7 Levels of Delegation

Jurgen Appelo, the prominent author of the book Management 3.0 that’s recognized as an agile classic has laid out a delegation model suitable for modern organizations as complex adaptive systems. This model comprises 7 levels:

1. Tell: you make a decision for others and you may explain your motivation; a discussion about it is neither desired nor assumed.

2. Sell: you make a decision for others, but you try to convince them that you made the right choice and help them feel involved.

3. Consult: you ask for input first, then you take it into consideration before making a decision that respects people’s opinions.

4. Agree: you enter into a discussion with everyone involved, and as a group you reach consensus about the decision.

5. Advise: you offer others your opinion, and hope they listen to your wise words; however it will be their decision, not yours.

6. Inquire: you first leave it to the others to decide, then you ask them to convince you of the wisdom of their decision.

7. Delegate: you leave the decision to them and you don’t even want to know about the details that would just clutter your brain.

The 7 Levels of Delegation is a symmetrical model. It works in both directions. For instance, level 2 is similar to level 6, when…