You’re managing a team for the first time. How can you delegate effectively in strategic communications?

1 Know your team

Before you delegate, you need to know your team's strengths, weaknesses, interests, and preferences. This will help you match the right person with the right task, and avoid assigning something that is too easy or too hard, too boring or too stressful, or too irrelevant or too critical. You can use tools like personality tests, skills assessments, feedback surveys, or simply have regular conversations with your team members to get to know them better.

2 Define the scope

When you delegate, you need to be clear about what you expect from your team members. You need to define the scope of the task, the desired outcomes, the deadlines, the budget, the quality standards, and the communication channels. You also need to explain the purpose and the value of the task, and how it aligns with the strategic objectives of the organization. This will help your team members understand the big picture, and feel motivated and accountable.

3 Provide support

Delegation does not mean that you abandon your team members and let them figure out everything on their own. You need to provide support and guidance, without micromanaging or interfering. You need to check in regularly, monitor progress, offer feedback, acknowledge achievements, and address challenges. You also need to provide resources, training, coaching, or mentoring, depending on the needs and goals of your team members.

4 Encourage collaboration

Strategic communications is a collaborative field, where you need to work with different stakeholders, audiences, and channels. You need to encourage your team members to collaborate with each other, and with other relevant parties, to ensure consistency, coherence, and effectiveness. You need to foster a culture of trust, respect, and openness, where your team members can share ideas, opinions, information, and feedback. You also need to facilitate communication and coordination, using tools like project management software, online platforms, or regular meetings.

5 Evaluate and learn

Delegation is not a one-time event, but a continuous process of learning and improvement. You need to evaluate the results of the tasks you delegated, and the performance of your team members. You need to measure the impact, outcomes, and outputs of the strategic communications activities, using metrics like reach, engagement, conversion, retention, or satisfaction. You also need to learn from the successes and failures, and identify the best practices, lessons, and opportunities for growth.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?