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How Great Leaders Hold Employees Accountable – Use 5 Essential Actions · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: How great leaders hold employees accountable is an approach, a process, and a set of actions that works together to create accountability in individuals and teams.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Setting goals and expecting team members to achieve them is not a winning approach.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is really easy as a manager or leader to set goals, get caught up with all your own work and the demands being placed upon you, and then vent your frustration and anger that team members have not hit goals that you have set with them.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, this approach reduces ownership and accountability in teams.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Ongoing and proactive teamwork between the leader and their teams is the best way to create accountability throughout the team and for the team to sustain that accountability.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: 5.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Interdependent actions to create lasting accountability in teams are firstly communicate clear goals and expectations.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, build capability in your team.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Third, create visibility of progress towards goals.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, follow up and give plenty of honest feedback.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And fifth, implement clear consequences of beating and missing goals.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: All five actions are needed on a continuous basis.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Miss one and accountability will slip through the cracks.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Implementing all of these actions is how great leaders hold employees accountable.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've won best team prizes and turned around the performance of multiple teams in 6 to 12 months, and I know personally that these actions work brilliantly to create accountability within any team.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The first action in creating a culture of accountability is to communicate clear goals and expectations.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not sure what is expected of you or you receive conflicting or confusing messages, to what do you hold yourself accountable?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: No or unclear goals means your manager or colleagues can't really hold you accountable either.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Communicate as clearly as you can, as often as you can, the team goals and what you're expecting each individual in your team to deliver.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Remember that your decisions, actions and behaviours are more powerful methods of communication than what you say or write.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: People pay a lot more attention to what you do than what you say.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Set out your goals and expectations on a team and an individual level.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Be clear what you expect from each person and communicate this to everyone.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Focus on outcomes more than activity.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Keep repeating and reinforcing your expectations in team meetings, in your individual one-on-one meetings, in emails, in newsletters, in every method you have.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Next, work hard to live those same expectations yourself.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Lead from the front, show your team how to meet the goals and expectations you set.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Be very aware of the messages that you're sending your team verbally and nonverbally.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Work to keep those messages aligned and reinforcing each other.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: When goals and expectations are clear, you can start creating accountability.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Communicating goals and expectations clearly is a crucial approach for how great leaders hold employees accountable.
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  SPEAKER_00: Finally, explain the why and the context behind the goals and expectations that you have chosen.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Context empowers employees to take greater responsibility for decisions and actions, which in turn increases accountability.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Involving your team in setting goals is another great way to increase their ownership of those goals.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new here, Enhanced.training provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Do visit us at Enhanced.training to build your management and leadership expertise a lot more quickly.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: The second action in creating a culture of accountability in teams is to build capability in your team.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Communicating goals and expectations clearly is not enough to create accountability.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Individuals and teams need to know how they're going to achieve those goals and feel they have or will have the skills, knowledge and resources to achieve those goals.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Making the time to build capability in your team is a great way of demonstrating your value to the team, of creating a fair exchange for all the hard work they put in, and is a great way to leverage your time to create the biggest impact on team results.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: You have a lot of skills and experience that your team members do not.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Put in the time to pass this on to them.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many options, with some of the best ones being firstly, use weekly one-on-one meetings to coach and mentor your team members.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, work alongside team members to create solutions to problems and help implement those solutions.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Third, facilitate groups of team members in problem-solving workshops.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, set up buddy networks or peer teaching sessions within your business.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, use external sources of development, your courses, mentors, coaches and more.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Increasing team capability can also be achieved through you working to remove blockers and problems that your team is faced with while doing their jobs.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Removing problems is a great use of your time, a clear demonstration of the value you bring to the team, and helps the team be more effective and deliver more.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Development is one of the essential actions for how great leaders hold employees accountable.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Very few team members want to let a leader down who works so hard to help them.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: The third action for how great managers hold employees accountable is to create visibility of progress towards goals.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Clear goals combined with objective measurement of progress towards those goals and a lot of visibility of that progress creates a lot of accountability all by itself.