How to Drive Team Accountability
Team management isn’t all fun and positive, and it isn’t easy. Many managers and business owners find themselves struggling with team accountability.
All the best teams in the world have high levels of accountability…. they’re accountable to themselves, each other and their leaders. Recruiting and training a great team only works if you understand how to hold that team accountable for their actions and help ensure everyone is playing their role in achieving business success.
“Where there is no accountability, there will also be no responsibility.” ― Sunday Adelaja.
Accountability in business
Here are some ways that you can boost accountability within your team.
- Find that balance in your leadership style: Accountability is about trusting your employees to do the right thing. If you are more of a friend or teammate than a leader, you will find it hard to hold your teammates accountable when you need to.
On the flip side, some leaders who micro-manage their teams usually base this on a lack of trust, which is counter-productive and stressful for the manager and their team. Finding that balance where you’re part of the team but can hold your employees accountable is critical.
- Set clear expectations from the start…..as an employee; there’s nothing worse than not knowing what you’re meant to be doing….you feel like a spare part and lack commitment because of the uncertainty. When every team member knows their role, what’s expected of them, and how their contribution fits in with the overall business objective, things really start to improve.
- Expect and embrace mistakes……we all make mistakes, and your team needs to know that getting things wrong is ok because that is how we all learn. We might not like the error, which might cause issues, but if an employee makes a mistake and can come and tell you about it, and learn from it, then you’re probably doing something right as a leader. If your team member keeps quiet and tries to hide their error because they don’t feel safe approaching you, then you’re probably just storing up extra problems for the future.
- Be consistent….. don’t have one rule for you and different rules for others. Set an example to your team in how you hold yourself accountable and demonstrate through your actions how they can keep each other and themselves accountable.
- Try to make it relaxed and fun…..in today’s business world; accountability is not about ruling with an iron rod or coming down like a tonne of bricks on your team. The reality is that your employees want to be trusted; they want responsibility and to feel included – and having accountability in your workplace can help them feel that way. And you can introduce some more light-hearted accountability measures, such as using technology or gentle competition.
“When people feel accountable and included, it is more fun.” – Alan Mulally.
Unlocking the Power of Accountability: The Tools for Business Success
When it comes to accountability, one size does not fit all.
Different teams and businesses have unique needs and preferences regarding tracking and measuring progress. But this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to implement.
Numerous tools are available to help you and your team stay accountable and on track. The options for fostering accountability within your team are endless, from shared calendars and regular check-in meetings to time-logging, progress reporting, goal sharing, and peer review. The key is to experiment and find out which tools work best for your business and your employees, leading to a more effective working environment and ultimately driving the results you need to succeed.”
Accountability: The Missing Piece to Unlocking Business Success
In today’s fast-paced business world, deadlines, deliverables, and team dynamics constantly shift. And one clear thing is that accountability is a crucial element that cannot be ignored. Without it, missed deadlines, unfinished work, and an overall lack of progress can become a regular occurrence in any business.
However, accountability isn’t just about ensuring tasks are completed on time. It’s about fostering a culture of responsibility and ownership within your team. It’s about building trust, promoting individual performance, and increasing job satisfaction, employee retention, inspiration and engagement from your team.
As John Di Lemme so eloquently put it:
“Accountability separates the wishers in life from the action-takers that care enough about their future to account for their daily actions”.
It’s this sense of accountability that sets successful individuals and teams apart. But what happens when accountability is missing in the workplace? The result is an “accountability gap”, where people don’t do what they should be doing, and it’s not just detrimental to the company’s bottom line; it’s damaging to the well-being and the motivation of the individuals within the company.
The question then becomes, how do we instil a sense of accountability within our teams? The answer lies in developing motivational intelligence. As leaders, we are responsible for leading by example and taking ownership and responsibility for our actions. And by providing our team members with the tools to do the same, we can ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal, working as one united team.
The price of greatness is responsibility. -Winston Churchill.
7-Critical Steps to driving accountability:
As a business leader, you can use Motivational Intelligence to help yourself and your team be more accountable in several ways:
Step one: Setting clear and measurable goals: By setting clear and measurable goals for your team, each member can understand what is expected of them and how their work contributes to the team’s overall success. This can help increase accountability as each member knows their role and responsibilities.
Step two: Providing feedback: Giving regular feedback on progress towards goals and providing positive reinforcement when goals are met can help increase accountability by helping team members understand how their actions and contributions impact the team’s success.
Step three: Encouraging autonomy: By giving team members independence and allowing them to take ownership of their work, they are more likely to take ultimate responsibility for their tasks and deliverables.
Step Four: Communicating expectations: Communicating expectations for accountability early on and enforcing them consistently can help establish a culture of responsibility within the team.
Step Five: Modelling accountability: Leading by example and being accountable as a manager or leader can be a powerful tool in encouraging responsibility among your team members. You can inspire your team to do the same by taking ownership of your actions, decisions, and mistakes.
Step Six: Recognising and rewarding accountability: Make sure that when team members are accountable and take responsibility, it should be recognised and rewarded, as it encourages them to continue being accountable and responsible in their work.
Step Seven: Understanding the drivers of each team member: Using motivational intelligence, you can understand the drivers of each team member and how they are motivated. Based on that, you can design specific actions to improve the accountability and ownership of each team member.
Fostering a culture of accountability and ultimate responsibility can be the most powerful tool in your leadership toolbox to drive success in a team and organisation.
The Rate Of The Pack is always defined by the pace of the leader – James Fleming.
Leading With Motivational intelligence (MQ) is an essential tool for a business leader to develop this culture by providing the tools to effectively understand and influence the motivational drivers of your team members and drive accountability.
At The Power Within, we understand the importance of accountability in driving business success. Through our Leading With Motivational Intelligence (MQ) and Business Growth Academy Programmes, we aim to provide individuals and teams with the tools and strategies to develop a mindset of ultimate responsibility and accountability.
If you’re a business leader looking for something a bit different, training & development that works…then we can help.
So let’s work together and make 2023 the year you said YES!
James Fleming
The Power Within Training,
The Motivational Intelligence Company
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