Table of Contents

Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Work Assignment................................................................................................................3
Aspects of the assignment of work .......................................................................................... 3
What is to be done ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Determining How It Is To Be Done ................................................................................................................. 6
Activities .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Interactions......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Decisions .......................................................................................................................................................... 10
Variation in Work Assignments ...............................................................................................11
Specificity and vagueness ............................................................................................................................. 11
Degree of Difficulty of work Assignments .............................................................................12
Quantitative and qualitative dimension ..................................................................................14
Matrix of goal ..............................................................................................................................16
Integrating Work Assignments ................................................................................................18
Subdivision of Goals ....................................................................................................................................... 18
Provision of information.................................................................................................................................. 19
Availability of desirable reward ..................................................................................................................... 20
Methods of work assignment ...................................................................................................21
Organizational program: ................................................................................................................................ 21
Delegation ........................................................................................................................................................ 24

Summery ............................................................................................................................... 28
Reference .............................................................................................................................. 29

1
Introduction
The area of work assignment is not widely addressed concept of
management. All group and individual activities we do today in different
organizations consumed lots of intellectual energy to prepare them. To
design such an interestingly complex work assignments demands a
painstaking process of scientific procedures. Knowing the process behind
is very important point for the future leaders.
Although it is very challenging to support our assignment with many
references, we addressed the individual concept within work
assignment independently. This method helped us to enrich and
enlarge the issues discussed under work assignment. However, we
also refer various published and unpublished online resources to
compile the paper.

The body of the assignment is divided in to four major subtopics which are:
aspects of work assignment; variation in work assignment; integration of
work assignment; and method of work assignment in an organization.
Each topic is discussed accordingly and supported with relevant examples
mostly related with school environment to make it more applicable in our
field of study.
Finally, as the issue work assignment itself is always dynamic in nature, more research
and academic investigation is required. We tried to contribute our part and recommend
others to do so.

2
Work Assignment

Work assignment is the process of allocating work to appropriate

groups or persons.[1] In order to attain goals people in the
organization must be given detailed task assignments with the
specifics that will enable them to know what to do and how to do it.
[1] While assigning work to individuals, his/her skill for that specific
type of work should be analyzed in order to achieve the desired
goals.
Work assignment can be elaborated using the following four topics.
1. Aspects of the assignment of work
2. Variations in work assignment
3. Integration of work assignment
4. Methods of assigning work

Aspects of the assignment of work

The assignment of work has two aspects, determining what is to be done and how it is
to be done.
What is to be done
In this aspect of work assignment there should be clear statement
regarding the expected goals of that position/institution.
Individuals/teams will be given a detailed task assignment that
consists desired output, acceptable quality standard, available
resources and allocated time frame.

3
 Output: these are end state instructions, which are very essential for
any work assignment so that employees strive to attain desired goals.

Example
For example, teachers, are expected to enable students to achieve best result through
continuous evaluation of their daily activity, assignments, projects and mid and final
exams. Continuous evaluation of students throughout the semester and shaping their
character development can be considered as a final output expected from the teacher.
This can be reported using a format (mark book) provided by the employer.

Quality standard: is the minimum requirement set by the

organization/service provider. In every work assignment there
is expected quality standard. Setting low quality standard may
hinder effective goal attainment whereas on the other hand high
quality standard also affects the time of production/output.
Example
For example, organizations that set very high-quality standards for their employees need
extra time to meet the desired quality whereas low quality standards may affect the
requirement of the desired outputs. Therefore, standards should be set by optimizing the
needs for high quality with the availability of time. Generally, schools use minimum
learning competence as a quality standard to evaluate their teacher’s performance.

Time frame: In any goal that contains many activities the

problem is coordinating and timing each task so that they will be
synchronized in such a manner that all tasks are carried out on
time.[1] Individuals differ in the manner they deal with time. Some
individuals need short term goals in order to work well, others are
more effective when they are informed that they have longer period
to carry out their duties.

