accountability-at-work-supplemental-self-study-presentation.ppsx

Supplemental Self-Study Presentation
Accountability at Work
Creating a Culture of Ownership and Responsibility

Overview

Picture a workplace where mistrust is the norm,
employees are concerned with protecting their
reputations, and teams seek to defend their “turf”
and often fail to keep their promises.
A Gallup poll estimates that the cost of lost productivity
from unaccountable and disengaged employees is
between $287 and $370 billion per yeari.
Now, picture a workplace where trust is unquestioned,
commitments are clear, personal responsibility is high,
people take ownership of problems, and mistakes are
treated as opportunities to improve rather than reasons
to blame. These conditions are the cornerstone of a
positive work environment.
Introduction

Benefits of Accountability
A workplace with high accountability breeds:
• Increased efficiency and productivity
• More participation and involvement
• Increased feelings of competency
• Increased sense of commitment
• Higher morale and satisfaction
Introduction Part 2
“A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization
that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible
for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make.”
—Denis Waitley, author and coach

Module 1:
Introduction to Accountability

The term “accountability” can have positive and negative connotations. Throughout this course,
we’ll look at accountability in two ways—personal and mutual—both with a positive focus.
Goal of accountability: To take actions that are consistent with your desired results.
Start with a Common Understanding
Personal accountability: Taking responsibility for
the consequences and outcomes of your choices
and actions. This is accomplished primarily by
building trust, seeking feedback and learning from
mistakes. This is behavior-related accountability.
Mutual accountability: Counting on one another
to keep commitments and agreements. This is
accomplished primarily through accountability
agreements both within teams (intra-team) and
between teams (inter-team). This is task-related
accountability.

Accountability is not about creating more work for everyone. It’s important to focus your
accountability efforts on the areas that are most important for organizational and individual
success. Creating and maintaining accountability agreements takes a lot of work and energy. How
do you decide where to focus your attention? Consider these areas: organizational goals and
values, critical responsibilities, and frequent responsibilities.
Organizational Goals and Values
• An organization’s goals are the performance expectations that support the company’s
purpose/mission. Set clear expectations for individual employee responsibilities and how they
are tied to organizational goals. Expectations are often in the form of a job description or
annual performance goals.
• An organization’s values are the specific behaviors that support the desired company culture.
Some companies have stated values, while others have unstated values.
– Caveat: Some organizations have norms that contradict their stated values. In this case, it
will be difficult to hold employees accountable for positive behaviors when other
behaviors are what actually get rewarded. Example: Organizations that include
collaboration as a stated value but reward individual achievement.
Areas of Accountability

Critical Responsibilities
Critical responsibilities are the issues/tasks where the stakes are high or rather, where there is a
great deal of risk or visibility if performance falls short. Legal, safety, health, and customer issues
fall into this category.
Frequent Responsibilities
Frequent responsibilities are the tasks that are a regular part
of an employee’s output (i.e. the tangible activities of an
employee’s work, such as making sales, solving customers’
problems, analyzing data, etc.). When considering this area
of accountability, it is helpful to engage those responsible in
developing performance standards. They know what matters
most, and it builds sense of ownership and buy-in.
Areas of Accountability Part 2

Listen to the casual conversations employees in your organization have about work. What is the
primary focus? Complaining and blaming? Or identifying priorities and problem solving? Bottom
line: An organization practicing accountability focuses more on the activities that achieve results
than spending time pointing fingers and criticizing others.
Lack of Accountability – Signs and Symptoms
• Missing deadlines
• Making excuses
• Complaining
• Blaming others for mistakes and problems
• Lack of communication
• Mistrust among team members, colleagues,
and management
• Rework/additional work
Accountability at Your Organization

Is Your Organization Practicing Accountability?
Consider whether each statement in the below table represents your organization. If you answer
“yes” more often than “no,” this suggests accountability is ingrained in your organization’s
processes and habits. On the other hand, if you answer “no” more often than “yes,” this suggests
your organization may lack basic accountability practices and has much room for improvement.
Accountability at Your Organization Part 2
Employees in my organization have a clear sense of what results are expected of them.
Employees do not feel pressure or uncertainty from competing priorities.
Employees in their respective teams actively work to share information and collaborate with
one another.
Conflicts are addressed in a forthright manner and resolved productively.
Clear standards of behavior are established and openly communicated.
Employees are held to these standards on a consistent basis.

