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Overview

In companies, delegation is a necessity for the management and growth of the company. However, it is common for the concept of delegation to still be confused with the distribution of tasks, and in the worst case, it only transfers tasks that leadership does not like to do.

Distributing tasks according to each team position is already part of teamwork and time management, and the leader must manage those tasks.

Delegation is the transfer of power. The higher person in the hierarchy gives someone the power and representativeness to act on their behalf. The act of delegation is always exercised by a hierarchical superior of the person chosen to receive the delegation.

The company has already invested in courses and training for leaders, but internal promotions have become problematic, costing time and money - in addition to generating friction between leaders.

The first step of the needs analysis was to find the reason for the training and courses not to translate into positive results for the firm’s goals.

Process

Needs analysis

Because training and courses were already common in the company, we decided to use the Action Map to find the best solution to the performance problem. After reviewing which courses and training scans were offered and who took part in them, we met individually with the company’s directors and subject matter experts (SMEs).“This approach allowed us to obtain objective information without creating tensions between leadership members.”

1 - What changes do we want for the company?

The board defined two goals for the project:

Make managers and supervisors proficient in the delegation process and, so, be able to develop team members.

• Improve the ability of managers and supervisors to identify potential team members for internal promotions.
• It was strategic that the company kept internal talents for possible promotions.

2 - What do people need to do to achieve this goal?

During the interviews we looked to define what people would need to do to achieve their goals. In the data collected we found that effective delegation was the priority task. At the same time, we ask, “Why aren’t people delegating right?”

Among the reasons listed were three tension situations that led to problematic delegation scenarios and thus promotion:

• Delegates have good social skills (soft skills) and technical limitations (hard skills).
• Delegates are a sign of another leadership, but his abilities (soft skills or hard skills) have serious limitations.
• The delegate had technical knowledge and skills that went beyond his direct superior.

However, the three situations above focus on the delegate, not the delegate, the latter, yes, the target audience of the project. As a result, we conducted a new round of interviews with some leaders and experts on the subject to understand the cause: whether it was a company’s cultural problem, lack of information, lack of skills, etc.

With the data we were able to conclude that the courses and training delivered theoretical knowledge to the leaders. However, most of them found it difficult to apply the theory in real life. For them, reality has vastly different nuances of theory and applying the course material in daily life would be nearly impossible, as, for example, always have a professional with all the qualities necessary to delegate.

3 - Can we help people practice what they need?

With Problem Analysis in hand, the time has come to decide the best approach to motivate them to strive to implement the theory of the delegation process in their routines. For this, the solution needed to have three characteristics.

• Be realistic and follow the business environment, not just theoretical.
• Develop the ability to apply facts and principles to new situations.
• Be deprived, to allow error and repetition of the solution until its understanding.

We decided to create an eLearning experience based on scenario-based and informative material about the delegation process for consultation when needed.

The instructional design solution would be used, at first, on the participants’ computers. However, the company also wanted this solution to be accessed from smartphones and tablets if necessary.

4 - What is the MINIMUM information that the person needs to practice what they need to do?

The information material needed to summarize the steps for delegation and guidance for more complex materials if the person needed or wanted more information.

On the other hand, the scenario-based eLearning experience had to address the three problematic situations that led to delegation and promotion problems.

Scenario-based eLearning experience

Development

Using the action map as a basis, I then created a framework for this project, referring to my conversations with SMEs to create a realistic scenario.

This scenario would be a delegation challenge, where the person could choose his “delegate” from among three personas, representing the three situations of tension during the delegation process.

Each “delegate” has its own characteristics, and the person needs to make decisions during the process. Each path has its own choices based on each character. Each decision will have consequences and, on the basis of their own choices, the person may be promoted, remain in the current position or dismissed.

The consequences are important objects in the experience. It is through them that the person will be able to understand his decision-making process and, through interpretation, make self-criticism of their decision process and values, seeing how they affect their approach during the delegation process.

The 3 personas, in addition to creating veridiction and preparing the person for real situations in the company, also creates engagement, since there are 12 ends to the scenario.

Design features

• Custom visual: To create an assertive learning experience, I used visuals that led the student to situations of guidance and monitoring the delegate.
• Choices: Each phase of the delegation process requires a decision from the student. Each decision changes the challenge’s outcome.
• Mentor: The student can access a mentor to help them in the scenario if they feel they need support. Each question has a help module that tries to show the reasoning path but does not answer the question.
• Feedback of the choice: As the student navigates through the experience, they will receive feedback for their choices. When they choose the correct answer, they will reinforce why their action would be a desirable choice. If the student chooses an incorrect way, they will supply feedback on its consequences. As in reality, he can’t come back, but he can make better decisions in the future
• The 3 different finals allow students to retake the course, challenging themselves to “get promoted” or get all the decisions right.

Final reflection

The process of creating the Leadership and Delegation Scenario provided me with several important experiences. The main lessons for me were:

• Visuals: I used Microsoft PowerPoint to create the course mock-up, its visuals, and the draft of interactions. This choice has made sharing and feedback easier and faster since most people already use this program (or something similar). In the early stages of projects, it is important to use tools that are accessible to the different people involved, not just the teaching designer and his team.
• After the feedback, I imported the model into the Articulate Storyline and started developing with the tools of the program.
• Articulate Storyline: The more complex the project, the more articulate storyline proves important. Dialogs were created using layers. This was essential to keep the interactions consistent during the project, allowing me to expand or reduce the number of interactions as needed.
• I used variables to create consequences and different endings according to the student’s decisions. Instead of creating linear paths of each decision, the variables allowed for a flexible system, allowing the student to make the right decisions that have an impact, even after choosing the wrong one previously. This allows delegates to manage the project to achieve positive results, just as they do, even with problems along the way.
• User Experience (UX): The user experience has always been an essential element in creating any learning tool and experience. The students liked the process. We noticed a difference in the return of students who initially experienced the scenario on the smartphone rather than computers, especially in relation to the size of the fonts on smartphones on small screens, which led us to recommend that the first experiment be performed on tablets or computers.
• Complex scenarios require a dedicated development of a UX for a mobile version due to the particularities of use on smartphones.

We are at your disposal if you like this project and believe we can help your business.