Mentoring as a Manager Development Tool. To Delegate or Not to Delegate, That is the Question?

Mentoring as the Foundation of Manager Development

In modern corporate culture, mentoring is no longer just a formality and is becoming a key tool for developing managerial competencies. Elena Arkova, Deputy General Director for HSE at the holding company OZNA Engineering, shares her practical experience in implementing a mentoring and delegation system. The presentation details the company's journey from identifying managerial problems to creating an effective system for transferring experience.

The prerequisites for implementing the project in 2019 were typical problems for many large companies: managers hid difficulties in their departments, managed processes only through tasks rather than goals, and did not involve employees in the change process. The lack of goal visualization and weak cross-functional interaction led to problems being solved only at the top management level, when they had already reached the crisis stage.

10 Best Practices of a Manager: From Feedback to Delegation

Using her company as an example, the speaker shows how the mentoring system, initially launched with the participation of top managers and external consultants, was scaled to more than 200 managers. The system is based on 10 best practices taught to mentees:

• Feedback (praise and corrective feedback) — allows for timely guidance of employee behavior and motivation.
• One-on-one conversation — used when corrective feedback yields no results and a deep analysis of the reasons for resistance to change is required.
• Online planning and meeting moderation — tools for effective time management and conducting meetings strictly according to the agenda, without losing focus.
• Visual management — using manager activity boards (MAB) for transparent tracking of goals, tasks, and problems.
• Manager walkarounds — the principle of solving problems on-site (at the production facility) rather than from the office.

Delegation: A Development Tool, Not a Routine Dump

The speaker pays special attention to delegation, clearly distinguishing it from standard task assignment. Task assignment is work within job descriptions, where the manager checks the final result. Delegation, however, is the transfer of authority and resources to perform a task in order to develop an employee's competencies. At the same time, the responsibility for the final result to higher management always remains with the manager.

Why are managers afraid to delegate? Elena highlights several key fears: the fear of losing control, the fear that the work will be done worse ("if you want it done right, do it yourself"), the fear of raising a competitor ("they will take my place"), and the reluctance to spend time explaining. However, refusing to delegate leads to manager overload with routine, burnout, team demotivation, and the loss of experts who are not allowed to develop.

Algorithm for Effective Delegation

The presentation details a step-by-step delegation algorithm based on the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act):

• Selecting the task and candidate. Specialized tasks, developmental projects, or preparatory work are delegated. Strategy, motivation, results control, and confidential matters remain with the manager.
• Information transfer (What, How, When, Who, What for). The employee must clearly understand the expected digitized result, their authority, available resources, and the task's impact on the overall goals of the department.
• Monitoring by reference points. Control is carried out not only at the end but also at intermediate stages through scheduled meetings. This allows for timely identification of risks and adjustment of the action plan.
• Final feedback. Regardless of the result (success or failure), the employee must receive high-quality feedback for further growth.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to distinguish delegation from standard task assignment and why it is important for team development?
• Which 10 manager practices help build an effective management system in a department?
• How to overcome the fear of losing control and start trusting subordinates with complex tasks?
• How to properly build a monitoring system for a delegated task to prevent missed deadlines?
• Which tasks absolutely cannot be delegated and why?