This week we are covering the fourth dysfunction of a team: the avoidance of accountability!
Let's run it back for each dysfunction real quick. The first dysfunction is the absence of trust. Without trust, you can't have healthy conflict. Without healthy conflict, you can't expect each person on the team to commit to the decisions made. And without commitment, you can never have accountability.
We are all guilty of not following through on something we said we would do. It's human nature and usually not done maliciously. But, when someone lets it happen, the team should address it. Whatever was supposed to be done was important enough to be agreed upon, so it should be important enough to be done, and when these things aren't done, the whole team suffers.
What does accountability look like?
You may have a picture of accountability in your head that looks like a manager scolding an employee for not doing something they said they would do. While that is a form of accountability, it should be a last resort if it even gets to that point.
The best form of accountability is peer-to-peer accountability. People on the same level as each other without any power dynamics at play holding each other accountable. If the boss is the only one having these conversations, the team will never be able to hold each other accountable.
Without those ingrained power dynamics a boss and a subordinate have, each team member must voluntarily submit to the scrutiny of their peers. Obviously, this is easier said than done. It is hard to call out your peers, and it is hard to be called out.
Trust, courage, grace, and humility are all required to both call out and be called out. To call someone out, you must recognize your position. You are not calling them out because you are better than them, but because you care about them and the team. Remember that you are just as likely to make the same mistake they did.
The inverse is equally true. When you are called out, you must recognize that the person calling you out is doing so because they care about you and the team. Recently, my perspective on criticism has shifted a little bit. When a peer takes the time to call you out and talk about where you screwed up, your peer is actively contributing to your personal growth. They are not only giving you the opportunity to improve but also their thoughts on how you can improve. This is a gift, and you should treat it as such!
The consequences of not having accountability
When trust has been created, conflict been had, and commitment has been made, the team must hold each other accountable. If they don't, all of the previous work was for nothing. Imagine a team going through all of the previous dysfunctions and then not holding each other accountable. Each person knows what they need to do, but whether they do it or not is up to them. This is a recipe for disaster.
Teams that don't hold each other accountable will miss deadlines and produce subpar work. Each member will only partially recognize the change they committed to, and the team will never reach its full potential. Consequently, results will never be as good as they could be, and the team will never be as cohesive as it could be.
Conclusion
Accountability is the penultimate dysfunction of a team and the dysfunction that teams struggle with the most since each member must individually scrutinize and be scrutinized. But, if a team has gotten past the previous dysfunctions, they should have the tools to hold each other accountable. Don't let your team stop when they have already gotten this far! Keep your team accountable to the commitments they have made!