing simultaneously. A manager at his individual level can achieve this by
entrusting some task to the care or management of his subordinates. In project
management delegation has to take place not only at the individual level but also at the
institutional level. An organization desirous of executing a project will be required to
delegate authority to the project manager commensurate with the tasks entrusted to him.
The project manager, in turn, may entrust a part of his task to insiders and part to outside
organizations having requisite skills for management of the same. Each time he has to
delegate authority necessary for the accomplishment of the tasks.

It is interesting to note that the reasons for delegation, the process of delegation as also
the expected outcome from delegation are almost the same with individual as well as
institutional delegation. But delegation at the individual level and with insiders is known
more for various lapses, and if the same is allowed to perpetuate at the institutional level it

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may be disastrous for any project. We should, therefore, examine what goes wrong with
delegation at the individual level so that the same is avoided when delegation is
institutionalized.

The issues relating to delegation which need close scrutiny are:

1) What to delegate?
2) When to delegate?
3) How to delegate?

What to Delegate:

Delegation does not take place when a project manager is merely asked to go ahead with a
project without authority. The project manager, in that case, is being merely asked to do a
task and not manage a task. He cannot be expected to assume responsibility nor held
accountable for results. He has nothing to sub-delegate nor can he demand results from
others. Authority has to be granted to make commitments, use resources, issue
instructions, demand adherence and take necessary actions for the performance of tasks.
As far as possible delegation should be in writing, and in case of institutional delegation
this should always be in writing, it is true that some authority can be acquired by
individuals by virtue of personal qualities and technical competence. However, this can
rarely happen between institutions. Institutional delegation has not only to be in writing
and appear formal but should contain legal overtones too.

When authority is delegated a managerial position is created. The recipient of the authority
now becomes a manager and can be expected to perform managerial functions. But mere
assignment of the task and delegation of authority will not ensure performance unless the
recipient considers it his moral obligation to produce results. This is what all of us refer to
as responsibility, and it must have become clear by now that this is not a thing which can
be delegated in writing – this is something which one undertakes by himself. Though, one
may legitimately expect responsibility to be passed on concurrently with delegation of
authority, yet it may not necessarily happen this way. Responsibility is an attitude of mind
which cannot be passed on in writing; and to that extent the delegator, whatever authority
he may pass on, will still be responsible for the tasks from which he cannot absolve
himself.

Thus responsibility cannot be delegated, but only authority can be delegated, and to the
extent necessary for the accomplishment of the task. And since authority, like money, has
to be used for a cause, it must likewise be accounted for in order to ensure its best use.
This is referred to as accountability. So when authority is delegated, the delegate remains
accountable to the delegator about the use of the authority. This can ensure compliance of
the delegator's plans and directives and enable the delegator to discharge his
responsibilities. Further, because the delegate is accountable, he invariably assumes the
responsibilities, matching the extent of authority he receives. Where this does not happen,
rather than withdrawing authority the incumbent should be replaced; for authority, as we
have discussed, is essential for the accomplishment of the task.

When to Delegate:

Delegation, whether institutional or individual, enhances one's capability of doing things.

One stands to gain from delegation:

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 When one is simply overburdened and cannot handle all the tasks in the required
time though one has the know-how;
 When one does not have the know-how and is not interested in building up the
same as it may not be of any use in future;
 When the job is so specialized that it is either not possible to build up the
capability or build it by the time it is needed;
 When someone can do it better qualitatively, economically and on time;
 When the work is not secret, or when delegation will not cause problems even if it
is a secret;
 When the intention is to develop staff or growth of ancillary organizations and
there are capable individuals and organizations available; and
 When the work is routine and the delegator's time can be more profitably utilized
by diverting his attention from routine areas.

In practice, however, delegation may not take place even though the situation may be
ideally suited for delegation. Project managers may not be delegated requisite authorities
which, in turn, may reduce them to dummies incapable of functioning effectively. Some
owner organizations may attempt doing everything themselves. They may even build up a
full-fledged project engineering division even though they may not have further projects in
the pipeline and their main business is only the operation of the plant and not engineering
of the same.

How to Delegate:

To get the most from delegation, the delegate must be given a complete picture of what he
has to do, how to do it and how much authority he has to get it done. It is also necessary
that the entire thing is put on record as otherwise the delegate would not know what the
delegator has in mind and also the basis for accountability will not be established. It is also
quite possible that one might overstep the authority delegated, not necessarily in his
anxiety to get a task completed faster or better, but merely to satisfy his egoistic needs or
hunger for power. Only written delegation can provide the delegator the power to discipline
the delegate should the occasion so arise.

Delegation, whether at individual or institutional level, involves a certain amount of

bargaining. The delegator may like to pass on a 'hot potato’ but the delegate would not like
to accept it unless the return would more than compensate the trouble. However, what the
delegate would consider adequate compensation may vary, and unless the delegator has a
few options it may indeed call for tough bargaining.

Delegation, thus, is not a simple and a casual affair. To realize best results both the
delegator and the delegate must have a proper appreciation of what is to be delegated,
when delegation is called for and how delegation has to be made. If delegation is not
properly done it may boomerang on the delegator, and instead of helping will hinder the
progress of work.

Bhupinder Singh Reg. No. 521063004 Page 15 of 15