4
One should consider the time aspect during work assignment by considering individuals
interest and effectiveness. It should be taken in to consideration that an employ that is
more comfortable with longer period of time can be given different activities at once while
individuals with short term inclination should be assigned to activities that can be broken
into parts that can be accomplished within a short period of time.
Example
For example, schools assign teachers to cover a subject for a certain grade level in one
year, that the instructor is expected to subdivide the portions into semester, quarterly,
monthly, weakly and daily activities. This will be followed by the employer by examining
lesson plans, informal and formal evaluation to guide the teacher to make the necessary
adjustment on time.

Resources: the other area which needs special focus on

this part of work assignment is allocation of resources.
Resources are mainly grouped as human and material
resource. Human beings are the most important resources.
Assigning qualified person in an area of his/her qualification
makes work assignment more effective. It is up to the
employer/manager to assign job to different individuals based
on the skills they require for accomplishment. The other
resource which should be considered is material resource.
Example
For example, teachers should be assigned in the subject that they have been trained,
assigning a biology graduate to teach mathematics may not be appropriate. Moreover, to
properly achieve the set goals, the teacher should be provided with convenient
classrooms, teaching aids, and other relevant resources.

5
Determining How It Is To Be Done

It is always useful to give specific instructions on what to do, but very detailed instructions
on how to do the work are often ineffective. Therefore, the discussion in this section
focuses on the importance of defining activity, interaction, and decision-making.[1]

Decide if giving a reason is appropriate. If appropriate, tell the employee:

What we want them to do.
If appropriate, the reason for doing the task.
The standards we will use to evaluate how well the task
was done.
To tell us when the task is completed or if there are any
problems performing the task.
Allocating the necessary resources to accomplish the
given task.

Without complete work assignments, employees are unlikely to consistently meet

customer expectations. When this happens, managers typically complain to each other
about their employees. Yet these managers have inadvertently created the very situation
they complain about!
Worse, they'll blame the victim by saying the employee is "dumb," "lazy," "needs training,"
or has a "bad attitude." However, all the employees might need is complete and specific
information about their assignments.
People perform better when they know what they are expected to do.
Giving a complete work assignment tells employees what their
managers - and customers - expect. When each employee more
consistently satisfies customers, it helps to improve a company's
competitive position because satisfied customers are more likely to
come back. To make this in effect we need to clearly define how the
activities should be done so as the employees become successful.

6
Activities
Work, from a sociological perspective, is anything that a person
undertakes with a goal of being productive in a way that meets
human needs. Work includes mental and/or physical exertion but
does not always have to include an exchange of money.
An occupation is a type of work that is performed for the express
purpose of monetary reward (a wage).[2] According to Ayalew
Shibeshi work is identified as a set of physical activities, or things to
carry out.[1]
As much as specifying activities for individuals have great advantage in terms of defining
the expected, how to execute it and increase output, the Atchison and Hill (1978) believe
it might have its own disadvantages.
1. First, if the employee knows how to do the work instructions would be redundant.
2. Second, it is degrading to the individual to be instructed exactly how to carry out a
task that he or she already knows how to do. The employee may feel untrusted
and in turn develop hatred toward the person assigning the work.
3. Third, specific instructions impede the opportunity of the employees to make any
essential or useful adjustments within the framework of the assignment.

This scenario may not be acceptable by senior employees but very effective and
advisable for new workers who are joining the organization.
Example
For example, if we recruit a fresh teacher into our school it is very essential to give the
necessary work instructions through induction or training. Provision of training there are
activities to be performed such as
ü Identify the gap analysis
ü Review the training contents
ü Design the training materials that fits the trainees
ü Prepare pre and post training questions to evaluate the success of the provided
training.

7
There are five steps in Setting activities.
1. Organize Your Thoughts - Before you start blasting or barking
orders, you need to take some time to gather your thoughts so
that your assignments are meaningful and have sufficient
information is provided about the work to be accomplished.

2. Explain the task - Go straight to the details to help you

understand what the task is, why it is important and what
the expected outcome is.

