[11]

Facilitate a Culture of Accountability

HOW MANY TIMES throughout your career have you watched those around you not being held accountable for what they said they would do? What is the accountability system within your department? Is there one? Would everyone working for you identify this system and, if we asked them today, would they all answer in the same manner?

Accountability is a challenging issue. It’s not fun and it’s often uncomfortable because it often involves confrontation. However, when team members exist in a culture that has little or no accountability, we suggest that it hurts the team in the long run. The same concept applies to parenting. How? Well, it creates bad habits, for one. You may have friends who struggle to hold their children accountable but they are sporadic and inconsistent. They ask their children to do something and struggle to follow through with the consequence when it is not done. The short-term pain of following through is too overwhelming. Children quickly learn that they do not have to follow through, and by the time they are teenagers, the parents have a mess on their hands. Accountability in the office environment is a similar concept. If no accountability system exists, then how will behaviors change? A sporadic performance evaluation? Will this truly change behavior? No.

Ask your team members how they want to be held accountable. Ask them how they can hold each other accountable. Ask them how they can hold you accountable. An environment in which people follow through and know that they will be held accountable is more productive and filled with individuals who clearly understand the expectations of their team and their supervisor. Adult learning theory tells us that individuals in an environment that models a desired behavior will influence those around them to behave in a similar manner. Accountability is one of those areas in which this modeling concept applies beautifully.

One of our clients reported to us the positive response she received when she asked her team members how they could hold her accountable. Not only were team members supportive of this, she received many outstanding ideas. She took detailed notes and made it a point of practicing this new approach on a regular basis.