Do You Want a Culture of Accountability?

“Culture of accountability” is a term I hear several times each month.   Leaders talk about wanting to have a culture where accountability is embedded in the business.   Some organizations have it and I consider them world class.  The flip side is that many organizations want accountability to be a part of the culture but lack the processes or systems to make it a reality.

To transform the company and make accountability a part of the culture, organizations need to make it transparent, personal and real.

A process needs to exist to bring visibility to accountability.

An action register is a tool that just does just that.   It provides a way to track critical assignments and tasks that people have been assigned or volunteered.   Documenting the task or activity is only the first step, next an owner of the action needs to be assigned, a target date for completing needs to be agreed to as well.  Once we start doing this, we can remove ignorance as an excuse.   The narrative of “no one told me” or “I didn’t know” will go away.

Too many times leaders assign a task to an employee and it does not get completed because the employee believes there will be no follow up so why follow thru on the request.

Download a sample action register here

Seth Davies, VP of Competitive Solutions Inc

How to Operate Business as Usual when Business is Not as Usual

As people adapt to a new normal including teleworking and no travel—Business Processes become even more important to sustain business focus, engagement and communications in a virtual environment.

COVID-19 has created an immediate change in how we operate business. Hard decisions are being made hourly as more information rolls in about the status of the virus and the impact on our country. As we deal with work-at-home scenarios, closures, travel bans, social media etc. it is very hard to keep employees focused. However, the need to keep our eyes on the business is more important than ever. Every crisis offers the opportunity to get better, be more creative and make improvements (sometimes in areas we didn’t know needed improving.)

Here are some steps you can take now to keep your business moving forward:

1. Communicate: The more information you can share with your team the better. What people don’t know; they make up. At a minimum, have a weekly virtual meeting with your team using Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting or some other online meeting tool. Create an agenda topic called Roundtable where employees can ask questions, raise concerns but also express how they are feeling. The opposite of isolation is connection. Stay connected to your colleagues.

2. Motivate: Working remotely may make it difficult for employees to stay motivated. There may be too many distractions at home and performance may suffer. Metrics on a scorecard can serve to motivate employees, increase accountability and ensure focus in the right areas.

3. Engage: An action register can help engage your team by documenting critical assignments and tasks. Agree on target dates and let your colleagues do their job. Make sure you conduct an accountability assessment by reviewing the action register to ensure everyone on the team is engaged.

4. Expectations: Set behavioral expectations with your team. This new way of work can lead to conflict especially if you have a multigenerational team. Agreed upon behavioral expectations can reduce conflict and provide a platform for constructive feedback discussions.

5. Learning: Look for training opportunities. If your team is experiencing a slowdown in workload, now may be the time to catch up on required training or cross train employees on different jobs and tasks.

Watch our webinar on “Leaning Into Your Processes to Engage Geographically Displaced Teams”

Webinars On Demand – View Here

Error: Please enter a valid email address

Error: Invalid email

Error: Please enter your first name

Error: Please enter your last name

Error: Please enter a username

Error: Please enter a password

Error: Please confirm your password

Error: Password and password confirmation do not match