3. Present the resources - another manager's job - Assigning

resources. It is your responsibility to do whatever it takes to do
the direct work. If he/she needs to collect items or equipment or
other items, that may be part of the assignment. But you need to
let them know where they can get these items or who they need
to contact.

4. Set a deadline - Probably one of the most missed items on

this list is also one of the most important. Without this, it
would be difficult to know how to prioritize other tasks of
direct responsibility? There is a need to plan when to follow
up and measure performance.

5. Stay tuned: Finally, be sure to keep track of your information.

They have the resources they need. Watch again in the middle
of time and before that time runs out. There should be no reason
to miss the deadline. Obviously, the complexity of the task
determines whether these are all actions.

Lack of clarity causes you to take more of your valuable time redirecting and explaining
things to your colleagues.[3]

8
Interactions

While the nature of relationships is often not defined when

assigning a job, interactions between individuals can have a
significant impact on work performance. At each workplace,
materials and information flows in and out of the organization.
Much of this flow is caused by human interaction, especially
information flow. People can do their own thing perfectly, but they
can cause problems by not passing on what they have done and
how.
Other staff members may be involved in excessive contact. Such people are very
interested in relationships and often do not have much time to do their own thing. Other
employees will still be highly skilled in communication. They can be useful tools for doing
the job, as they identify areas that are inactive or those that are relevant to the job.[1]

Types of interactions
Horizontal relationships/Interaction: refer to relationships where it is defined and
maintained by equality in both standing and obligation.
Example

For example, in a school teachers and department heads have horizontal interaction
among themselves. Because they have equal power and responsibility in the teaching
learning process.
Vertical relationships/Interactions: Vertical relationships/Interactions are those where
one of the members has greater stand, whether due to power and authority or knowledge
and wisdom. These relationships are by nature hierarchical and needs to be benevolent
in order to function properly. The interaction between teachers and departments and
school principals is regarded as vertical interaction.

9
 A school
Principal gives
direction on
submission
date of final
exam

The dep’t
head
communica
tes to the
teachers

Grade 91-93 Maths teacher Grade 94-96 Maths teacher

From the above illustration we can understand that there should be clearly identified and
hierarchical interaction between leaders and subordinates vertically and between
employees horizontally. If there is a gap in interaction and proper communication
accomplishment of task will be in unthinkable.

Decisions

Decision making is the primary function of management. In

business, management decision making refers to selecting the
best way and planning to make business successful.[4] Various
professionals categorize the management functions in four
components. These components are planning, organization,
planning, influence and control. [5]

Every individual in the organization collects information and gather in order to make
various decisions. The changes and lives of others in the organization are affected by
these decisions. An ethical part or component is involved in every decision, so it becomes
very important to know whether the decision made by the manager or employee is ethical
or not. The most important aspect of the decision-making process is that it allows

10
employees to address each issue or opportunity with a fresh outlook. Therefore, the
executives do not have to approach the issues with a prejudiced attitude. All the decisions
are based on the deep evaluation of the conditions and situation which makes it highly
effective.
According to Ayalew Shibeshi every task to be accomplished needs decision making.
Decisions become more functional and specific as work is assigned to each work position.
Decision making is existent wherever there is a work to be done. If an employee is not
given the opportunity to decide, he or she would have no feeling of responsibility for
anything, and this becomes intolerable.
Example
For instance: a teacher who is teaching in a classroom has a full decision-making power
or mandate for decision making what to teach and how to teach the subject. In this case
the teacher is autonomous for every activity in the classroom and equally responsible.
The human talent to make decisions is clearly valued by society because if it were not,
we would not pay high salaries to decision makers.
Variation in Work Assignments

Content variation is always expected due to the nature of the work itself.
Variation in work assignment is defined as a difference of assigned
works in terms of form and manner. However, form and manner
variation have to be considered when work is assigned. Variation of
work assignment has many dimensions. These are Specificity and
Vagueness, Degree of Difficulty, Quantitative-Qualitative Dimension,
and Matrix of Goal.