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Few employees want to let colleagues down or a good boss down.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: No one wants to be bottom of the group and have others talking down about them.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Visibility with the right encouragement also creates the platform for getting help and support to the right people quickly, which increases overall team output.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Providing proactive help yourself to team members that are behind is a great way to encourage team members to do the same.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Visibility is a great way to encourage teamwork and accountability.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Higher levels of visibility also encourage more communication, collaboration and more collective problem solving.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Increase all of these and you increase teamwork.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Work out the best and clearest ways to track progress of each team and individual goal.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Involve your team members in this process.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Then share progress daily or weekly.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ask a team member to be responsible for each team metric.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Create a KPI dashboard.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about progress in team meetings, in one-on-one meetings, in emails.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Put a dashboard on the wall for all to see.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Measure, track, and keep progress very visible to every team member.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth action for how great leaders hold employees accountable is to follow up and give plenty of honest feedback.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Following up is a crucial task for managers and leaders.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: When you have delegated a problem, activity or task, you are following up to firstly check that the work is progressing as expected.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, to provide help and advice to speed up delivery of results and overcome any problems encountered.
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  SPEAKER_00: Third, to spot opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge of the person doing the work.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Following up takes organisation, discipline and people skills.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Following up well is an investment that saves you a lot of time because you will have to deal with a lot less problems, disappointments and uncoordinated activities, all of which suck up your time resolving.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Follow up by popping around to team members' desks to have a chat about their work.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Always position your visit as an opportunity to help them.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you can't physically see the team member, use video or phone calls.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Only use emails, chat or other text-based contact as a last resort.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Following up is a key action in how to hold team members accountable.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: When you're speaking to team members, you have a lot of opportunities to provide feedback.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if things are not progressing as you expect or mistakes have been made, provide corrective feedback.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Explain what is not working as well and how to improve going forward.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Give a lot of feedback and make your feedback specific, detailed and designed to develop the other person.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth action in creating a culture of accountability in teams is to implement clear consequences of beating and missing goals.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Creating consequences for good or poor work, actions, decisions, and behaviour are essential to encourage more of what you want and discourage what you don't want to see in your teams.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: The more you are able to incentivize teams to want to meet and beat expectations, the more likely they will do just that.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Incentives can take many forms.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Some examples include praise and recognition, secondly, development opportunities, third, more interesting and challenging work, fourth, additional time off, fifth, bigger bonuses and pay rises, sixth opportunities for promotion and advancing careers.
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  SPEAKER_00: Use your imagination.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: For example, praise and recognition is more powerful for most people than a small increase in their bonus.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Think carefully about your team and what their interests and ambitions are.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Create rewards that they really want.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: On the flip side, create consequences for not meeting goals and expectations.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Some examples might be firstly receiving corrective feedback rather than praise and appreciation.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, team members expressing their disappointment and anger towards those people who are not meeting expectations or goals.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Third, limiting the opportunities for development and new experiences.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, removal of bonuses or pay rises.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then fifth, worst case, losing their job.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Consequences, both good and bad, are essential and are a key tool for how great managers hold employees accountable.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Think and implement a range of incentives for employees who deliver great results in the right way and consequences for those that don't.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, how great managers hold employees accountable is by implementing a range of interdependent actions or approaches that creates a framework to encourage ownership and accountability within teams.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: If one or more pieces of the framework are missing, holding employees accountable rarely works.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Implement all five elements well, and any manager should increase employee accountability in any team.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: The five elements of how great leaders hold employees accountable are firstly, communicate clear goals and expectations.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, build capability in your team.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Third, create visibility of progress towards goals.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, follow up and give plenty of honest feedback.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And fifth, implement clear consequences of beating and missing goals.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on how great leaders hold employees accountable, please email me at support at enhance.training and I'll get back to you.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Enhanced.training provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Do visit us at enhanced.