Effective managers delegate as much as possible - but not too much, otherwise they overburden their employees. 

To gain more insight into the subtleties of delegation, we recommend trying out the game Delegation Poker. The game works according to the following principle. Seven playing cards describe the possibilities between proclaiming (1) and delegating (7):


Source image and game: Management 3.0



The point of the game is to find the optimum level of delegation. The background is explained here.


There are different game variants, depending on the starting position (and desire), which are described below.


1) Basic rules of the game


Setting: Ideal with 5-7 people. Also works with a few more or less. Also for non-executives!

 

  1.  A player describes a situation in which some form of guidance or delegation is required. Questions are clarified so that the situation is clear to all players.

     
  2.  All players decide on a card that shows how they would behave in this situation (1-7). On command, everyone places their chosen card on the table.

     
  3.  The highest card receives no points unless 50% or more of the players have bet on the same card. All others receive points according to the card score (1-7)

     
  4.  Much more important than counting points is to discuss why which score was played and to repeat the rounds.

 

2) Game variants


It's like a good Swiss Jass game: 20% playing and 80% discussing is ideal. Because you learn almost more when discussing than when playing. However, it is important to interrupt the discussion every 10 minutes and play a round: "Based on the current situation / information, what card would you play?"


Good questions for follow-up rounds are:

- Why did you change your mind and play a different card to the one you started with?

- Why didn't you change your mind and play the same card?

- What would have to happen for you to play another card? What would convince you?


One counting variant is to penalise not only those who play too high, but also those who play too low. Here, both the highest and the lowest minorities receive no points. Other than that, consistently defensive managers sometimes perform a little too well.


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