Unclear team responsibilities? Use delegation levels.

The Seven Levels of Delegation (with Delegation Poker and Delegation Boards) seems to be one of the most popular tools I have ever created, considering the number of web pages and adaptations my readers made about them. I’m not going to explain what they are all about as you can find that in my books, on the Management 3.0 website, and in many other places.

Delegation Levels are also part of the unFIX collection because delegation of work is a crucial concept in organization design. Note that — originally — delegations levels were about “vertical” delegation: between a manager and a team. In unFIX language, that means delegation from the Chiefs (who are responsible for the overall performance of their Base) to a Crew or a Forum. Other people have applied delegation poker and delegation boards in different contexts, and that’s great. But for the purpose of organization design, let’s stick to the original interpretation for now.

For unFIX community members, I offer a download with a new Delegation Board template and new delegation level images. It includes a picture of how I see the difference between self-organizing teams versus self-directed teams versus self-governed teams.

To put it in words:

• Self-organized/self-managed: The team organizes its own activities and processes, but managers decide on purpose definition and team selection.
• Self-selected/self-designed: The team is jointly responsible for its activities, progress, purpose definition, and selection of its team members.
• Self-directed/self-governed: The team is fully autonomous, and they decide on team purpose and membership without the involvement of management.

I find that Crews are most often self-organized/self-managed, while Forums are usually self-directed/self-governed. Of course, plenty of exceptions exist; what I painted here is my view on the rules of thumb. The specifics of your Crews and Forums will be different. That’s why I suggest you discuss and set delegation levels!

Clear up any confusion about team responsibilities. Draw a Delegation Board.