Obviously, if accountability were easy or prevalent, we wouldn’t need training. Here are the most
common obstacles to achieving accountability.
Attitude Obstacles
By attitude obstacles, we mean a frame of mind that hinders accountability.
• Learned helplessness: This is a concept that was developed and studied by Martin Seligman,
professor at the University of Pennsylvania. It is a perceived absence of control over a
situation or underestimating your own ability to influence a situation. When people have
experienced failure or poor performance repeatedly, some will eventually believe there
is nothing they can do to improve the situation.
• Victim mentality: A belief that you’re the victim of negative
intentions and the actions of others, even in the absence of
evidence. People with this attitude will blame others or be
unwilling to take responsibility for a situation they’ve created
or contributed to.
Obstacles to Accountability

Organization Obstacles
By organization obstacles, we mean the company culture you work in.
• Unclear or competing priorities: If you don’t know what is most important to achieve, it is
difficult to know what to be accountable for.
• Silo mentality: An ingrained culture that condones or even fosters competition between
departments or units; this kind of culture does not value collaboration.
• Conflict avoidance: A work environment that fears addressing conflict. Superficial unity and
harmony is valued more than true consensus.
Note: We will look at strategies for how to overcome these obstacles
in the modules that follow.
Obstacles to Accountability Part 2

Read the question, then click on the answer.
Which of the following describes learned helplessness?
Test Your Knowledge
A. An ingrained culture that condones or fosters competition between teams
B. An environment that fears addressing conflict
C. Blaming others or being unwilling to take responsibility
D. Perceived absence of control over a situation

Module 2:
Personal Accountability – Behaviors

Personal accountability is a prerequisite to mutual accountability, and trust is a prerequisite to
personal accountability. Trust depends on intention, integrity, competence, and follow-through.
Intention and Integrity
• Intention: Having positive motivation.
– What is the true outcome you are seeking?
• Integrity: Acting according to your values—in other words, there is no gap between your
(positive!) intention and your actions.
– Do you do what you say and say what you do?
Are your words and actions consistent?
– Integrity means having courage to do the right
thing even when it is difficult, or regardless of
the consequences.
Build Trust

Competence and Follow-Through
• Competence: Are you capable of doing what you say you will? Realistically assess what you
can do, both in terms of time and ability, and don’t make commitments you can’t keep.
– To increase your competence, learn what your strengths are and lean on them. And
continue learning to expand your capabilities.
• Follow-through: Whether things go well or go wrong, do you follow-through, communicate,
and take care of business?
– Results that meet expectations: When things go as expected, that builds your credibility
and makes you more trustworthy.
– Results that don’t meet expectations: When things don’t go as expected, you can still
build credibility and trustworthiness depending on how you handle the situation (and as
long as this isn’t a regular occurrence). To build trust, own up to the problem and solve it
(we will expand on this later in the course).
Build Trust Part 2

Do You Build and Demonstrate Trust?
Consider how well each statement in the below table represents the way you think and act. If you
answer “yes” more often than “no,” this suggests you build and demonstrate trust consistently.
On the other hand, if you answer “no” more often than “yes,” this suggests you have an
opportunity to develop your trust skills in many areas. Choose one or two of the statements you
answered “no” to, and work on increasing the frequency of those.
(continued onto the next slide)
Build Trust Part 3
I say what I mean and mean what I say.
I value individual differences and treat people the way they want to be treated.
I share information freely.
I speak about others as if they were present.

Do You Build and Demonstrate Trust? (continued)
Build Trust Part 4
I listen to understand a situation fully before giving advice.
I don’t cover up, justify, or blame when I make a mistake.
I don’t simply apologize; I make amends when I make a mistake.
I keep every commitment I make.
I show trust to earn trust.
I listen to understand a situation fully before giving advice.

