Taking Teamwork Seriously

Is your team really accountable to the team? Or is it mostly talk? When it comes to team accountability, many organizations talk about how important it is, but their actions belie their words. Here’s a short quiz to help you evaluate accountability in your group or team:

1. When difficult team issues need to be addressed, who raises them?
2. When team members are having problems with each other, who do they go to?
3. When a team member is facing a performance issue, who helps?

1. Where team accountability is just talk, team members wait for the leader to raise tough team issues.

In one organization, the team members were routinely missing deadlines for their new product. Each team member knew they were missing their individual deadlines, but no one raised the issue. They didn’t see it as their role and, in part, they didn’t want to acknowledge that they were part of the problem. Everyone waited for the leader figure out what was happening and to raise the issue. As a result, the team wasted time getting the product to market; they lost potential revenue and it lowered their credibility with customers. Had the members really been accountable to the team, one of them would have raised the issue in the team as soon as they saw what was happening. It would have saved the team meeting time, addressed the deadline issue sooner, and gotten the product to market sooner.

2. When team accountability is just talk and members have problems with other team members, they ask the leader to handle it.

They don’t see themselves as being accountable for working out problems with team members. They figure that’s what leaders get paid the big bucks for – and many leaders believe that too. But, if Andy tells his boss Robert that Sabrina is not doing quality work on their project, and Robert agrees to talk with Sabrina for Andy, little is likely to get resolved. First, Robert can’t possibly have all the information to talk with Sabrina about Andy’s concerns. When Sabrina says to Robert, “Did Andy also tell you that he hasn’t been getting me the information I’ve requested? That’s why I can’t do what he’s asked me to do”, Robert will soon find himself in the land of shuttle leadership, shuttling back and forth between Andy and Sabrina to try to get all the information and solve the problem. In the unlikely event he were successful, Andy and Sabrina would be working together again with an open secret – never having discussed their concerns with each other. They would have no more ability to address problems in their working relationship and would need to go to Robert if another issue arose. And Robert’s willingness to resolve the problem for them sends the message that they don’t need to develop these skills. In mutually accountable teams, members recognize that one of the most basic things they are accountable for is managing their working relationships with their team members. They can ask for help from others, including their boss, but they can’t delegate this task.

3. When team accountability is just talk, after a personnel action is taken regarding a team member’s performance, other team members are not told what’s happening.

For example, when other team members ask their boss what he’s doing about Jason, the manager responds (often on the advice of his HR manager) that he is handling it and they do not need to be concerned. The first irony here is that the team leader most likely learned about Jason’s performance issue from the direct reports who are now being told it is no longer their concern. The second irony is that while team members are told it is not their concern, they are still interdependent with Jason and have to manage that relationship without relevant information from the manager, even though the manager may continue to seek relevant information about Jason’s performance from Jason’s teammates. Finally, by not letting other team members fully understand the performance issue, Jason’s teammates cannot help him improve. As a result, he is less likely to get the help he needs to fully contribute to the team’s success. If this team really believed in team accountability, Jason’s performance, and how it was affecting the other team members, would not be an open secret. The team would address it with everyone present and team members would give regular help and feedback to Jason (and the team leader) about how Jason is doing. In mutually accountable teams, team members help team members improve their performance.

How much mutual accountability does your team have? If it’s not enough to take your team where it needs to go, what are you willing to do about it?

Originally published April 2008