Workbook
introduction

1 ILM Super Series study links

This workbook addresses the issues of Organizing and Delegating. Should you wish to extend your study to other Super Series workbooks covering related or different subject areas, you will find a comprehensive list at the back of this book.

2 Links to ILM qualifications

This workbook relates to the learning outcomes of Unit M3.21 Organizing and delegating from the ILM Level 3 Award, Certificate and Diploma in First Line Management.

3 Links to S/NVQs in management

This workbook relates to the following Unit of the Management Standards which are used in S/NVQs in Management, as well as a range of other S/NVQs:

B6. Provide leadership in your area of responsibility D6. Allocate and monitor the progress and quality of work in your area of responsibility

4 Workbook objectives

Delegation allows you to share some of your work and responsibilities with your team members, and it is an important skill for managing, organizing and developing your team.

In this workbook we will be exploring how you allocate work to your team, what delegation means, why it is important and what it involves. Then we will turn to the question of how to delegate successfully.

The workbook helps you to allocate work and put effective delegation into practice in your own work.

But what happens to the work in your team when you aren't there? Does the work still get done, or does it just stumble along until you get back? Many first line managers and team leaders report that there is usually a huge backlog of questions and problems waiting for them as soon as they walk through the door.

On one level this can be a great comfort – showing, as it does, just how important the manager is to the work of his or her section. But you probably agree that such dependence can put enormous pressures on any manager. It also suggests that the manager's team is not working together effectively, and perhaps that the manager is not developing the overall competence of the team. But one of the major responsibilities of managers is to build a team which can get the work done efficiently and effectively.

4.1  Objectives

When you have worked through this workbook you will be better able to:

   plan and allocate work to your team;

   explain why delegation is an important management technique;

   use the process of delegation to delegate effectively;

    control your workteam more efficiently.

5 Activity planner

The following Activities require some planning so you may want to look at these now.

Activity 25 asks you to draw up a work diary so you can get a clear idea of what you actually do during the day, rather than what you think or plan to spend your time doing.

Activities 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39 and 40 are a series of 11 Activities which guide you through the process of effective delegation.

Some or all of these Activities may provide the basis of evidence for your S/NVQ portfolio. All Portfolio Activities and the Work-based assignment are signposted with this icon.

The icon states the elements to which the Portfolio Activities and Work-based assignment relate.