In October 2009 I was in a breakout session at the Vistage
UK Chair Conference in which the topic was Accountability.
We were all asked to decide on a task which we would work on for
the following year and another member of the group agreed to hold us
accountable (if you see what I mean)
I agreed to hold a colleague accountable for a very long
list of actions and another agreed to hold me accountable for my decision -
that is, to write a regular blog.
I haven’t had a call from my colleague for ages but after
three weeks of writing the blog on a Sunday, it has now become a (very
enjoyable) habit and rather to my surprise this week’s is number 200 in the
series.
It is worth considering how effective are the accountability
practices in your business, that is, assuming that you formal accountability
practices anyway. It always surprises me
that important tasks can be allocated to people and then not really checked and
monitored until completion or not as the case may be.
One of our US Vistage speakers, John Johnson, has an
excellent pro-forma template which he uses to monitor progress in the
implementation of strategic plans and there is no reason why it should not be
used in a wide range of activities in a business.
In essence there is an overall champion allocated to make
sure that all activities are being carried out as agreed, with other people
holding the individual accountable for separate parts of the task.
All in all, the maxim of "monitor, measure,
evaluate" makes sure that tasks are completed with a modicum of
supervision and just enough to ensure that effective communication is
established.
Too often work is allocated without even a timeline, and
then the individual is left to get on with the task without supervision and
seemingly a complete lack of interest in what is happening.
That is, until something goes amiss, the task goes over time
limits which hadn’t really been communicated properly in the first place,
results are not forthcoming or worst of all, the “I wouldn’t have done it that
way” syndrome kicks in.
If we delegate tasks then we delegate responsibility for
successful completion of that task as well.
This, in turn, implies that we give our people the courtesy of
expectation of success and give them the freedom to achieve it.
The quid pro quo is, of course, that as a consequence they
are held accountable for the progress and finalisation of the task and it is
this that is frequently lacking.
It is a simple task to reprimand someone for not achieving
expectations but it is equally simple to eliminate the problem by the practice
of accountability.
If we monitor, measure and evaluate together then successful
completion of the project is far more likely than if we just leave our people
to get on with it and just hope that all will turn out well.
Big caveat! This is
not an open invitation to micro-manage the team members. Rather it pays then the compliment of setting
expectations, then letting them get on with the job while offering assistance
and encouragement as necessary.
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