After graduating from college, I had a few false starts, dipping my toe into things that didn't work out. I eventually achieved the holy grail of a full-time job with medical benefits (much to my mother's relief!) and a 401k. I approached this with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of someone who'd "finally made it" to the adult real world.
A few days into the new job, a colleague (who's role I was backfilling) walked me around to introduce me to some of the folks I'd be interfacing with regularly. One of these people was responsible for putting the finishing touches on our product before it was sent out the door, I'll call them the closer. After the introductions were completed, the closer looked at my colleague and said, "I don't feel like doing anything today, so if you need anything from me, you'll have to wait to see if I'm in a different mood tomorrow." Wait, WHAT?! This "lazy" person was admitting that they were not going to do anything all day AND that they believed they'd get away with it - which they did. Having grown up in a family that valued hard work in the name of contributing to the greater good, I had never encountered this attitude before, and I simply could not wrap my head around it.
My job was tracking equipment repair orders through the system and ensuring the repaired equipment was returned to the customer in a timely fashion. I quickly befriended the person who opened the boxes of equipment coming in for repair. I'll call them the opener. The incoming equipment was small enough to be maneuvered with one or two hands. Periodically the opener would decide that they were only going to open 5 boxes on a particular day - work that the average person could complete in half an hour. My friendship with them gained me a guaranteed 1 box with the extra privilege of hand picking it.
Several months in, my manager informed me that I needed to ensure repair orders were completed and shipped back to the customer in 30 days or less. The first of several challenges was that boxes sat in receiving for an average of 15 days, with some sitting there for over a month. I was not daunted; this was my opportunity to make a case to get the problem fixed and ensure the opener lived up to their productivity potential. Armed with data to back me up, I went to my manager's office armed with data and made my case. They said they'd look into it. Two days later the verdict was in... the closer was not getting their work done because I spent too much time talking to them. I just barely managed to contain my eye roll until I left my manager's office.
I later learned about the nuanced circumstances that lead to the opener and the closer not being held accountable. It was a years long history I was powerless to change.
Earlier this week I mentioned to a family member that I was going to write about accountability. Their response was, "I don't like the word accountability. What does it even mean?". Fair enough, I suppose it means different things to different people. Let's start with Dictionary.com:
(adjective)
- responsible to someone or for some action; answerable
- able to be explained
OK, maybe my family member has a point.
To me, holding people accountable is ensuring the team and individuals stay on track for their assigned work and/or commitments they made. This is an active role for a leader. The leaders needs to ensure the team is set up for success to the extent possible, then be on hand to guide, direct, mentor, pivot or provide top cover as appropriate. Here are some key actions I rely on:
- Set Clear Expectations - The best way to ensure the results you're seeking is to set clear expectations. It's also helpful to invite discussion if people have concerns about those expectations. It's possible, they're considering a factor that I missed or that I forgot to share context that would alleviate their concerns.
- Be Engaged - Engagement can look different depending on the project. Some ways I've been engaged include showing up for internal reviews, making myself available for questions, or periodically wandering through the work area to say hello. Being disengaged demonstrates that the project isn't very important and is sure to lead to mediocre results at best.
- Establish Trust - It's important to establish trust with the team so when the inevitable problem arises, they feel comfortable reaching out for help. I want to hear about major issues as soon as they are discovered so we can course correct early. The more trust my team has in me, the more comfortable they will be sharing problems and collaborating on resolving them
- Schedule Check-ins - Scheduling regular check-ins is a reliable way to get a pulse on the situation. I like to use a mix of team check-ins and 1:1 meetings. I'm more likely to hear about mutual challenges in a group setting where folks know the rest of the team has their back. Challenges involving personality conflicts or being experienced by a single team member are more likely to come out in a 1:1 session. Check-ins are a great opportunity to ask if there are any roadblocks.
- Remove roadblocks - Roadblock removal is a crucial job. The team is relying on me. I've got more insight into the bigger picture, the correct contacts for shaking things loose and the negotiation chops to arrange for time from a key shared resource.
- Celebrate small wins along the way - A little bit of encouragement goes a long way. Also, people are motivated to keep forging ahead when they know their work has been noticed and appreciated. Celebration could be anything from, "Great job on [specific task.", "I noticed you and [colleague] are working together and it's making a difference.", to shoutouts at a team meeting or celebratory food. Food is always popular.
Occasionally, there will be a team member that's performing really poorly. This situation needs to be addressed as quickly and empathetically as possible. Be willing to listen to their point of view (sometimes real challenges come to light, other times, the person just isn't performing). Be ready to re-state expectations, negotiate working agreements and outline the consequences if things don't improve. These conversations are hard, but the longer they get put off, the bigger the problem becomes.
Circling back to my family member, they do all of these things in their leadership role, they just don't use the word accountability.
Failing to hold folks accountable can lead to bad behavior such as that exhibited by my opener and closer; resentment by the team members picking up the slack; and low morale. While I take personal pride in a job well done, I was not about to go above and beyond for my manager after that conversation.
How do you define accountability? Are you holding your team accountable? Are you putting off a difficult performance conversation?
I'd love to hear from you. Please comment below or send me a note via the Connect section of the home page.
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