{"id":371,"date":"2014-07-16T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T10:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=371"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","slug":"accountability-breeds-response-ability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/accountability-breeds-response-ability\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAccountability breeds response-ability.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our last posting, we talked about execution . . . about the need for meticulous planning, thorough and detailed communication of our plans, and after-the-fact review to determine what went right and what didn\u2019t in an effort to continuously improve our execution skills and abilities.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We probably should have preceded that discussion with one about accountability.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Accountability, or the lack of it, may be the number one complaint we hear from smaller company CEOs.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They say that their employees try to hide from, deflect, or in other ways avoid taking responsibility. Yet without accountability, efficient, effective, timely execution is virtually impossible.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If this is a problem for you, please read below.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAccountability breeds response-ability.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Stephen Covey<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are two essential components to accountability: clear communication and <\/span>consistent<\/span><\/span><\/em> follow-up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u2022\u00a0Communication<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 In our last posting about good execution, we talked about the need for clearly communicating the tasks that need to be done.\u00a0 However, we also need to communicate who will be responsible for completing each task, what each task looks like when it is complete, and a specific deadline for each task to be completed.\u00a0 Too often, a CEO will give his or her management team a broad outline of what\u2019s to be done without specifying who\u2019s going to do what by when.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean that each task must be micro-managed.\u00a0 Usually, there can be lots of latitude about <\/span>how<\/span><\/span><\/em> a task gets done, but we do need to be very specific about:
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01)\u00a0who\u2019s responsible for the task.\u00a0 That means a single individual.\u00a0 If you make a team responsible for something, no one is responsible.
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02)\u00a0the expected outcome.\u00a0 You don\u2019t care about activities, only the outcomes those activities produce.\u00a0 After all, if the activities don\u2019t produce the outcome you want, what good are they?\u00a0 And preferably, the outcome should be defined by some objective measure so there\u2019s no argument about whether or not a particular task was completed satisfactorily.
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03)\u00a0a time\/date for completion.\u00a0 \u201cWe need this done ASAP\u201d is not specific.\u00a0 \u201cWe need this done no later than 5:00 p.m. this Friday afternoon\u201d is.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u2022\u00a0Follow-up.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Follow-up is the very heart of accountability.\u00a0 And not just follow-up, but <\/span>consistent<\/span><\/span><\/em> follow up.\u00a0 If you pay attention to deadlines sometimes but let them pass without comment other times, accountability suffers.\u00a0 If you sometimes track progress but other times, not so much, accountability suffers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We routinely hear CEOs say, \u201cWhen I ask somebody to do something, I just expect them to do it.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t have to go back and check up on them.\u201d\u00a0 Well, in the best of all worlds it might work that way, but not in the real world.\u00a0 Conventional wisdom advises us to \u201ctrust but verify,\u201d or as a friend of mine used to say, \u201cWhen your mother says she loves you, check it out.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ve probably heard the expression, \u201cWhat gets measured gets done.\u201d\u00a0 So when the boss makes a demand but doesn\u2019t look for measurable results, doesn\u2019t set a deadline, and doesn\u2019t ask for progress reports, how important could it be?\u00a0 In an employee\u2019s mind, not very . . . it\u2019s just another of the boss\u2019s whims that within 30 minutes will be completely forgotten.\u00a0 And who can blame them?\u00a0 Therefore, if you want accountability to be a hallmark of your organization, the price is good, consistent follow-up.<\/span><\/p>\n

So to summarize, accountability requires clear, concise, unambiguous communication about the who, what, and when of a task to be completed.\u00a0 People can\u2019t be held accountable if they are fuzzy about who\u2019s supposed to do what by when.\u00a0 If this is something you hammer out in a meeting or at the water cooler, if you want to\u00a0avoid later confusion or misunderstanding, make sure it’s put in writing.\u00a0 Then there needs to be consistent follow-up to reinforce the notion that this task is important and we expect you to achieve this specific result by this specific time\/date.\u00a0 Without follow-up, employees will legitimately assume this assignment was just a whim and is of no importance<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clear communication and <\/span>consistent<\/span><\/span><\/em> follow-up leads to accountability<\/span>.<\/p>\n

For more information about business consulting<\/a>, contact me<\/a> today!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our last posting, we talked about execution . . . about the need for meticulous planning, thorough and detailed communication of our plans, and after-the-fact review to determine what went right and what didn\u2019t in an effort to continuously improve our execution skills and abilities.\u00a0 We probably should have preceded that discussion with one<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,36,33,29,26,22],"tags":[45,41,42,43,46,44,47,48],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}