The eLearning Center for Gatlin Education Services

There are many management topics that will teach you about coping in a world of rapid change, managing productivity, tips on goal setting, and the need for dividing the existing work among employees via delegation. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that a shared workload gets accomplished quicker with less wear-and-tear on each participant.

There aren’t as many resources, though, that will help a manager (or “manager wannabe”) understand the strategy of delegation that attempts to match the required work tasks with the available talent for maximum results of productivity. And, taking that view of delegation a step farther, the empowerment of employees to do the tasks also provides an opportunity for higher quality of results, the employee’s development for the future and the chance for them to do bigger and broader tasks leading to career advancement. Empowerment can create an employee mindset of “I GET to do this” resulting in increased productivity instead of “I HAVE to do this” usually producing minimal results – i.e., “what’s the least I can do to get by?”

Unfortunately, many view the concept of empowerment as a term coined to make people feel good about their assignment but really adds no value or specific meaning to the task at hand. Consequently, for many then, delegating and “empowering” are interchangeable: it just means getting someone else to do what you want them to do.

This course will help the student understand there is a BIG difference between delegation and empowerment that goes way beyond feel-good concepts that can reap great rewards for the manager – especially in times of rapid or pending change in the organization.

The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of twenty-five (25) questions at the end of the course to obtain PDH credits.

State Board Acceptance

This course can be used by professional engineers to fulfill PDH requirements mandated by state and provincial licensing boards. Decatur Professional Development is an approved provider of continuing education in all states that pre-approve course providers. In all other states that mandate continuing education for engineers, it is the individual engineer's responsibility to determine the suitability of activities for PDH credit. The state boards typically accept online* courses that cover technical, managerial** or ethical content and which are relevant to the practice of engineering. The course must have a clear purpose or objective with a content that will maintain, improve or expand the skills and knowledge of the licensee's field of practice. For questions about your mandatory PDH requirements, visit the website of your state licensing board.

*Online courses are accepted by all state licensing boards that mandate continuing education. Other than New York (which limits online courses to 18 PDH) and Iowa (which limits online courses to 6 PDH), there are no limits placed by other states on the number of hours that can be earned through online continuing education. Consult with your state licensing board if you have any questions about the acceptability of online courses.

**The New York State Board of Engineers does not accept general office management courses, but will accept project management courses that are offered by an approved provider and that are technical in nature and contribute to the engineer's professional practice.

Please Note: Continuing Education credits for this course are awarded as PDH (Professional Development Hour Credits).