Warm Tip: Click the blue text above “FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting” to learn more about marketing and distributor internal management. Some people compare delegation to flying a kite: one must be “willing to let go, daring to release, keep it high, keep the line strong, and reel in and out freely.” But delegation in business is far from that easy; many bosses are tormented by this unspoken pain. Common difficulties with delegation include:

1. Fear of Delegating The core reason for not daring to delegate is the human factor, specifically the trust of the delegator and the capability of the delegatee. When middle managers talk about delegation, they essentially want the right to use money and resources. Only when senior leaders are confident that subordinates can use these resources well and appropriately can they truly delegate fully. Otherwise, even if authority is granted, it is just a piece of paper, and the final decision-making power remains with senior management. Han Feizi said: “The inferior ruler uses his own abilities; the mediocre ruler uses others’ efforts; the superior ruler uses others’ wisdom.” Daring to delegate and being good at delegation is both a sign of a manager’s maturity and the foundation and condition for achieving success.

2. Not Knowing How to Delegate Many enterprises believe they lack management talent, but in many cases, it is not a people problem but rather the enterprise’s failure to use people well, and the core of the problem is the delegation mechanism. Common issues with delegation include:

  • Unclear authority and responsibility: When setting tasks, senior management often says, “Increase sales by X% this year, reduce costs by Y%...” They only clarify goals or responsibilities without specifying authority. So when problems arise, middle managers feel they were not given authority, implying: “You didn’t give me the resources I needed; it’s not my fault that I couldn’t get it done, it’s yours.”
  • Mismatched systems: Some senior managers say, “Our delegation is clear—branch offices have this much, directors have that much...” It is clear, but in the process, final approval still rests with senior management, making such delegation nominal. When problems occur, it is hard to hold anyone accountable because senior management signed off, and signing means taking responsibility.
  • Lack of process control: I once saw a company where each branch had a budget, and sometimes by year-end they hadn’t spent it all, so they found various pretexts to spend. Why? Because if they don’t spend this year’s budget, next year’s budget will be reduced.
  • Reluctance to use delegated power: Many bosses think subordinates don’t use the authority given to them, but it’s not that they don’t know how; more often, they don’t dare. Since authority implies decision-making risk, some subordinates think, “Since there’s risk, why use it?”

How to Delegate Reasonably? Jack Welch famously said, “Managing less is managing better.” At first, this sounds incredible, but on deeper thought, it becomes clear: managing less does not mean the role of management is weakened; efficient management can produce 1000% results.

Pushing a delegation culture from scratch within an enterprise is indeed difficult. However, once successful, it can make employees proactively think about what is the best choice for customers and their own unit. The author provides ten key principles for entrepreneurs to delegate successfully and effectively:

Principle 1: Don’t Just Ask “Do You Understand?” Managers habitually ask employees, “Do you understand?” or “Did I make myself clear?” In such cases, many employees who don’t fully grasp the details will reflexively answer “Yes” or “I understand” because they don’t want to be looked down upon by their supervisor.

Principle 2: Clarify Performance Indicators and Deadlines Employees must understand the specific goals they need to achieve under delegation and the time frame for completion. Only with this clarity can they have a basic direction for action. Delegation is not just throwing tasks at employees; it also involves making clear what management expects.

Principle 3: Follow Up Appropriately After Delegation After delegating, you should not ignore the task and wait for the employee to present the results. You don’t have to micromanage, but you should still pay attention to the employee’s progress and offer comments like “This is good” or “That might be better.” If the task requires punctuality, remind them to watch the schedule and time.

Principle 4: Review for Next Delegation After each delegation, managers should discuss the employee’s performance to review and improve. Executives in distributor companies can ask employees to describe what they learned during the process, combined with the manager’s own observations, as a reference for the next delegation.

Principle 5: Delegation Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal Even a routine small task can be a delegation; it doesn’t have to be a major project or plan. Especially for new employees, delegating small tasks can train their sense of responsibility and build their confidence.

Principle 6: Make a List Before Delegating Simply put, supervisors can first list everything they need to do each day, then delete tasks that are “irreplaceable” or “must be done by oneself” based on “irreplaceability” and “importance.” The rest becomes the “delegable tasks list.” This is more systematic and organized.

Principle 7: Clarify the Limits of Delegation Some employees may act on their own and exceed the delegated authority. Therefore, it is best to specify the “bottom line” when delegating. Once they approach it, they should stop, which prevents them from crossing boundaries without authorization.

Principle 8: Choose the Right Person for Delegation The person you designate may have more experience but may not be skilled in that task or have low willingness, which might not be as suitable as someone with less experience but eager to learn and try.

Principle 9: Arrange Support Measures Inform employees who they can turn to for help when they have problems, and provide the tools or venues they need. When supervisors assign their work to employees, make sure to transfer the authority as well. Additionally, supervisors should let employees know they can still seek advice and support from them later.

Principle 10: Let Go Once You Delegate Instead of hovering over employees, clarify expectations at the start and then let them do the work. This way, managers can save energy, and employees can test their abilities.

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