The urban legend that floated around Edmonton when I was growing up there was about how Mark Messier and Kevin Lowe, members of the Oilers hockey team, “fervently chastised” a rookie for throwing his jersey on the floor after a game. Apparently Mark and Kevin felt this was disrespectful to the team and let the rookie know that such an attitude would not be tolerated.
I do not know if this incident really happened or not, but if it did, it would be a rather blunt example of how to hold a teammate accountable. And while I am not suggesting that you should confront a teammate of yours this fervently when they do not deliver as promised, I am suggesting that accountability is an essential part of a thriving team.
One of the biggest obstacles for holding someone accountable is the personal discomfort that generally comes with it. Most of us simply do not like to do it. It is uncomfortable, and risky. Feelings could get hurt and personal relationships could be damaged in the process. Never the less, without good accountability teams will not be able to achieve the kinds of results they are probably looking for.
As uncomfortable as accountability might be, there are some elements that can help. First, accountability happens best when there is trust in place. We tend to hear things more clearly and more positively when it comes from someone we know has our best interests in mind. So building significant trust on your team is essential.
Second, most of us find it easier to be held accountable to things we knew we were responsible for ahead of time and had agreed to doing. Clarity and buy in are essential to the process. Making sure everyone involved knows what has been decided and agreed to at the outset makes it much easier to follow up later if things did not happen as planned.
And third, in this context accountability is about team members holding each other accountable for performances required for the success of the team. While accountability is of course always between people and therefore is personal, it can be done in the context of what is needed for the team to reach the goals it has set. This can be helpful in minimizing the personal element and maximizing the collective or team element of accountability.
With these things in place, accountability should be a little easier to do. However, concern over the risk to personal relationships can still get in the way. I like the way Lencioni addresses this. “Members of great teams improve their relationships by holding one another accountable, thus demonstrating that they respect each other and have high expectations for one another’s performance.” (The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team, pg. 213, emphasis mine).
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Fervent Chastisement
I do not know if this incident really happened or not, but if it did, it would be a rather blunt example of how to hold a teammate accountable. And while I am not suggesting that you should confront a teammate of yours this fervently when they do not deliver as promised, I am suggesting that accountability is an essential part of a thriving team.
One of the biggest obstacles for holding someone accountable is the personal discomfort that generally comes with it. Most of us simply do not like to do it. It is uncomfortable, and risky. Feelings could get hurt and personal relationships could be damaged in the process. Never the less, without good accountability teams will not be able to achieve the kinds of results they are probably looking for.
As uncomfortable as accountability might be, there are some elements that can help. First, accountability happens best when there is trust in place. We tend to hear things more clearly and more positively when it comes from someone we know has our best interests in mind. So building significant trust on your team is essential.
Second, most of us find it easier to be held accountable to things we knew we were responsible for ahead of time and had agreed to doing. Clarity and buy in are essential to the process. Making sure everyone involved knows what has been decided and agreed to at the outset makes it much easier to follow up later if things did not happen as planned.
And third, in this context accountability is about team members holding each other accountable for performances required for the success of the team. While accountability is of course always between people and therefore is personal, it can be done in the context of what is needed for the team to reach the goals it has set. This can be helpful in minimizing the personal element and maximizing the collective or team element of accountability.
With these things in place, accountability should be a little easier to do. However, concern over the risk to personal relationships can still get in the way. I like the way Lencioni addresses this. “Members of great teams improve their relationships by holding one another accountable, thus demonstrating that they respect each other and have high expectations for one another’s performance.” (The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team, pg. 213, emphasis mine).
This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2012 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.