Specificity and vagueness

Specificity and vagueness are two polarized items. The term specificity means an act of
identifying something accurately or of stating a precise requirement while vagueness is
the imprecise or unclear requirement of work assignment. Specificity and vagueness can
be observed in a similar job position when determining the quality requirement is needed
and can happen due to the variation of job position.

11
 Specificity in work assignment implies the work assigned is clear
to perform and can boost the employee’s confidence as he/she
knows what needs to be done. Besides, it also increases the
quality of the work and saves the time the employee waste
wondering what the goal of the work would be.

On the other hand, vagueness in work assignment is a situation

where the given work goal is not clear and difficult to determine
what is to be done. For sure, it is unavoidable and happens all the
time especially, when the job demands more conceptual aspects.
Some lower-level works are vague when determining the quality
needed for the same job is required. However, vagueness is not
always bad as it sometimes allows employees to think and work
their job freely which avoids boredom.

Example
For example, the school principal’s job is vaguer than the teachers. As the school principal
is expected to handle various aspects of the schools interest it is not specific enough to
limit its boundaries as they overlap intentionally or unintentionally. In contrary, the teacher
has defined and measured activities to handle compared to the school principal. In the
other dimension, the teachers job itself becomes vague when we tried to measure the
quality of his work. For instance, if a janitor is required to clean five classrooms per day,
it is specific enough to answer how many classes have to be cleaned but answering to
what extent/ at what quality it needs to be cleaned would be vague to determine. Finally,
we can assume that the more complex become the job the vaguer it becomes.[1]
Degree of Difficulty of work Assignments

This variation focuses on the level of easiness and difficultness

dimension of a work. Although this issue is subjective in nature,
it is common to see variation of work in degree of difficulty. Work
assignments vary on a line of continuum which extends from
easy assignment that can be accomplished without any

12
 significant expenditure of energy or skill on one end to
assignments that are impossible to complete at the other end.[1]
A specific work can be difficult at the same time. Easy works need less energy in using
our mental and physical activity whereas difficult work demands more of them. As they
are subjective in nature, it is difficult for managers to assign work and address matters
that follow like, reward. The same work might be easy for some and difficult for others. In
assigning work considering this variation is very essential. We can also see another
dimension in terms of mental and physical effort requirement of a job. Some needs more
physical and less mental and vice versa.

Specific Specific
Vague Specific

& &
ity

Difficult Simple
Vague Vague
& &
Difficult Simple

Difficult Simple

Degree of Difficulty

As shown in the matrix above the two variations are indicated to explain their relationship.
When a task becomes vague and difficult is would be very challenging to perform whereas
when it is specifies and easy it would be clear enough to do a work and measure the
success of the goal.
Example

For instance, in a given school the effort needed to teach a single subject and to manage
the whole activity of the school is not the same.

13
Quantitative and qualitative dimension

In the previous dimensions, we have seen that in order to

obtain a given goal, we need to execute set of activities
that are measured differently. Some activities can be
measure in numbers whereas others cannot be put in such
a way. These gives a work quantitative and qualitative
dimensions. Let’s take the following jobs and their
activities as an example.
Example
Teacher
- One of the activities that can be assigned to a teacher can be to
provide an interactive class. He or she is also expected to provide
tests to evaluate knowledge gain. Number of tests can be counted
and put in number while the providing interactive class cannot be
measured in numbers.
Accountant in Bank
- A customer service officer might be expected to open bank
accounts in given period. He or she also might be expected
to provide services with good customer satisfaction.
Number of new accounts he/she can open can be counted
but the satisfaction cannot be put in number.
Surgeon
- A surgeon is expected to conduct surgeries. He/she are also
expected to do the procedure in clean and aseptic way. The number
of surgeries can be counted in numbers whereas whether he/she
did in clean and aseptic way cannot.