Personal accountability is taking responsibility for the consequences of your actions. One
important way to do that is to proactively seek feedback so you can change and improve.
Ask for It
It’s almost always easier hearing feedback when you ask for it rather than being surprised by it.
• Be specific about what you want. It will be helpful to the other person to ask for feedback
about a specific situation or pattern of behavior.
• Be open to what you get. Assume the other
person is trying to be helpful.
• Listen carefully, without becoming defensive.
Accept what the other person says as “true”
from their perspective. Do not argue.
• Ask for examples if you need clarification.
• Thank them, whether or not you agree with
their feedback.
Seek Feedback

Decide What to Do About It
After you receive feedback, you need to decide how you will respond to it.
• Reflect on the feedback and how you feel about it.
– If you feel defensive, try to figure out why. Usually, you feel defensive because there is
some truth to the feedback. Try to assess what is accurate and what is strictly a personal
opinion.
– Experience your emotions and then let them go
as quickly as possible.
• If you recognize its validity, decide on the best way to
implement it. Some feedback may be valid but difficult
to act on. This occurs when the feedback is related to
something out of your control, such as the overall
culture of the organization. It’s not impossible, just
very challenging.
• When you make specific changes, let the person know how you’ve used their feedback or how
their feedback was helpful. That is one way to demonstrate personal accountability.
Seek Feedback Part 2

When you ask for feedback, you are likely to expose yourself to criticism about actions you’ve
taken—or not taken. Use these as opportunities to reflect and improve.
Questions to Ask Yourself
• What warning signs did I ignore or miss?
• What would I have done differently?
• What will I do differently in the future?
• If I were to give someone advice in a similar
situation, what would I tell them?
• What have I learned?
Learn from Mistakes

In order for employees to fully embrace personal accountability, they must be able to overcome
internal obstacles.
Learned Helplessness
Reminder: Learned helplessness is the perceived absence of control over a situation or
underestimating your own ability to influence a situation. To overcome:
• Reframe. Change your perspective by explaining the event in a more positive way; for
example, as a short-term event rather than a permanent situation, or as limited to one
specific circumstance rather than widespread, or as something that could have happened to
anyone and not just you.
– Example: Instead of “My boss is out to get me.” Say “One time in a staff meeting, my boss
didn’t support me.”
Overcome Internal Obstacles
“This is
temporary. I’ll
learn from it
and move on.”

Learned Helplessness (continued)
• Identify what you can control. It’s more than you think! You can always control your own
choices and responses. For example, if you work with an unpredictable boss who is
sometimes nice and other times mean, you can choose to respond to him or her the same
way every time rather than getting yanked around emotionally. Using a neutral response in all
circumstances may even lead your boss to moderate his or her behavior.
• Develop positive affirmations. They reinforce realistic thinking and develop confidence.
– Example: “I speak clearly and calmly when sharing my thoughts in a meeting.”
Overcome Internal Obstacles Part 2
“I am capable
of handling this
situation.”

Victim Mentality
Reminder: Victim mentality is a belief that you are a victim of the negative intentions and actions
of others, even in the absence of evidence. To overcome:
• Acknowledge what you get out of engaging in a victim mentality. Realizing there is often a
short-term benefit can help you move toward a more productive long-term outlook. Here are
some of the short-term benefits:
– You get attention. Some people thrive
on attention, even when it’s negative.
– You don’t have to take risks or accept
important responsibility.
– You get to feel “right.” When you feel
wronged, it makes you feel “right.”

Victim Mentality (continued)
• Help someone else. Get used to not thinking about yourself so much!
• Show gratitude. Realize all you have going for you. Find one thing to be grateful for each day.
• Ask yourself, “What is the hidden opportunity in this situation?”
• Quit asking “why” and instead ask “how”? For example, instead of asking, “Why is this
happening to me?” ask “How can I resolve this situation?”

Which of the following is an effective way to build trust?
Test Your Knowledge
A. Compliment others.
B. Show positive intention and integrity.
C. Over-promise and under-deliver.
D. Wait to show trust until it has been earned by others.

