Delegation is when managers use their authority to assign responsibility to others in their workplace, such as their direct reports or co-workers. Delegating tasks is important because the higher-level strategic planning you’re responsible for takes time and energy. You won’t have either of those if you’re bogged down with busywork.

For example, imagine you are a marketing director overseeing an email campaign to a group of customers. Before the campaign can begin, you need to create its content, design its graphics and build an email list of your target audience. Then the campaign must be added to email marketing software such as iContact or Mailchimp. [Read related article: Best Email Marketing Software and Services of 2025] 

When delegating tasks for this campaign, a good manager must send detailed instructions via email or a delegation tool. Be sure to include your vision and goals in the instructions. In this example, the following staff are perfect for assisting with the campaign:

• Graphic designer: Designs images to live alongside email content
• Copywriter: Writes and edits content, including the subject line
• Marketing specialist: Pulls the email list from a source, such as Salesforce or a different customer relationship management (CRM) tool

Once each member of your team has completed their assigned task, they should send it to you for review. You then put all the pieces together and schedule the email campaign for deployment.

3 elements of delegation

There are three main aspects of delegating responsibility, known as the elements of delegation:

1. Authority: This refers to the right of a manager to direct employees to perform certain tasks within the scope of their team’s purview. This means the manager has authority over the subordinate. Prior to assigning tasks, managers need to use their authority to assess the skills of their subordinates and be aware that sometimes subordinates require training. As an authority figure, you also need to act like a leader and avoid micromanaging.
2. Responsibility: This is the obligation a subordinate has to successfully complete the duties they are assigned. A management figure is passing a certain level of trust to a subordinate to complete tasks effectively…[MORE]