When you lead a team of people, you’re accountable not only for yourself, but also for creating a culture of accountability. When accountability is baked into your culture, your team members deliver on their responsibilities. If you’re finding that your employees are missing goals or deadlines or making repeated mistakes, you may have a problem with accountability.

Kammy Haynes, Ph.D., founder and president of Inside The Bottom Line, points out that accountability is an inside job. Leaders must encourage their team members to take ownership of results and the consequences of those results.

One way you can begin to build accountability on your team is to shift your language. Instead of holding people accountable, help them be accountable. According to Dr. Haynes, when you are held accountable, it’s like you have no control over the situation. However, by being accountable, you can see how your work contributes to your company’s success.

Want some quick tips on how to improve accountability on your team? Keep reading this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, where we share Dr. Haynes’ guidance on how you can boost accountability.

1. Clearly define purpose. Everyone on your team should understand how their work directly impacts the team and larger organization. Employees who know their purpose and the bigger vision are more engaged and accountable, says Dr. Haynes.

2. Set realistic goals. You can also improve accountability by creating attainable sales goals. By working with your sales team to create the goals together, Dr. Haynes says you can increase buy-in and productivity.

3. Encourage autonomy. Trusting your employees to do their jobs and to do them well is another way you can boost accountability. According to Dr. Haynes, people are more creative and take more initiative when they have some autonomy in the process.

4. Stay the course. Not everything will go smoothly, and that’s okay. Encourage your employees to learn from their mistakes. And if you’re trying something new, accept that you may need to make some adjustments along the way. The key is to be patient and resilient, says Dr. Haynes.

5. Create a culture of kudos. How often do you show appreciation to your team members? You can improve accountability on your team simply by saying thank you and rewarding employee performance and behaviors.

6. Track progress. This tip goes along with the one above, because while celebrating achievements is important, you also need to have measurable objectives.

7. Share what you can. Candor and transparency can lead to improved accountability, notes Dr. Haynes. When you provide relevant information and you are as open as possible with your team, you help each member to make more informed choices.

8. Offer support through coaching. If there’s an issue with an employee’s performance or behavior, they might be unaware. Be sure to provide constructive feedback and coaching. This lets employees know where they stand and allows them to make course corrections, says Dr. Haynes.

How would your team look if everyone felt a sense of ownership and took responsibility for results? Accountability is an important part of a successful team. You can help improve accountability in many ways, from making sure everyone understands their specific role to rewarding your employees’ good work. The idea is to help people be accountable, rather than hold them accountable.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: Kammy Haynes, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Inside The Bottom Line. She is the author of Winning The Engagement Game: How to Attract and Retain Top Talent to Gain a Competitive Edge.