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November 1, 2016

Cultivating Accountability in Others!

Let’s face it cultivating accountability in others can seem like a daunting task. Just hearing the word accountability can give the majority of us an ugh feeling.  What usually pops into mind are the words babysitter or micro-manager from past failed attempts at trying to get others to be accountable.

Cultivating accountability in others is worth the effort! – Individual, team and practice performance all dwindle when there is a lack of accountability.  Without accountability, execution suffers.  Our performance deteriorates when we don’t hold ourselves accountable to getting work done well and on time. The more we let things slip the more acceptable it becomes to let them slip again.  A day becomes a week, a week a month and finally not at all.

For example exercising.  We start out committed and then make an excuse that we are to tired, to busy or to something to fit it in that day.  It becomes easier and easier to make excuses until finally we no longer need excuses we just stop exercising.

When we aren’t accountable, we not only impact our performance we also impact the performance of others. Our delay becomes our team’s delay. Their work gets derailed which then affects patient experience and practice performance.  Lack of accountability is contagious in a team, a department and a practice.  One excuse begets another. Tolerating missed deadlines, running over and unfinished work have the tendency to make the lack of accountability acceptable.  People learn that the real deadline is a week from the requested one; patients come late because they know that running 15 minutes late is the norm; sub-par work is acceptable in the interest of “getting it done”!

The awesome news is we don’t have to be a babysitter or a micro-manager to cultivate accountability in others when we practice the following methods.

Model the Waddle – In other words, lead by example.  If you want others around you to be accountable you need to be accountable.  Do what you said, when you said and how you said you would do it.  Be transparent with those who you have made a commitment.  Keep them informed if an obstacle prevents you from achieving your commitment.  It builds trust when we are honest and transparent.  In high-trust cultures, people focus on the solution instead of blaming others. Always own your results instead of blaming circumstances or other people.

Give praise and show appreciation to build confidence. A person with low self-confidence from bad past experiences may fear accountability.  Their fears sabotages accountability. Fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, fear of not being liked or accepted, fear of judgement and criticism, fear of not being able to handle the situation; in essence, simply fear of “What if “!  A confident person has the perseverance to get up and try again if things go wrong. So give praise and show appreciation, to build up confidence in your staff, so your team isn’t afraid to be accountable for things.

Delegation – Clear and concise delegation is key in cultivating accountability in others. Which means slowing down enough to take the time to clearly explain what you want to achieve.

  • Define who, what, when, where, why, and how.  We get so busy and in a hurry…we want to dump the information and run.  It’s what I call a flyby.  Avoid flybys!  If you don’t have time to delegate clearly wait until you do.
  • Ask the receiver of the task what they already have on their plate.  It may be necessary to re-prioritize the task list if timing is an issue.  Be realistic to avoid over promising and under delivering.
  • Ask the receiver of the task if they have any questions about how to complete the task.  Answer any questions they may have.
  • If it is more than one step, write it down in bullet point objectives.
  • If it is a longer project, schedule check in times (no this does not mean you do not trust them…it allows you to assist with feedback if necessary).
  • Discuss and agree on a realistic time or date to complete the task.  If you don’t set a date, it will create unclear performance expectations and very difficult to cultivate accountability.

Job Descriptions – Detailed job descriptions are important as they create clarity in training and performance expectations.  It is difficult to be accountable if I am uncertain about what is expected.  Have you ever asked someone for help only to hear, “it’s not my job”?  That is a huge pet peeve of mine.  You can avoid the phrase, “it’s not my job”, by adding the following statement to all job descriptions.  Everyone is accountable for helping where ever necessary…Your job from the moment you clock in to the moment you clock out is whatever is Legal, Ethical & within your Licensure to help the practice thrive!  I suggest reviewing the phrase whenever you are hiring someone new, performing a performance review, or whenever behavior or attitude deems it necessary.

Priority Hierarchy – Prioritizing what and when to do something helps to cultivate accountability. We may have the best intent to be accountable for our responsibilities. However, busyness can get in the way.  We are a society of over-committers and over achievers.  I utilize the rocks, pebbles and sand analogy to help teams prioritize their responsibilities.  A rock is anything that is important and urgent (needs to be done that day) or there will be negative consequences for the practice.  The biggest rock is always the patient right in front of us.  Everyone helps everyone with their rocks (as long as it is legal, ethical and within their licensure) before going on to their own pebbles and sand.  Once all rocks are completed, the team member may move on to their pebbles.

Pebbles are also very important but not urgent.  Pebbles are never delegated because they can be done another day without affecting the practice negatively.  Everyone is responsible for their own pebbles.  A pebble can eventually become a rock if left undone based on change in urgency.  For example ordering supplies might become a rock if you must order that day or you will run out of necessary supplies before they arrive.  Even washing uniforms may become a rock if there are none available for the next day and it is close to closing.

Sand is the filler to fill in open time with cleaning and organizing.  Sand is also never delegated.  Everyone is responsible for their own sand.  This helps to prevent delegating the things that are less desirable.

Cross Training – Cultivate accountability in others by empowering team members to know how to support each other better.  The more we can help each other the greater the potential we have to get the job done…even on those days when the wheels fall off.  I have found having clinical and non-clinical team members observe each other doing their daily tasks goes a long way in raising job awareness and understanding.  The team will feel more empowered to help their co-workers get the job done!  It’s a win for the patients, the practice and the team!

End Results – Accountability simply is about follow through!  Doing what you said, when and how you said you would do it. Its understanding that other team members are dependent on you and being unwilling to let them down. It’s about keeping others in the loop with clear, honest and open communication by informing them on the status of your commitments even when you drop the ball.  It’s realizing that trust and respect are the benefits and byproducts of accountability. It’s knowing that a high-performing culture is the end result of total team accountability!

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