How the Cycle of Accountability Can Keep Your Team Moving Forward: Tips for Leaders, Managers, Team Builders and Collaborators
If you’re a manager, people leader, or project lead dealing with a stagnant, unmotivated, or underperforming team, one of the most proactive and effective strategies you can try is establishing accountability - and this is where the Cycle of Accountability is key.
Our thanks to Dr. LaWanda Yanosik Holland, Founder and President of Sustainable Outcomes, for teaching us about the Cycle of Accountability which aims to build behaviors through open communication that prevent or diffuse friction during a workflow or within your team environment.
Read on for an in-depth look at how the Cycle of Accountability works - and how it can help you successfully motivate your team.
What is the Cycle of Accountability?
The Cycle of Accountability breaks down the stages of a task from end-to-end into four stages with each stage unfolding through conversations for action:
Preparation, where an initial request is made and a manager or team member assesses the capacity to meet that request
Negotiation of the scope, timeline, and specific deliverables associated with the project
Performance of the team or team member to fulfill the request
Completion and delivery for approval or a request for changes
The Cycle of Accountability encourages transparency so that all stakeholders involved are set up for success and receive any support they may need in a timely manner. For example, during the cycle’s ‘preparation’ stage, if a team member is genuinely encouraged to assess their competency surrounding a task before agreeing to take it on, this will save a lot of time troubleshooting subpar job performance down the line.
It’s important to point out that the first three stages of the Cycle should be re-leveraged as needed before a project culminates. The ‘negotiation’ stage may be the most powerful of them all because oftentimes an initial request needs to be renegotiated or even canceled based on new information, changes in budget, or other factors that necessitate a new strategy or direction.
Frequently, when a project reaches its ‘completion’ stage, little time is spent assessing how the request was handled (was the need for the request clearly stated at the onset?) or why renegotiation didn’t occur when factors changed (did your team member request a revised deadline after personnel changes in the dept?)
Accountable Behaviors
The Cycle of Accountability also helps managers and people leaders encourage their teams to build accountable behaviors. If issues arise, some team members may eschew responsibility, feeling instead like they should just wait and hope for a situation to resolve itself, set limitations on themselves regarding their own capabilities or blame others for any potential missteps. This is where accountable behaviors come in. Accountable behaviors include:
Adaptability and willingness to adjust expectations when something in the project changes
Commitment to resolving any inevitable issues that arise during the project
Accepting ownership of a given situation
Acknowledging the reality of the situation you are in when it comes to making promises
What Stands in the Way?
Overpromising can be a culprit here. In professional settings, many people agree to certain tasks or deadlines, even when unrealistic or not enough information has been provided, for fear of coming across as unhelpful or incompetent. As a manager, it’s crucial to invite your team to voice these concerns; the alternative would be setting them up to fail. Applying pressure to over-promise for the sake of impressing a new client or hitting an unrealistic goal is short-sighted, and as a manager, it’s your responsibility to assess how overpromising can hurt your reputation with clients rather than help it (and erode trust with your team in the process).
Remember, negotiation is a key part of the Cycle of Accountability, and as a manager, is largely in your hands. The sooner adjustments are made to the scope of a project, the sooner accountability can be established, and the better chance you have of setting agreeable deliverables and deadlines. Managers - remember, understanding where your team may be vulnerable within the Cycle at any given time is critical. As tempting as it may be to dive right into a new project and get to work, taking the time to leverage the Cycle of Accountability will be worth the investment in the long run.
To learn more about implementing the Cycle of Accountability with your team, book a team training session to get your team aligned and ready to take on any new project that comes your way.
About the Author
Jackie Miller launched Bespoken in 2015 to channel years of professional performance experience into techniques that improve public speaking, presenting, and professional communication skills. She holds a B.F.A. and M.A. both from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.