How to Promote Accountability

A recurring theme among many of my clients is the frustration that results when another person does not complete a task on time.

There are many reasons for this:

• The person is not good at managing his/her time
• The person forgot about or did not realize the importance of the commitment
• The person agreed to your request but never intended on following through with the commitment
• The person did not check with his/her manager who had other plans that would affect the person’s schedule
• The person was planning in good faith to complete the task on time, but it took longer than expected.
• The person is afraid to tell you s/he can’t deliver on time (or at all)

There are many ways to follow up on commitments, but first you need to have clarity on what is being committed to.  Don’t make assumption; take the time to get clarity on the request.

Accountability includes:

• Having a clear plan, agreed to by all participants
• Having clear action steps to be completed following the discussion
• Helping the other person understand the importance of the commitment and what else may be contingent upon it
• Getting clarity on how the request will be monitored

Actions to Create Accountability 

1. The Four-Part Request

You can’t just tell a person to deliver something by a certain date and assume that it will be done on time and to your satisfaction.  Instead, you need to confirm that the person understands the request and has the time and competence to complete the task.

Sometimes the options and possibilities sound good until it is time to implement them.  The discussion of accountability is intended to create a way to keep the other person answerable to his or her commitment.  It also ensures that the other person has sufficient internal motivation to complete the next steps.

When making a request, there are four items that need to be clarified.

• Task: Clarify the task.  Does the person have the time and skills to complete the task by your requested date?
• Delivery: What exactly is to be delivered?  (You may understand your request, but does the other person?)
  • Clarify the request.
  • Request a delivery date and ask if the person can complete the task by that time.
  • Clarify how/when to renegotiate if circumstances change and the other person can no longer complete the request on time.  The renegotiation should take place with enough time to make other plans.
  • Who else needs to be part of the request?  Perhaps the person’s manager needs to know that s/he is committing to a task.
• Measurement: How will both parties know that the request has been completed?  What exactly is to be delivered?
• Motivation: Why is it important to complete the request?  Who will it impact if it is done/not done?  Why is the timeline important and how much flexibility is there?

At the end of the discussion you should have a plan that defines:

• A clear request
• A delivery date
• A description of what the delivery will look like
• How it will be delivered
• How to renegotiate the request (this must be done while there is still time to find alternate solutions)

2. Tips

• You can make a request, but make sure that the person has the opportunity to negotiate the delivery—otherwise s/he may agree to your request just to appease you.
• If the person can’t deliver on time, then engage him or her in problem solving.  Other commitments may have to be renegotiated.

3. Wrap Up

Before closing the meeting, ask the other person to tell you what s/he is committing to.