14
Difference of quantitative and qualitative work can be summarized in the following pillars
- Measurement: A quantitative work can be measured whereas qualitative works
can be assessed
- Difficulty of attainability: Quantitative works are easier to be attained whereas
qualitative activities are difficult because extent cannot be measured.
- Procedures: Quantitative works are self-explanatory and qualitative works have
complicated and vague procedures.
Based on the above examples, we can understand that a given individual can have both
activities that have qualitative and quantitative dimensions. Not only that, but a single
activity might also have both qualitative and quantitative component. In Addition,
depending on the level of responsibility and qualification activities that are given to
individual’s activities might have more of quantitative dimension more than the qualitative
and vis versa.
Example
Let’s compare form of activities given in the following table for a teacher and school
principal.
TEACHER PRINCIPAL
Quantitative Quantitative
• Check all students exercise book every • Meeting with parents and administrators once in
Friday a month
• Prepare and administer four group • Conduct classroom supervision once in a quarter
assignments quarterly • Meeting and listening to concerns of students
• Communicate with students’ parents once once in month
in a month
Qualitative Qualitative
• Taking responsibility for the progress of a • Ensuring that academic policies and curriculum
class of students are followed
• Motivating pupils with enthusiastic, • Helping teachers maximize their teaching
imaginative presentation potential
• Maintaining discipline • Encouraging, guiding and assisting student
leaders and teacher
• Enforcing discipline when necessary

15
 variables quantitative Qualitative
Specificity + -
Vagueness - +
Difficulty - +
Overlap - +
Monitoring + -

Quantifying quality work

As stated previously quality cannot be measured but can be assessed. Quality is
becoming more and more an interest of organization since in the aim of full filling
quantitative goals activities can be conducted with undue care. Hence, it is suggested to
create quantitive substitutes for qualitative goals.

Matrix of goal
A person can be assigned to execute a job with multiple work
assignments. These work assignments can be inter-related
leading to a common goal or can be overlapped with another
colleague. A single goal can be achieved by only doing one task
or can be achieved by adding up multiple tasks. In the latter case,
one should always make sure those multiple tasks have specific
goals in order to meet the major goal. This is called matrix of goal.
Advantage of matrix of goal
- Easy to track activity’s goal
- In sequential activities easier to monitor if there is default.
Disadvantage of matrix of goal
- Can be complex for employer
- If goals are inconsistent can be confusing
- Quantity-quality and time overlap

16
 Example

Let’s take a given school and look at how there is an overlap of activities among workers.
provide final submit yearly student
preparing session plan providing class continous assesement
assesment assesment out of 100.

This shows teacher’s set of activities with their own activity goal to finally reach the end
output. This can show us, if there is a major objective to be met by doing multiple activities
that are sequential, each activity should have its own goal.

Staff
Timely, inexpensive Cafeteria Proper procurement
and quality service workers process

Finance
Teacher
officer

Timely monthly
payment
This matrix shows how activities overlap among teacher, staff cafeteria workers and
finance officers to meet the objective of providing timely class and enhance teacher’s
satisfaction in the school.

17
Integrating Work Assignments

In a single organization there are different functional unites which have their own specific
goals that ultimately contribute for the achievement of the organizations general goal.
Thus, this diverse functional departments must be integrated.

Integration relates to how the different areas of the company

coordinate their operations. A highly integrated company has strong
connections between departments and functional lines, with each
section working under a cohesive set of rules and strategies.
Integrated companies are highly vertical and hierarchical in nature.
These companies operate from a "top-down" mindset, where the
management dictates the structure of each department rather than
allowing the individual departments to set their own agendas. [6]
The integration of work assignment must be seen from the point of view of subdivision of
goals, provision of information and availability of desirable rewards.
Example
For example, in a school environment there are different functional units like academic
departments; quality assurance divisions; discipline committees; finance; general
services; and others. Each of the divisions have their own specific goal and cumulatively
they achieve the ultimate goal which is creating academically and behaviourally changed
citizens.
Subdivision of Goals
In order to integrate work assignments, we use a subdivision of
goals method. A major organizational goal starts at the top of the
organization. In order to attain this goal other sub goals will be
prepared, and it goes on until it is no more will be subdivided. The
last goal is expected to attain by the individual level capacity.
Doing this needs careful planning beforehand. According to Atchison and Hill, (1978:94-
96) when one considers that, in reality organizations have a number of goals that are
simultaneously being persuaded; one begins to understand the potential for complexity
and confusion. To reduce the confusion into workable assignments the following

