What are effective ways to hold stakeholders accountable when delegating tasks?

Plan, Communication and Inclusivity is the key here.. the tasks you expect stakeholders to contribute should be clearly called out along with the RACI matrix.. setting up a proper governance for tracking the plan is also a must to expech things fall in place be it the team members, customers or the sponsors and leaders of the organization.. if we follow these principles job will be well done.

Yes, absolutely. Fundamental to this is that the person or team assigned to execute understands the task at hand, what the scope and spectrum of work involved but most importantly what the end game is. How I get accountability from that person or team is means inclusion. I give broad parameters and the aim for this task, how and what is the most effective way the person or team executes is left to them. They are responsible for how and what is executed (even who in the sense of who delivers what). Such inclusion makes this their task, their responsibility and ultimately they are accountable. Don't just delegate the task, make it everyone's task.

Agreed, can use RACI matrix, performance report as well. So, one can define the responsibility and accountability. Also can incorporate the cost of the task to observe the performance and control specially the scope, time, quality & cost.

I would also 1. Check with them for any impediments holding them back and support in ways possible to clear the impediments. 2. Create a information radiator or an email thread with them, their line managers and relevant project stakeholders with status of the tasks assigned to them. Trust me, this can make a lot of difference.

One thing I found helpful is set the expectations and have commitment in mail. Also, last but not the least is followup - set regular meetings to catch up on progress, actions and issues to stay on track.

For me, empowerment stems from a shared and agreed vision, plus roadmap to realising that vision. Early onset engagement, genuinely inviting differing views, active listening and enabling stakeholders to feel supported with their contributions - converted into actions, will lead to them taking ownership. Ensuring stakeholders recognise the part they play in a team, playing to their strengths and providing a safe space to develop in less strong areas of experience. Emphasising the importance of their role and delegated / selected tasks plus an appropriate level of autonomy will foster self motivation and a mature working relationship by increasing communications and avoiding micro management.

This is must have for each and every project. One thing I've found important is to select proper project tool, which could benefit project quality.

From what I've learned, telling your team what they're good at and where they can do better is really helpful. It makes them better at their job. I've noticed that when you give feedback in a nice way, it makes the team trust each other more. They feel important and part of a good team. It's also a good idea to give feedback while the project is going on, not just at the end. This helps the team keep getting better and better. Asking your team how things are going is important too. It makes them feel like their thoughts matter. Ask about what's going well and what could be better. This way, you get a good picture of how everyone is doing.

It's always good to understand the context in which terms are used. Outside the project management community, "stakeholder" often refers to people the effort is in service of. Generally in business, "delegate" is a term that conotates power of one over a subordinate. As such, it is rarely used unless one is emphasizing power over another. . "Delegation to stakeholders" is language unique to the project management community, which uses both terms quite differently "Stakeholder" usually refers to project team members who are SMEs within the organization and do not report to the PM. Also in the PM literature, "delegation" is seen as a good and necessary aspect of the PM job. The answer to this would be "Is this the right question?"