Accountability as per business dictionary is “the obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and disclose the results in a transparent manner.” It’s simple: to be accountable to a team, a person needs to be clear about what they plan to do, execute on that thing, and let the team know when it’s done.
But when it comes to teams, accountability must go both ways. For a team to function well, an individual is not only obligated to be accountable, they need to hold their coworkers accountable too. That means consistently asking for updates on clearly defined goals, and openly sharing their own updates. Yet holding others accountable is difficult because it can cause interpersonal discomfort.
Although being accountable is vital to teamwork, organizations across industries struggle with accountability. Teams break down in performance roughly as
- In the weakest teams, there is no accountability
- In mediocre teams, bosses are the source of accountability
- In high performance teams, peers manage the vast majority of performance problems with one another
The basic principle was that anyone should be able to hold anyone accountable if it was in the best interest of the team. Team members were both motivated and able to handle the day-to-day concerns they had with one another, with him, or with anyone outside the team.
Why to be Accountable?
Teams those are not accountable
- Create resentment among team members who have different standards of performance
- Encourage mediocrity
- Miss deadlines
- Put disproportionate pressure on leaders to discipline
Teams that are accountable
- Make sure poor performers feel pressure to improve
- Identify problems quickly by questioning one another
- Establish respect among team members who are held to same high standards
- Avoid excessive bureaucracy around management and corrective actions
Developing a culture of accountability
- Set expectations. Let new team members know up front that you want and expect them to hold you and others accountable.
- Tell stories. Call out positive examples of team members addressing accountability concerns.
- Model it. The first time your team hears you gripe about your own peers to others—rather than confronting your concerns directly—you lose moral authority to expect the same from them.
- Teach it. The best leaders are teachers. Codify the skills you think are important for holding “crucial conversations”—and take 5-10 minutes in a staff meeting to teach one.
- Set an “It takes two to escalate” policy. If you struggle with lots of escalations, set a policy that “it takes two to escalate.”
The role of the leader should not be to settle problems or constantly monitor your team, it should be to create a team culture where peers address concerns immediately, directly and respectfully with each other. Yes, this takes time up front. But the return on investment happens fast as you regain lost time and see problems solved both better and faster.
