Increase Accountability
October 5, 2023 | By David M. Wagner
I recently volunteered to help a nonprofit organize a community event.
On the morning of the event, one of the other organizers, a board member, approached me and asked about assignments for some other volunteers.
I was taken aback. I thought that was his job!
Fortunately, we got everything straightened out. But that near-disaster was evidence that we had failed to instill accountability throughout the planning of the event.
Reasons Accountability Fails
Accountability – that is, follow-through on responsibilities – often fails for three reasons:
Responsibilities are ambiguous. A responsibility could be an action (such as “finalize volunteer assignments”), goal, or standard of performance or behavior. Ambiguity creates two problems: people are less likely to act if they don’t know what’s expected, and team members may have different understandings of what “success” means.
No one has taken charge. This turned out to be the issue with our event – no one had been assigned responsibility for a key task!
Someone hasn’t followed-through. This is what we mean most often when we talk about “accountability” – someone knew what they were responsible for but failed to do it.
When an expectation has not been met, take the time to discern which one(s) of these reasons is the cause. We tend to jump to #3 – and assign blame – without realizing that our expectations or the assignment of responsibility were ambiguous.
Accountability Boosts
There are straight-forward practices you can take to increase accountability with your team.
Assign every responsibility. Any time an action, goal, or standard is identified, assign that responsibility to specific individuals. For an action or goal, this approach does not preclude teamwork, delegation, or re-assignment later, but helps ensure nothing falls through the crack.
Confirm clarity. Confirm with each assignee that they understand what is expected of them (and by when, if it is a goal or action). If there is ambiguity or disagreement, assign an initial task to create a plan, explore alternatives, seek feedback, or achieve clarity in some other way.
Publicize commitments. Leave no room for doubt about who is “in charge” of an action or goal or who will be held to certain standards. Peer pressure – and more importantly, peer support – are powerful tools for helping people commit to shared expectations. (Bonus: working with an accountability partner is a great way to hold yourself responsible for achieving your goals!)
Address dropped commitments compassionately, and quickly. If someone fails to meet a commitment, point it out, and give them a chance to make it right. Look out for patterns of unreliability, however, and be prepared to have a difficult conversation if the time has come for consequences.
Increase accountability in your organization by eliminating ambiguity from the “what,” “who,” and “when” of important responsibilities. I coach mission-driven leaders to practice accountability as a key step in transforming team habits and culture to achieve strategic results. If your team could use an accountability boost, set a free consultation to explore how I could help.