Module 3:
Mutual Accountability – Tasks

Individual employees can be committed to their own personal accountability, and yet that
doesn’t guarantee that accountability will be practiced throughout an organization. To ensure
that employees are committed to completing tasks collaboratively, create a culture of mutual
accountability by following these five steps.
1. Establish a clear vision of the desired outcome for each group task.
2. Execute effectively by implementing accountability agreements.
3. Surface and resolve problems and conflicts, including rooting out dysfunctional habits and
behaviors.
4. Practice proactive recovery when a lapse occurs.
5. Measure and recognize success.
Note: In the remainder of this module we will cover the first
three steps to creating a culture of mutual accountability.
Create a Culture of Mutual Accountability

The first step to creating a culture of mutual accountability is to establish a clear vision of the
desired outcome. In order for employees to work together successfully, they must be in
agreement about what they are working toward. This requires advance planning and preparation.
Describe Desired Outcome
• Focus more on the results you want to achieve than the process.
– Sometimes the process is critical; for example, establishing consistent treatment of
customers in order to improve customer service. However, in many cases the process
details can vary as long as everyone is working toward the same goal (results).
• Identify how success will be measured. This is often called a performance standard.
Performance standards that are based on measurable data are often the most practical and
easily understood by all.
Establish a Clear Vision of the Desired Outcome

Describe Desired Outcome (continued)
To develop an effective performance standard, ask these questions:
• Is quality important? Does the stakeholder (someone with a
vested interest in the outcome) or customer care how well the
work is done? If so, what level of quality is acceptable or
desirable?
• Is quantity important? Does the stakeholder or customer care
how many are produced? If so, what is the target?
• Is it important that the task be accomplished by a certain time
or date? If so, what is the deadline?
• Is it important that the task be done within certain cost limits?
If so, what is the budget?
Establish a Clear Vision of the Desired Outcome

The next step in achieving mutual accountability is to execute effectively by implementing
accountability agreements. Accountability agreements are simply putting into writing the
common expectations that have been established within a team or group. These agreements can
be best captured in a table/chart format (example chart on the next slide) which identifies:
• The What: describe the overall project outcome, individual task, or specific behavior the
agreement is in reference to.
• The Who: identify the person who is ultimately responsible for seeing “the what” through to
completion/success.
• The When: identify the deadline for completion or when an update on progress should be
provided or (if a behavior) put into practice.
• The Necessary Resources/Support: identify all the things you need to complete “the what” or
achieve success; this may include people, materials, money, etc.
• The Results of Non-Compliance: list the consequence(s) of not adhering to the established
expectations.
Execute Effectively by Implementing Accountability Agreements

Example Accountability Agreement
What Who When
Resources/
Support
Non-compliance
Task: Update
vendor
information.
Tammy 11/15
Jenny, Tad,
accounting
department
Receive a “strike”
(three strikes=
note in file)
Behavior: Be on
time for team
meetings.
Jim Every meeting Electronic reminder Take meeting notes

One of the most important aspects for achieving mutual accountability is proactively surfacing
and resolving problems and conflicts. This is accomplished in a variety of ways, including
promoting desirable behaviors, discouraging undesirable behaviors, overcoming external
obstacles, and following a standard process for conflict resolution.
Promote Desirable Behaviors
Promoting desirable behaviors creates an atmosphere that makes it okay to discuss problems and
conflicts. These are some of the behaviors that support a healthy work environment:
• Proactive and open communication
• A willingness to admit mistakes
• A focus on problem solving rather than blaming
• Environment that makes it more important to do
good than to look good
Surface and Resolve Problems and Conflicts

Discourage Undesirable Behaviors
Discouraging undesirable behaviors makes conversations around problems and conflicts more
productive. These are some of the behaviors that undermine mutual accountability:
• Fear of punishment
• Unhealthy competition
• Being secretive
The biggest fear people have about accountability is that they will be punished for something
they did or didn’t do. In that environment, employees tend to become competitive and secretive
with their coworkers instead of collaborative. They feel the need to look out for themselves
rather than focus on the success of the organization.
Surface and Resolve Problems and Conflicts Part 2

Overcome External Obstacles
As we mentioned in Module 1, organization obstacles relate to the company culture you work in.
Overcoming organization obstacles removes unnecessary conflicts.
• To overcome unclear or competing priorities:
– Eliminate any competing requests that are unreasonable or unrealistic.
– Decide which priority has the potential to create more serious negative consequences if
ignored.
– Decide which priority has the potential to provide the greatest gain if completed.
– Communicate clearly what you are and aren’t doing once you’ve determined your
priorities. Providing context helps people understand your decision.

Overcome External Obstacles (continued)
• To overcome silo mentality:
– Share, don’t hoard information.
– Get rid of any sense of superiority. Recognize the expertise of other individuals, teams,
and units.
– Consciously connect with other teams, departments, or units informally. Meet for lunch,
congratulate a person or group when they’ve had a success, etc.
– Create cross-functional groups and work together.
• To overcome conflict avoidance:
– Engage in a conflict resolution process.

