Excerpt from A-CHIEVE! (April 2011)

“High performing organizations (HPOs) use information to help people improve by giving people abundant, timely and helpful data about their performance on a regular basis, individually and as a group.” (Harvard Business Review)

We would ask you to consider amending the author’s statement by suggesting that, as leaders, we focus not only on helping our people improve, but helping them optimize their potential. But how does one realistically go about doing that in our running-to-the-next-fire, never-having-the-time-to-take-a-breath, pressure induced leadership lives? The answer – create a Culture of Accountability. Embarking upon this mission certainly takes a bit of strategizing, planning, defining and implementing, but once you start working the puzzle, creating momentum and declaring incremental successes, the inertia becomes self-perpetuating and each building block becomes self-sustaining.

This begs the question…how does one construct a Culture of Accountability? We would suggest the following 12 Critical Steps and have provided a brief explanation of each:

#1: Lead by example

You must demonstrate that you’re accountable to all aspects of exceptional leadership, not just those aspects that are the most desirable to you or that you’re most comfortable with. The sign of a true leader is how you conduct yourself during stressful or difficult situations. If you fight, flee or avoid vs. constructively tackle your responsibilities head on, you will lose your credibility with your customers, colleagues and team. If you fail to hold yourself accountable (which includes you holding your team accountable), you will only get so far in creating a Culture of Accountability. It’s that simple.

#2: Invest the time required

“For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice…” (John Burroughs, Essayist) Mr. Burroughs eloquently captured the essence of this step. Enough said.    

#3: Engage your team in architecting and executing your Accountability Strategy

There is no better way to build accountability commitment than to actively engage your team in architecting then executing your Accountability Strategy. Referring back to February’s A-CHIEVE! edition, leaders are more likely to attain their goals when they create a condition where their employees feel that they’re a part of the team, feel that they’re respected and valued and feel that they’re learning and growing. Include them.    

#4: Know what your customers expect

While this concept may seem intuitively obvious to most, it is still elusive to some. We frequently encounter one of three scenarios: 1) teams confuse ‘managing customer expectations’ with ‘making customers happy’; 2) teams are more concerned about their needs vs. their customers’ needs; and 3) teams erroneously project their own needs onto their customers and fail to discover what’s really important to their customers. Find out if your team truly knows what your clients expect. Never assume.

#5: Translate your customers’ expectations into well-defined products/deliverables, services and processes

This isn’t as tricky as it might sound if approached in bite-size pieces. The first place to start is by identifying then defining a handful of key products/deliverables, services and processes that are most critical to your team’s success – as seen through your customers’ eyes. By virtue of identifying the tangibles and processes that enable or yield consistent, positive outcomes or results, you can now establish clear, objective, performance-based expectations. Our best advice here – start simple – don’t boil the ocean.

#6: Establish meaningful product/deliverable, service and process performance targets/measures

The most common mistake we see is that organizations tend to go ‘measurement crazy’ – too many, not the right ones, difficult to track/collect, easy to game, you-name-it – or we see the reverse – nothing can be (or is being) measured. The best way to establish meaningful performance targets is to walk in your customers’ shoes. If the performance target isn’t truly meaningful to your customer, ask yourself “Why are we measuring this – what’s the business value?” If you can legitimately answer that question, great, and if not, don’t measure it.          

#7: Assign the work to those who have the right skills

We totally get it…sometimes you must deal with the cards that you’ve been dealt, and you may not have the right members on your team. The question becomes:

Today you may not have the right talent on your team, but it’s your leadership responsibility to change that. 

#8: Equip your team with the tools to be successful

‘Tools’ covers a broad spectrum and although we’re not a technology software firm, we frequently recommend Microsoft’s SharePoint software to those clients who are intent on creating a Culture of Accountability. The product suite includes value-add features that translate into ‘accountability techniques’, e.g., process workflows and automated forms, alert notifications, built-in service levels and performance dashboards. We’re also a huge fan of ‘managing by exception’ (vs. managing everything) and this tool supports our leadership philosophy. Having specifically designed SharePoint solutions tailored to ‘holding teams accountable’, we ALWAYS recommend that our clients ‘start simple’ when choosing this path. Don’t get overly complex.    

#9: Evaluate the evidence

If you have followed Steps 1-8, you’ll arrive at Step 9 in a great place, meaning, you’ll have the data you need at your fingertips so you can accurately, effectively and objectively evaluate your team. You will be in a position of ‘knowing with certainty’ vs. relying on ‘gut feel’ and others’ perceptions. This is especially important for those of you who have team members who believe that their performance is ‘off the charts’ when it really isn’t. Don’t take anyone’s word for how performance-effective your team members are or aren’t. Let the evidence (data) speak for itself.      

#10: Hold your team accountable

Now that you have the performance evidence, engage in constructive dialogue with your team members throughout the course of the year – not just during 6 and 12-month performance review windows. For those team members that are meeting or exceeding performance targets, look for ways to reward them through professional development and growth venues. Help them achieve their true potential. For those team members that are falling below their targets, find out why and help them move the performance pendulum in the right direction or help them find a ‘right fit’ role within your organization or help them with their exit strategy. The greatest gift you can give to your team members is the gift of honesty. 

#11: Celebrate Successes

For those of you who avoid celebrating successes because you personally don’t need a “thank you for a job well done”,  remember that all people are not created equal in this regard. You will have some team members who quickly move on to the next goal…some who thrive on a simple “thank you”…and some who are counting the days between now and the celebratory party. Remember – this isn’t about you – this is about your team and their needs. Thank them and go celebrate!

#12: Embrace Continuous Improvement

The best way to create a Culture of Accountability is to introduce thoughtful change at a realistic pace . Start simple, gain traction, demonstrate a few wins, then keep on going! The goal is not to take on too much too soon, unintentionally creating chaos, then discover 3-6 months down the road that your team is overwhelmed and has become paralyzed and the great work that you started comes to a screeching halt. “Slow and steady wins the race.” (Aesop, Fabulist)

If you’d like to receive more information regarding how to build a Culture of Accountability including how to leverage our SharePoint Jump-Start© Accountability Program, just let us know!

Check out this article plus more in A-CHIEVE! (April 2011).