Friday's post - Teams365 #885 - Fostering Accountability - seems to have struck a cord with a number of readers who asked me to follow up with another post on some practical things we can do as team leaders to foster more accountability in our teams. Here is a quick list of things you can consider incorporating into your team conversations and meetings this week:
* Make an focused effort to be specific in meetings you attend and lead around who is going to do what, by when and how this will be tracked;
* At your team meeting this week, or during your 1-1s ask the questions "What are you focusing on this week? What results are you accountable for this week?"
* Consider the idea of creating accountability partners on the team. This would involve pairing team members together and having them meet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to support each other in checking in around their major tasks and milestones;
* Make sure everyone is clear about "what success looks like" with the major tasks and activities being focused on this week. When we aren't clear about the end result, it's hard to be accountable.
* Experiment with starting meetings with a check in or status update on key activities and tasks different team members are working on.
* If follow-through is not happening, have a discussion with those involved. Adopt the coaches stance of "curiosity" using questions to help them tease out what is happening or why follow-through is not happening. As leaders we may automatically move to a more punishing approach, shutting people down rather than exploring what's at the root cause.
What else can you do this week to boost accountability? Would love to hear what you have as team practices. Please feel free to share your comments below or at our Facebook page.
Have a great start to the week,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
* Make an focused effort to be specific in meetings you attend and lead around who is going to do what, by when and how this will be tracked;
* At your team meeting this week, or during your 1-1s ask the questions "What are you focusing on this week? What results are you accountable for this week?"
* Consider the idea of creating accountability partners on the team. This would involve pairing team members together and having them meet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to support each other in checking in around their major tasks and milestones;
* Make sure everyone is clear about "what success looks like" with the major tasks and activities being focused on this week. When we aren't clear about the end result, it's hard to be accountable.
* Experiment with starting meetings with a check in or status update on key activities and tasks different team members are working on.
* If follow-through is not happening, have a discussion with those involved. Adopt the coaches stance of "curiosity" using questions to help them tease out what is happening or why follow-through is not happening. As leaders we may automatically move to a more punishing approach, shutting people down rather than exploring what's at the root cause.
What else can you do this week to boost accountability? Would love to hear what you have as team practices. Please feel free to share your comments below or at our Facebook page.
Have a great start to the week,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
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