What does it mean to hold your teammates accountable?
First, let’s check what accountability is not.
- Accountability is not a set of tasks you have to finish on time,
- it’s not a tool to blame people and instill fear,
- it’s not simply saying “It’s my fault. Blame on me!”,
- it’s not about the outputs.
Accountability is about the outcome and delivering the results! You can’t confess and take the blame, you have to deliver on the commitment!
A great analogy with the Wizard of Oz story, where Dorothy and her companions (the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow) are constantly looking for someone else to provide the answers and solutions to the challenges they face.
On the other hand, my personal view is that accountability is a mindset. It’s our system of values and strong beliefs, our way of thinking, and the actions we’ll take to meet our goals.
We have to foster the mindset of highly accountable people in the team. These people always go the extra mile, always step up. They’re usually saying – I don’t know how to do that, but I‘ll try anyway.
When we speak about instilling accountability in our team, we must have the courage (the Lion) to see the obstacles before they arise. We must have heart (the Tin Man) and accept ownership of these challenges, even if they aren’t directly related to our work. We must have the wisdom (the Scarecrow) to solve these obstacles by finding solutions even when they aren’t visible at the moment. Finally, to have the willpower (Dorothy) to do and deliver the working solution.
How do leaders hold employees accountable?
Leaders and managers must create a psychologically safe system and instill values such as courage, transparency, ownership, and commitment. A system where teammates can see problems, take ownership to solve them, deliver solutions that may fail, but they won’t be punished or judged by the managers.
Commitment is super important. It’s the willpower to do whatever it takes. We can’t force people to do things, they must have a high level of willingness to perform successfully.
Here are the main traits of accountable people, something leaders have to work on with their team.
- Courage – Hear and say the hard things, and then take the necessary risks.
- Transparency – Communicate openly and candidly.
- Commitment – The willpower to do whatever it takes.
- Ownership – Be personally invested. Don’t blame others.
- Integrity – Do the things you said you will do and build a foundation of trust.
- Relatedness – Collaborate and obtain the perspective of others.
- Experimentation – Learn from both successes and failures.
- Improvement – Ask for and offer feedback. Act on the feedback you receive.
- Resilience – The ability to keep going and keep on adapting.
Why is it important to hold your team accountable?
Accountability can be given, asked, requested, but it cannot be pushed or forced. That’s why I don’t believe much in the I hold you accountable approach. We all know that managers always demand accountability, but from the other side, accountability can be offered even if it isn’t requested.
I can show you how I set my Miro board yesterday! is an offer of accountability, and leaders can offer accountability to demonstrate their trustworthiness to encourage their team mates to be better, to have better discussions, and to hold each other accountable in a supportive way, as true partners.
When we use the right approach, accountability triggers intrinsic motivators which inspire people to exceed team objectives, performance and results. To do the extra mile. To get fully engaged.
That’s why fostering the accountability mindset and values is essential if we want to bring the team to high performance and build better relationships, synergy, co-working, and engagement.
If you want to foster accountability in your team, get started by:
1. Being a role model. Lead by example and show personal accountability!
To hold your team accountable, isn’t possible without starting with yourself. Show personal accountability as a role model, leading by example, before holding your teammates accountable in the first place.
Start by reducing your excuses and procrastination. Be bold, assertive, and take risks. Build your willpower day by day and the new you will be noticed by your colleagues.
Here you can create a Happiness Door and ask your teammates to give you honest feedback regarding your behavior. Monitor the progress and improve on a daily basis.
Accountability is like muscle – you have to work on it every day to make it stronger. Practice accountability during daily meetups and all team events, during lunch, and at the water cooler.
2. Creating psychological safety in your team!
Previously we looked at some of the traits of accountable people such as courage, commitment, integrity, etc… but according to the Scrum Guide and Amy Edmondson, trust and psychological safety are crucial when fostering accountability in the team. Without them, your teammates won’t feel comfortable to open up, take ownership, or be transparent and candid.
3. Fostering transparent communication and share inspiring stories
Accountability should flow in every direction. Top-down, but also bottom-up, horizontal, peer-to-peer, inside-out and outside-in. We need to ask for accountability from all stakeholders, and that’s why we need transparent communication. We discussed the power that honest feedback can bring to the team. Now we want to go deeper with storytelling and mentoring.
How can team members hold each other accountable?
We can’t be accountable if we don’t have the ability to take ownership. When we ask people to hold each other accountable, we need to ask ourselves:
- Was I clear about my expectations?
- How can I help more?
- What is my relationship with them?
We need to work a lot on reducing the blame game, excuses and judgment. That’s why taking ownership for the results is so important.
When we’re building strong, self-managed teams and agile culture, accountability is super important. That’s why in the last version of the Scrum guide the roles are replaced with accountabilities. Everyone in the team must be on the same page and clearly understand all tasks, objectives, and tools, etc.
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