18
guidelines have been suggested. [7] In order to avoid confusion and overlapping applying
the time dimension is necessary.
Example
For example, in a schoolwork assignment a mathematics teacher might plan annul plan
with a goal of achieving it at the end of the year. Then he is expected to subdivide it into
semester, quarter, week, and daily basis.
The other important mechanism is to use group assignment. To prepare group goal is
easier than preparing individual goals especially, when the organization is complex.[1]

Example
For example, the department of mathematics subject teachers can plan their goal
together and strive to achieve it. With the same way other subject teachers can set goal
in group.
On the other hand, we can also use means – end hierarchy approach as a guideline to
develop goals for the work assigned. This means we can view each subdivided goal as a
means to accomplish the main goal of the organization. For instance, achievement of
every functional unit in a school is a means to an end from the principal’s point of view.

Provision of information

Another way of integrating work assignment is appropriate

provision of information. Earlier we discussed the need for
interaction as method of how to do the work assigned. The
horizontal and vertical flow of information will help employees
to communicate and better understand the goal of the
organization.
In addition to informing the necessary what and how of the tasks, managers also must
tell people why the tasks need to be done. Provision of information is a necessary means
for strengthening commitment, allowing discretion, and creating feedback. people need
to know how their individual goals fit into the grand scheme of things in order to feel about
what they are doing. Furthermore, employees will commit themselves to tasks that make
sense to them.

19
The second reason for explaining to people how their work fits into the hierarchy of goals
is to allow them to exercise discretion. furthermore, with feedback employees can work
at a more inconsistent pace. people become very uncomfortable if they move along on a
task and have no idea if it is getting done.

Availability of desirable reward

Reward systems in organizations have far-reaching

consequences for both individual satisfaction and
organizational effectiveness. Employees in the organization
in addition to having knowledge of what the goals are and
about how well they are accomplish them, they also need to
have a reason pursue organizational goals. Reward and
feedback are used to increase the probability that work
assignment accomplish through employee acceptance and
commitment.

Most employees assumed that the goal of the organization are not their own goals.
Organizations have their goals employees have also their own goals. The success of
organizational goal depends on the success of employees goal. Acceptance and
commitment lead to effort is not the same as performance rather its one component of
performance. Ability and understanding of what takes to do the job are necessary before
performance.

20
Methods of work assignment

It discusses the ways managers use in order to assign

work. Basically, they use three methods of assigning work.
Organizational programs, delegation, and management
by objectives. It is not uncommon to see one method
overlap with the other in a single organization.
Organizational program:

Initially, organizations need to implement a new work assignment

which is exhausting and time consuming as it requires through
thinking of the whole different sequence of activities. However, once
organizational program is done, we can use the methods when
similar situation arises as it is reusable in nature. This way it serves
as a method of assigning work. It believes the means justifies the
end. Usually it follows the following sequences so as to develop
organizational programs.

Goal statement:

Sometimes called statement of purpose. It is a written description

of your long-term organizational objectives which provides clear and
tangible guidance to employees as they perform their work on a
daily basis. The most effective goals are expected to be SMART
which means:

21
Although goal statement emanates from the vision and mission of the organization, it is
still broad and addresses the total organizational areas of interest and unconcerned with
how the goals are to be achieved. However, it serves as a work assignment tool within
the frame of the organizations program.[8]
Example
For example, a school might say during this school year, 100% of my students will
improve in analyzing primary and secondary source documents. Each student will
increase his/her ability to analyze documents by one level on the rating rubric.
Furthermore, students at the ‘attempted’ level will increase by two performance levels.

