The employee has to give up on the (uncompleted) task, even though he or she is
able to complete it (reverse delegation).
On the part of leaders, there is a risk that they want to do everything themselves and
cannot “let go.” Another difficulty might be that no true delegating takes place,
because the manager constantly interferes and does not extend trust to the emp-
loyee. Lastly, the delegating talk might not have been through enough, as a result
of which the employee does not exactly know what they are supposed to do.
Using a delegation scale can help to assess the specific situation and the respective
level of delegation (Fig.4.3).
4.2.7 Developing Teams
Teamwork is popular and widespread, but it does not run itself. Effective collabo-
ration can only succeed if there is clarity on the relationship level. Forming a team
is never the solution to a problem, but the first step on a long road. A survey of 376
executives working in teams shows where the stumbling blocks are on this journey:
communication problems, an unclear definition of the task and unexpressed
conflicts (see Academy Study 2002).
A team’s composition is critical to its success. Meredith Belbin (see Belbin
1996) distinguished between eight typical team roles that people consciously
or unconsciously assume because of their personality traits and behaviors when
they cooperate with others: the “plant,” the implementer, the monitor evaluator
variant I have decided ... ... and you may
discuss with me- ... nothing at all ... whether something is
to be done - ... that something is to
be done
... what is to be done- ... what is to be done ...when, how, where
and by whom it is to be
done - ... when, how, where
and be whom it is to be
done
... my reasons for my
decisions- ... everything ... consequences that
follow from this for you - ... everything ... nothing at all
Fig. 4.3 How to delegate (Source: Schwarz 2005)
4.2 Tools as Means to an End 231