When working with other people to accomplish something, it’s important to have one person who is the leader. Without having that one person who is ultimately responsible for overseeing the work, it may not be accomplished.
This person, who is ultimately in charge of the project or task, should have the last amount of tasks assigned to them, if any. Their job is to make sure the work is done. As I wrote in tasks vs responsibility, this person has the responsibility to make sure the work gets done, but is not required to perform tasks in order to complete this.
The fact that this person is in charge must be clearly communicated to everyone involved. If someone on the outside has a question or a concern and wants to talk to the person in charge, everyone working on this project must know who the leader ultimately is. There ends up being less confusion because everyone knows who is in charge.
Who can this person be? Anyone who has a general understanding of what is being accomplished. In most circumstances, the person who is in charge could be randomly picked out of the team and the project will run smoother than if there is no clear leader.
Pick a leader, one leader. If they do a bad job, then pick someone else next time.
So true!