Responsibility, authority, and accountability are the legs of effective delegation inside an organization. You have to have them in the proper relation to avoid failure. This true for delegation to you and from you to your directs. There are a lot of articles out there that attempt to define the words and claim victory. Others focus the relationships between them, but fail to define them adequately. We will take the approach of defining each term, briefly explaining each, and explaining their importance in the delegation of tasks.

Responsibility

Responsibility is the imperative to do those things that one ought. This requirement can come from any variety of sources: a moral code, societal expectations, statute, or by the nature of one’s relationship to a person or thing. You are responsible for your family due to all the reasons just laid out. Duty is a subset of responsibility. Duties are those responsibilities imposed by an outside organization (e.g., the company, military branch, government, etc.). 

For a manager, responsibility is derived primarily from organizational policies and tasking from one’s own boss. As a manager, you can create additional responsibilities for your direct reports in the form of delegation and assignment of tasks and projects. However, you cannot pass off your responsibility for something to a subordinate. When you give a task or project to one of your directs, you are still responsible for it. Your boss will hold you at fault if it does not get done to the standards of the organization. This does not absolve your direct, but you cannot presume that just because you delegated something that it does not require follow-up[more].

Morally, the manager is responsible for his direct reports in a broader sense. The manager represents the organization to his directs[more]. He is responsible for ensuring he is doing so in a faithful manner. Also, developing his subordinates is his responsibility. But developing them does not exclusively mean preparing them for more senior jobs in the organization; there may not be a more senior job for that individual, but when that person does leave, you want them to have nothing but good things to say about you and your organization. This is one thing that helps you attract and retain talent.[1]

Authority

Authority is the power to effect a change in a situation or in another’s behavior. There are several different types of authority; it can be positional, expertise, or relational. Authority granted by a government, organization, or those you wish to influence. By nature of your role as a manager you have positional authority over your direct reports (also referred to as “role power” or “rank”). Role power is the weakest power you can use. It may seem fast and easy. But you are damaging your relationship with your directs the more it is used. Another type of positional authority is budgetary. The project lead will some control over the development and execution of the project’s budget. Depending on the situation, there may be other types of authority that you need to consider.

You can delegate the authorities you have, unless specifically restrained by the organization’s policies from doing so. More importantly, you should delegate all authorities you can necessary to achieve the objective set out in the project you have delegated. If you are unwilling to do so, then you should not delegate the project or you should get over yourself and delegate them anyway. If you assign a project to a direct of yours you have just given her a responsibility to accomplish an aim. You should immediate delegate to her all the authorities necessary to accomplish the goal. Failing to do so will mean you cannot, in good conscience, hold her accountable for the failure of the project; it will be your fault that it failed.

Accountability

Accountability is the assigning of consequences to the actions taken or omitted. It is what puts teeth into responsibility. If a person is responsible, but not accountable, we will be left with moral failure only. The organization will not see any shirking of responsibility corrected or the offender replaced with someone who will execute his responsibility. Actions do not have to rise to the level of dismissal for someone to be held accountable. A verbal correction can be enough. Individuals can hold themselves accountable by noting their shortcomings in fulfilling their responsibilities and taking actions to correct it and prevent reoccurrence.

A manager must hold himself and his subordinates accountable for their actions and omissions in the handling of their responsibility. Specific to himself, the manager should take advantage of self and peer accountability regularly. Early self-assessment and correction will prevent minor lapses from becoming major violations requiring external accountability to be enforced. Enforcement from subordinate is unlikely and often ineffective.

The manager is a source of external accountability for his subordinates. This role is not to be abdicated. He must hold his directs accountable by providing formal and informal feedback. Both reinforcing, positive feedback and corrective, negative feedback are essential to ensuring the team is operating as effectively as it can. Dismissal should not be a first resort in all but the most egregious offenses. That does not mean it is to be avoided, though. If after a concerted effort (check your organization’s policies), someone fails to live up to the performance and ethical standards of the organization, management. This is the responsibility of the manager for which he is given certain authority because the organization holds him accountable for results.

Conclusion

Responsibility, authority, and accountability are the legs of effective delegation inside an organization. When you are delegated the responsibility to for a project, make sure you also have the necessary authorities and have a good idea on what accountability system is in place. When you delegate a project to one of your directs, make sure you give them the authorities and hold them accountable for the success or failure. You would expect this from your boss; give it to your directs.

Additional Resources
References
  1. Chambers, E., et al. The McKinsey Quarterly: “The War for Talent“, 1998