From the perspective of a 5-year-old boy, there isn’t much more fun than a new Nerf blaster. Unless, perhaps, taking that blaster and shooting your sister. Cue Dad to discuss the mistake he had just made and the consequences of making that same error again. What happened next? Nerf dart to her face. I think you can guess what happened next, but I had one main goal as a parent – to ensure accountability for his actions.
Luckily, he’s grown from this accountability. We’ve added a significant amount of value to our family through reduced correction, working collaboratively with his sister, and following instructions from his parents. Accountability works very similarly in business as well!
Critical Steps to Take Today to Increase Team’s Accountability
Increasing your teams’ accountability has a direct positive relationship to your overall Enterprise Value. Holding our teams accountable to budget, management, process, collaboration, communication, education, and more will result in a more unified and efficient organization.
To do this, we’ve outlined some critical steps you can take today to create a heightened sense of accountability with your team:
- Understand what motivates your staff;
- Share strategic vision/planning with the team;
- Set goals and work toward them – with measurable success;
- Encourage collaboration;
- Have an open line of communication;
- Build a culture that is OK to make mistakes but unacceptable not to learn from them;
- Force yourself and team to do difficult things, then track, monitor, and review;
- Avoid micromanagement;
- Never let your people stop learning;
- Celebrate success, review failure;
- Hold everyone accountable.
How Team Accountability Increases Enterprise Value
Each one of these bullet points is a step in the right direction, but you may be wondering how this will increase your Enterprise Value. Fortunately, there are several ways, and here are the top few:
- Increased Individual Performance
- Accountability promotes ownership of work product
- This will likely lead to improved operational systems, eliminating wasted time, and prioritization of workload
- Systems Adherence
- When we’re accountable for our work and actions, it’s much easier to adhere to a well-defined system rather. This way, if something goes wrong, it’s likely a systemic issue that needs to be addressed, rather than an individual mistake.
- Net Profit Margin
- When everyone is working more efficiently, more focus is given to continuous improvement and overall success. With heightened accountability, each team member will want to exceed the goals set forth because no one can skate under the radar.
Let the C&A Experts Help You!
At Cunningham and Associates, we help companies structure their internal development programs. Our priority when engaging with a client is always identifying what matters most to the executive. Contact us today or call (508) 687-6329 to learn how we can help you reach your goals.
