Ilorin Journal of Education

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY A PLANNING TOOL FOR EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

A.O. Akinsolu (PhD) National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration, Ondo Abstract Modern civilization requires large number of people working together to produce goods and services efficiently. The school as an organization is not an exception. One of the important attributes expected of school administrators is, therefore, delegation of authority. The predominant centralization approach within Nigerian educational system seems to have relegated to the background, the idea of delegation of authority by school administrators. This paper examines the concept of delegation of authority, the processes and principles guiding effective delegation of authority within the school system, the purposes of delegation of authority with the attendant problems and solutions in effective management of schools. The paper concludes that delegation of authority is not an end in itself but a means to an end and hence recommends steps that need be taken to enshrine delegation of authority in the school management. Introduction The ability to lead others is a prime attribute. To fulfil ones leadership potentials, one has to learn how to get people to work using their initiatives for better results (Ayinla, 1999). One also needs to develop leaders among ones staff and one of the means to achieve this is through delegation of authority (Robert & Hindle, 2001). Many school administrators complain that they do not have enough time to perform some crucial duties which their position demands; the reason mainly for this is that many of them are usually engrossed in the details of clerical works or routine duties of their schools which they ought to have been delegated to their subordinates (Coleman & Bush, 1994). The larger an organization becomes, the more complex is its administration. This is because the number of personnel and plants, the amount of funds and services to direct and manipulate increases with the size of the organization. As a school manager, one must ensure that delegation of authority forms an integral part of ones personal development plan. Keith, (1980, p. 199) cited by Ijaiya (2000) defines delegation as the assignment of duties, authority and responsibilities to others. If they accept the assignment, then they become a managers delegate and are responsible for the assignment. If there is no acceptance, delegation has merely been attempted. He further stressed that delegation permits managers to extend their influence beyond the limits of their own personal time, energy and knowledge. Nwachukwu (1988) as cited by Ijaiya (2000) opined that delegation in practice can be found to operate within two ends of a continuum. At one end is a loose control but wide freedom while at the other end is a tight control with little freedom. To him, the level of control fluctuates between the two ends and depends on the individual involved and the situation. This implies that the basic issues involved in delegation are autonomy and control. How much authority is the delegate able to exercise without referring back to the delegator? How far should the delegator exercise direct influence over the work of the delegate? When choosing a delegate, one is assessing whether a particular person is
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Delegation Of Authority A Planning Tool

fully capable of performing the task within available resources. Having appointed a delegate, one must ensure that he is allowed sufficient autonomy to undertake the task in his own way. An effective manager must monitor a delegated project/task, assuming responsibility while allowing the delegate autonomy. Delegation, therefore, is essentially a two way power sharing process (Robert & Hindle, 2001). When a manager streamlines his/her workload the amount of time available for essential managerial tasks will be increased, staff feels motivated and more confident and stress levels decrease across the workforce. This seems not applicable n most of our secondary schools. The school administrators slogan which is wait for your turn to their subordinate seems to undermine their administrative effectiveness because many of them find it difficult to delegate responsibility to their subordinate. This paper therefore examines the concept of delegation of authority as a planning tool within the school system in ensuring effective management of the school. Conceptual Analysis Delegation in schools. The school is a complex organization. The concept of delegation is therefore applicable to the school system as it is to other types of organization. The Vice Chancellor, Provost Principal and Headmaster are the Chief Executives of educational institutions to whom the tasks of directing, managing, coordinating and supervising the school activities have been assigned. The complexity of the tasks warrants the need to delegate some tasks and duties to subordinates A tactful Chief Executive of a given educational institution realizes the need to delegate in order not to bite more than what he/she can chew for the institution to function effectively. Delegation of duties in school is in respect of two board categories of services. These services are academic and welfare services (Samakinde, 1983). Academic services that could be delegated include checking and correction of unit plan and lesson notes. The planning of time table, distribution of students, admission procedures, supervision of instructions, disciplinary measures, library services, laboratory services, the development of the school curriculum and evaluation of teaching and learning. For the welfare services, many of our educational institutions still perform the following services today: supervision of lodging and accommodation, feeding, general cleanliness of the school compound, supply of electricity and water, encouragement of clubs and public relations. The school administrator in respective of how efficient s/he maybe cannot single-handedly supervise these service efficiently and effectively, therefore the need to delegate to staff and students. Delegation of authority is very important in school management and should be well understood by school heads as well as by the teachers especially its process and the benefits for the educational system (Ayinla,1999). (Ijaiya, 2000) confirms the above fact, when she opined that all school administrators and their deputies have no training in educational management and most of their appointments were based mainly on teaching experience and not cognate managerial experience. There is therefore the need to educate and create in them awareness of the need to delegate some tasks to their subordinate for effective running of the school. The Processes and Stages of Delegation Delegation within the school system could take place in three directions namely:

Ilorin Journal of Education

1.

Downward direction:- This is the usual process in which a superior officer gives authority to a subordinate to act on his behalf. 2. Upward direction:- This is when a manager acts for or performs the work of a subordinate who is absent. 3. Lateral direction:- This is a case of a manager acting for another manager or officers at the same level acting for each other (Cole, 1996). In defining any of the aforementioned delegation processes, a school administrator has to begin with the process analyses as follows: The school administrator needs to first select the tasks to be delegated and he has to state very clearly the parameters of each of the tasks. The next stage is appointment stage where the delegate is named. Proper briefing follows the appointment of a delegate. Whatever role may be assigned, proper briefing is essential, as one cannot hold anybody responsible for vague or undefined tasks. Monitoring which is equally essential comes next but school administrators should use it as control and coaching rather than interference. The final stage is appraisal. This has to do with reviewing and revising the delegate performance. Questions such as the following should be used in appraising a delegate:1. How well has the delegate performed? 2. What changes, on both sides need to be made to improve performance? Fig I gives illustration of the stages.
Analysis Sorting tasks to be delegated

Appointment

Naming the delegate

Briefing

Defining the task

Control

Monitoring and evaluation

Appraisal

Reviewing and revising

Figure 1: Stages of delegation Source: Robert and Hindle (2001). Essential Managers Manual p. 223. Planning a structure with delegation School administrators need to see delegation of authority as a planned and organized sharing of responsibilities that requires careful structuring. They need to see it an effective planning tool in the provision of a firm structure for effective school management. A well-planned delegation provides the basis for a structure that resembles a set of blocks in a building, each representing a specific responsibility and each with a specific person in charge. The stability of the whole structure depends on the individual blocks; remove any and the edifice may crumble Fig.II: Illustrates structure formation of delegation.