A Ceo lamented that he dreads AOP’s because of the amount of lack of accountability that crops up with his subordinates. It acts as dead weight that brings down momentum and energy in those sessions, elaborately crafted job descriptions with fine details ironed out does not cut it by far. These challenges are endemic and rooted in the subconciousness of the institutional memory of the organization. Structure and specificity is important, buts, that not ground ZERO
There are established stereotypes that abound in corporate circles based on accountability or the lack of it -Victims, finger pointers, responsibility duckers, clock watchers, wait and watchers –We have all been there in various avatars, sometimes as players and sometimes at the head of the table.
Some of the sins of low accountability are :
There are established stereotypes that abound in corporate circles based on accountability or the lack of it -Victims, finger pointers, responsibility duckers, clock watchers, wait and watchers –We have all been there in various avatars, sometimes as players and sometimes at the head of the table.
Some of the sins of low accountability are :
- Staying confused and waiting for instructions –Laxity in seeking out clarifications, raising potential blocks and pertinent detailing are signs of low accountability
- Rule book orientation-This is not the way it has been done in the past, I will wait around till it has become a part of an official record.
- Denial –Shutting down any feedback and insisting that their approach is the best inspite of ample evidence to the contrary.
- Wait and see-A head buried in the sand approach leads to serious fire fighting at a later and more crucial stage.
- Not my job-Why should I shoulder someone else’s load?
Leaders need to ensure a 4 step process to bring in greater accountability – Awareness, Acknowledgement, action and accountability. A complete understanding of accountability in organizations must begin with an acceptance of the notion of “joint accountability.”
One company president characterized what joint accountability meant to him: “everyone working together so that we don’t drop the ball; but when it does get dropped, everyone dives for the ball to pick it up.” “Unfortunately,” he said, “too many of our people see the ball falling to the ground between players but react by saying ‘that was your ball.
However, when people view their accountability as something larger than their responsibility, people find themselves feeling accountable for things beyond what a literal interpretation of their job description might suggest (i.e.,profits, customer complaints, sharing information, project deadlines, effective communications, sales, and the success of the overall company)
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