Effective Accountability

Source: ConvergenceCoaching, LLC Inspired Ideas

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from a blog entry by Michelle Baca. In it, Baca shares from personal experience and cites ideas from author Patrick Lencioni (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team).

Improve your ability to hold your team (and yourself) accountable:

Publish commitments, goals and expectations — At ConvergenceCoaching, we have always been big believers in writing meeting recaps that clearly state who is responsible for doing what and by when they committed to do it. It is much, much harder to hold someone accountable for something that has not been clearly documented. Performance expectations and roles and responsibilities should also be clearly documented. In the words of Patrick Lencioni: “Ambiguity is the enemy of accountability.”

Hold simple and regular progress reviews — The published commitments, goals, and expectations won't be very effective if nobody ever refers back to them. This is where meetings can actually be a very important part of your accountability structure. If team members know that the recap containing their previously made commitments are going to be reviewed at future meetings, they are more likely to fulfill on their commitments. It is a form of peer pressure and it uses the natural human desire to avoid looking bad to accomplish higher levels of accountability — but it does work and it is a powerful motivator!

Improve your ability to effectively yet respectfully “call people out” — Lencioni describes the essence of the fourth dysfunction as the tendency to avoid conflict and unwillingness to tolerate the interpersonal discomfort that accompanies calling a peer out on his or her behavior. He points out that members of great teams overcome these natural inclinations, opting instead to “enter the danger zone” with one another.

For the complete blog entry, read “You Don't Have to Be a Jerk to Hold Your Team Accountable.”

From Convergence Coaching, LLC Inspired Ideas, http://blog.convergencecoaching.com, December 8, 2010.