'Delegating work effectively' is one of the most crucial tasks for any leader.

During the starting phase of my work, I was lucky to have a wonderful team. They completed work on time and did not require any supervision or micro-management.

However, things changed when there was a team overhaul because of several promotions and transfers. My new team of 7 people was extremely challenging. They would be unable to complete the work on time and the work would also be shoddy.

This was my first big test as a team leader.

After multiple attempts to motivate the team, I realized that persuasion and diplomacy may not be the right strategy.

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This is what worked for me:

(𝟭) 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 '𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 ': Delegation of work is ACTUALLY about delegating 'ownership of the work'. It is about giving responsibility for the work and empowering to make decisions.

For eg- I made each member the 'nodal officer', responsible for specific tasks. And this proved to be game-changer. They became proactive with respect to the work they now 'owned', and as a result the quality of work improved drastically.

(𝟮) 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 '𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻': Assigning work according to the 'fit' and the interests of the individual can increase the productivity manifold.

For eg- one of my teammates was a software engineer but was initially assigned work related to account management. He had no interest, whatsoever, in the work and, hence, his work had several errors.

When I got to know about his interest, I encouraged him to develop an MIS portal for a government fund and this helped improve the tracking of fund management significantly.

(𝟯) 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲: The key to becoming a good leader is open communication.

Conducting periodic meetings, individually and as a team, helped me understand the pulse of my team.

This was also accompanied by a 'TWO-WAY' feedback which helped me improve my leadership style while building an effective team.

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Delegating work is as much about building trust and commitment in the team, as about getting work done efficiently.

Credits: Ayushi Chand