Policies

Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions

and achieve rational outcomes which helps to implement the
goal statements that are formulated earlier. Policies set some
parameters for decision-making but leave room for flexibility
and show the “why” behind an action.

The variety of policies exist due to the nature of the organization. Large organizations
might develop policies that guides the different functional areas or departments whereas
small organizations use one common policy even manageable to remember in our mind.
Policy presence will provide guidance, consistency, accountability, efficiency, and clarity
on how an organization operates.

22
 Example

For instance, schools develop policies that helps them guide their evaluation system,
disciplinary measures, reward system and other relevant functions in the institution.
Procedure

After establishing your organizational policies, procedures are the

natural next step. A procedure which is a series of actions that
are done in a certain way or order: an established or accepted
way of doing something. Unlike policies, Procedures, on the other
hand, explain the “how” aspects. They provide step-by-step
instructions for specific routine tasks. They may even include a
checklist or process steps to follow.

Commonly procedures answer questions like who is responsible for each task; what steps
need to be taken; who the responsible party reports to. [9] The managers’ responsibility is
to decide which procedure is appropriate for each task. With the same manner when a
school prepares a disciplinary measure policy it also considers the procedural aspect.

Example

For example, it begins by educating the students about the expected behaviors; then pass
him/her thought different advisory channels; after that address the issue with a first level
punishment: and finally take the next level behavior correction step.

Rules

The Company has established certain guidelines to govern the

personal conduct and work relationships of its employees. The
Company considers work rules to be an important responsibility and
a necessary part of managing its business. These rules apply to all
employees and specifies what is expected of them. It is also can be
stated as authoritative statement of what to do or not to do in a
specific situation, issued by an appropriate person or body.

23
 Example

For instance, schools prepare classroom rules in order to manage the teaching learning
activity in the classroom. In addition, it also can prepare dressing code, and other specific
rules to follow. Unlike procedure, rules focus on the dos and don’ts of set rules in every
procedural steps.

Bureaupathic Behavior
The above four sequences of organizational programs are important to assign work and
regulate activities. However, as time passes by these pre-established organizational
programs become the work itself and shifts the basic focus of their presence.[1]

Managers starts to believe following these rules is an end

rather considering them as a means to an end; and this
phenomenon is often called bureaupathic behavior. This
is to imply the slavish adherence to rules and regulations
whether they are appropriate or not.[10]

Some organizations gives priority to their procedural adventures rather than the intended
result they are supposed to deliver which ultimately reduces productivity. For instance,
some schools focus on the implementations processes of every activities in the school
without giving much attention about their effectiveness.

Delegation
Another method of work assignment is through
delegations. Understanding of the concept of
delegation results proper assignment of work.
Delegation is commonly defined as the shifting of
authority and responsibility for particular functions,
tasks or decisions from one person to another.

24
Once the activities to be done are decided, the authority to do
the task has to be delegated in order to accomplish the job. [1]

Delegation is not dumping or abdicating personal

responsibility. Rather, it is about spreading it out in way that best
advances the organization’s short- and/or long-term cause.

Reasons to delegate
The main reason behind Good delegation is extending the manager’s total effort. In effect,
managers multiply their influence by adroit delegation. They then have adequate time for
performing at their best the higher-level duties that come to them by delegation from their
own bosses.

There are number of reasons someone may decide to delegate. These include:

• To free themselves up to do other tasks

• To have the most qualified person making the decisions
• To seek another qualified person's perspective on an issue
• To develop someone else's ability to handle the additional assignments judiciously
and successfully [11]

What to delegate and Not to delegate

Sometimes managers delegate tasks that are not suitable for them in order to avoid
discomfort. This is unfortunate. However, before delegating tasks managers are expected
to know their strength and weakness so that they demand the help they need which
ultimately helps the organization achieve its goal. According to Carol Ellis (2005) the
following are the tasks that should be delegated:

• Recurring decisions and actions that others can handle

• Pressing priorities you can’t handle but others can
• Special projects and long-range tasks
• Detail work on projects you are handling

