Transcript of Delegation.mov

       Welcome to your continuity connection. In your office when you need guidance, policy decisions or want to have work products approved, you usually go to your supervisor. Once in a while that  supervisor may not be around.  Maybe he or she is on leave or official travel. Well work must continue and  since the situation does happen  somewhat frequently, the need for a  documented pre-determined delegation of  authority shouldn't be a surprise.  A delegation of authority  is a written action in which leadership will provide specific responsibilities to a subordinate, in the event that the primary is unavailable.  Some examples include signature  of authority in the event that the manager absent. Another one would be  contract and budget management  responsibilities in which authority of approval is requested by contracting technical  representative.  Having predetermined  delegations of authority so  individuals can temporarily act on behalf  of specified department or agency  officials will allow for seamless continuity of operations.  Delegations of authority are temporary and for  specific purposes but the system does  raise the question: What can your department or agency do if its leaders or key officials are permanently unavailable or incapable of  performing their legal and authorized duties? The answer: Establishing orders of succession. Orders of succession are written authorities in which  the replacement of leadership is considered in the event that management is no longer capable of actually continuing the offices essential functions. It could either become temporary or permanent. Some things that leadership need to consider during that time is actually designation by  positions at least three deep, dispersion of geographics, as well as training  that's necessary in order to fulfill  the responsibilities of that position.  Continuing operations during or following a crisis requires department or agency leadership in  the truest sense.  Having documented pre-determined delegations of authority and orders of succession and  appropriate people to perform leadership roles will go a long way towards having your department or agency make  the continuity connection.