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To what extent should a Project Manager delegate responsibilities?

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Ebenezer Daramola Manager| Ebensoft Consulting Ltd London, United Kingdom

I have heard about several conflicts in project environments that stemmed out from team members thinking that the Project Manager is doing too much and not letting the team members perform in some activities and in another instance where team members think that the Project Manager has delegated too much to them leaving him with little or nothing to do other than supervision.

So what should be the extent of delegation a Project Manager should adopt?

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 5:55 AM

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Elizabeth Harrin Director| RebelsGuideToPM.com London, England, United Kingdom

I think you should delegate as much as possible, while remaining fair. In other words, don't delegate out the rubbish jobs and keep the good ones for yourself!

Supervision is the role of the project manager, although many PMs I know also perform tasks - we have to, or the work wouldn't get done. Delegate to the limits of the capabilities of your team.

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 9:54 AM

Ebenezer Daramola Manager| Ebensoft Consulting Ltd London, United Kingdom

Thanks Elizabeth. I agree with you. I always emphasize on my project that though we all have individual responsibilities, we should always try to work as a team and succeed together, no one should be left out.
I shouldn't be seen to be doing too much or doing less but the focus should always be on synergy and team performance.

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 10:18 AM

Dimitra Tsolka Project Manager| Intracom Telecom SA Athens, Maroussi, Greece

In my opinion, the level of delegation should also take into account the level of maturity of the team. The newest the team the less delegation. If on the other hand the team is very mature meaning they have been successfully working together for a long period, delegation level can be much higher and can be commonly agreed by PM and team members!

One point of attention is the stakeholders management. It needs experience that may not be present in the project team. Delegation can be proved tricky here!

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 10:30 AM

Ebenezer Daramola Manager| Ebensoft Consulting Ltd London, United Kingdom

Thanks Dimitra for your comment.

Ultimately, the Project Manager is responsible for the success and the failure of the project. When delegating, the key factor should be to achieve all project objectives within the limit of tolerance. He should know the capability of every individual in the team and what they can handle and task assignments should be based on that while the project Manager should also always be available to provide support.
I have managed projects where I was actively involved in coding and testing along with the developers and testers on the project when I'm less busy with administrative duties.

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 11:24 AM

arlene trimble Assistant IT Director| Local Government Alamo, Ca, United States

I believe in 'Strength in Numbers' as shown by the outstanding play of the Golden State Warriors.

As a Project or Program Manager, it would be helpful if PMs would be more of a team coach and facilitator to ensure that the project impediments are removed to assist the team in reaching the project goal. There is power in project teamwork and the ultimate success of the project relies on each member of the team who all have significant roles and responsibilities in achieving the project goals.

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 11:32 AM

Thomas Walenta Global Project Economy Expert Hackenheim, Germany

Agree with Elizabeth, you should delegate as much as possible.
A condition for this is that you have a trusted team.

If you chose becoming a leader and follow for example the principles of servant leadership, this is way you will follow and delegate most.
Leadership then is about enablement and inspiration and less about directing, planning and checking. For example, Scrum demands that the team should be doing most of the planning and controlling and that impediments and process improvements can be handled by the 'coach', the scrum master.

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 11:37 AM

Ebenezer Daramola Manager| Ebensoft Consulting Ltd London, United Kingdom

Thanks Thomas for your contribution

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 11:39 AM

Ebenezer Daramola Manager| Ebensoft Consulting Ltd London, United Kingdom

Thanks Arlene. Well said

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 11:40 AM

Pravin Kumar Shrivastava Associate Vice President| Aithent Technologies Pvt Ltd Gurgaon, Haryana, India

There is no measurement of delegation as such. You need to list out the tasks you are doing it and try to find the suitable person in your team to assign it. You may not able to delegate some tasks 100% to team like updating the stakeholders and negotiations, so such kind of task to be owned by Project Manager.

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 12:37 PM

Ebenezer Daramola Manager| Ebensoft Consulting Ltd London, United Kingdom

Thanks Pravin for your contribution.

Posted: Jul 22, 2015 2:23 PM

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To what extent should a Project Manager delegate responsibilities?

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