Make sure your team gets the task done

How do you assign ongoing tasks in your workplace? Most managers follow one of two approaches: The delegate responsibility to a specific employee or assign it to the team as a whole. Both options have advantages and disadvantages.

When you delegate to one person, you'll have the most qualified employee doing the job (ideally). But if that person is absent or busy, the task won't be always carried out. If you give the job to a team, you improve your chances of getting it done -- but maybe not by the best employee in every case.

The team approach ensures consistency, but take an additional step: Assign one employee the responsibility for making sure the job is carried out, regardless of who does it. This builds accountability into the process, and you can be more confident that the task will get done well.

SOURCE: the Motivational Manager, adapted from the Articlebased website