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 • Tasks that could help people grow in areas key to their future

On the other hand, Carol also mentioned tasks not to be delegate;

• Are sensitive and personal in nature

• require a degree of risk and decision making that is unfair to the delegate
• require your personal expertise
• require your personal leadership
• have legal restrictions [12]

When we use delegation as work assignment method it addresses the aspects of work
assignment (which are what to do and how to do it). For instance, a school director
delegates tasks to its subordinates (which are vice principals, department, and then to
teachers) along with the tasks to do and the authority he/she has. To do so effectively,
principals should evaluate all duties and determine which are most important, keeping
these key leadership roles for themselves. They must then divide up the remaining
responsibilities to staff members, or teams of staff members. When handing out these
duties, they should seek to give staff members duties for which they are specifically
qualified, asking the math teacher to complete some data analysis, for example.

Management by objective
Management by objective is also another way of assigning work.
This concept believes that the end justifies the means.
Management by objective is a process where the goals of the
organization are defined and conveyed by the management to
the members of the organizations (Robbins, 2013). Management
by objective considers key elements like goal specificity;
Participative decision making; an explicit time period; and
Performance feedback.

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Unlike the traditional program method it focuses on the outputs rather than the inputs.
As a method of work assignment, the manager communicate the objective to the
corresponding subordinates downward and they are expected to figure out the aspects
expected from them and deliver the intended objective.
Example
For example, in a school environment the director will give the expected academic result
to the teachers and they plan the relevant teaching methods and evaluation mechanisms
and achieve what they are expected to do so. The following way the objective will be
cascaded.

Cascading the objective (Robbins, 2013) [13]

However it sounds nice, management by objective is failed due to Unrealistic
expectations about MBO results; lack of commitment by top management; failure to
allocate reward properly; and cultural incompatibilities.
Despite all the challenges, MBO programs were designed and achieved success in
organizations where high level of trust within the organization and unwavering
commitment by management to the program is obtainable. Moreover, for a successful
MBO program highly specified and less ambiguity task and way of doing work is crucial.

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Summery
Work assignment is a translation of goals in to group and individual activities. This goal
downsizing process requires through thinking and careful considerations of the different
variables in the field. Ensuring the group and individual activities we prepare results the
goal we see is very crucial.

Assignment of work has two fundamental aspects: The what is to be done and how it is
to be done. The what is to be done part has to address the end state (cost rest), quality
standard, time requirement and resources needed. The how focuses on preparing
activities, interaction means and decision making points.

Variation in work assignment is another area covered in this material. The work we
prepare varies in terms of specificity and vagueness, degree of difficulty, quantitative and
qualitative aspect, and matrix of goal.

On the other hand, integration of work assignment is also key to relate the activities of
various functions of organizations to make them march towards the same end goal. These
functions can be integrated through subdivisions of goals, provision of information and
reward system.

Another area of work assignment is determining the methods of implementation in an

organization. Commonly ways like organizational program, delegation and management
by objective are the methods organizations use to implement work assignment. Most
organizations prefers to use them all accordingly.

The concept of work assignment enlightened us how crucial management activity it would
be in a dynamic field of study like education. The ultimate goal of education sector is to
create academically & behaviorally changed students. Designing educational activities
and assigning a way of doing it is never easy. Addressing this concept helps us to
consider what it takes to do a work assignment in our future career.

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Reference

1. Ayalew Shibeshi, Associate professor, Educational Management (edpm

611), 2014
2. WWW. Study.com
3. https://www.simplifiedmanagement.com/assigning-work-tasks/
4. Weihrich & Koontz, 1994
5. Sikavica et al; 2008
6. https;//smallbusiness.chron.com
7. Atchison and Hill, (1978:94-96)
8. http://www.free-management-ebooks.com
9. https://www.powerdms.com
10. Thompson, 1977
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegation
12. Carol W.Ellis, Management skills for new managers, 2005
13. Robins and Judge, Organizational behaviour, 15th edition, 2013

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