Follow a Standard Conflict Resolution Process
Following a standard conflict resolution process enables everyone to “be on the same page” in
terms of how to address conflict effectively. When everyone in an organization follows a similar
conflict resolution process, they’re able to address issues and reach effective resolutions more
easily and efficiently, minimizing lost productivity and negative feelings.
• Acknowledge the conflict.
• Discuss its impact on individuals and the organization.
• Clarify individual positions.
• Find common interests.
• Negotiate an agreement based on common interests.
• Create an accountability agreement to cement buy-in
and commitment.

Which of the following is NOT an element of creating a culture of mutual accountability?
Test Your Knowledge
A. Recommend employees to work on their own so only one person is responsible for each
task.
B. Implement accountability agreements.
C. Establish a clear vision of the desired outcome.
D. Practice proactive recovery when a lapse occurs.

Module 4:
Dealing with Broken Agreements

Let’s face it—we don’t live and work in a perfect world. You can make your best attempt to create
the conditions for accountability and yet there will still be times when accountability agreements
are broken. Recognizing symptoms of a broken agreement as soon as they occur can help
minimize the negative consequences. Here are some reasons why accountability agreements may
be broken and their symptoms.
Personal Accountability Hasn’t Been Internalized
Symptoms:
• Blaming others for mistakes and failures
• Complaining about unfair treatment
• Lack of motivation or interest in the work
• Lack of caring about the success and well-being
of the team
What Can Go Wrong?

Mutual Accountability Hasn’t Been Firmly Established
Symptoms:
• Fear of speaking up about problems
• Lacking trust in team members and leaders
• Lacking confidence in the conflict resolution process
Training Hasn’t Been Adequate
Symptoms:
• Missed deadlines (though this may also be a symptom of lacking motivation)
• Not taking initiative or risks
• Being dependent on others for instructions and/or advice
What Can Go Wrong? Part 2

If any of these occur in your organization, go back and review the information in Modules 2 and 3
to see if you can pinpoint the source of the breakdown; for example, perhaps mistakes are still
treated punitively, or a victim mentality remains pervasive in the organization.
Consider offering a brown bag lunch session with your team to review how to implement
personal and team accountability. You may also consider sending out reminders of specific
techniques and steps in your company communications.
What Can Go Wrong? Part 3

This is most useful as a training strategy to get people in the habit of being accountable. Use this
techniqueii when the “infraction” isn’t serious enough to warrant serious consequences. The
accountability jar should be considered as a fun strategy for developing the accountability habit.
Before Team Meetings
Give each member of your team three slips of paper. Make sure the team leader or manager is
included too. On each piece of paper, have them write down one task/activity they would like
done for them (which would take no longer than one hour) or one item to purchase (which costs
no more than five dollars). The tasks/activities should NOT be part of their regular job
responsibilities.
• Task/activity examples: Run an errand, make copies, etc.
• Item examples: A specialty coffee, fun office supplies, etc.
The Accountability Jar

When There Is an “Infraction”
• Bring the jar to every team meeting.
• If someone has neglected to keep a commitment, they draw a
slip of paper from the jar and complete the request before
the next meeting.
• Examples of accountability lapses: Being late to a meeting,
forgetting to return a phone call, not cleaning up after using
the breakroom microwave, etc.
The Accountability Jar Part 2

When a broken accountability agreement is more serious, it needs to be addressed in a timely
and effective way. The conversation will sound a lot like a regular feedback session, except that
expectations have not been met and some degree of trust has been broken as a result.
There are two types of conversations: one that is initiated by someone other than the person
who broke the agreement (reactive recovery) and one that is initiated by the person who broke
the agreement (proactive recovery). We’ll start with the more difficult scenario—reactive
recovery.
Steps to Reactive Recovery
• Stop and think. If someone has broken an agreement affecting you, you will probably be mad,
and your instinct may be to go and yell at him or her. So, stop and think about the outcome
you want from the interaction before you approach the other person.
• Declare your intent. Express the positive outcome you want from the meeting (if you can’t,
you’re not ready to meet).
• Review the agreement. Remain calm and objective (as opposed to complaining and
subjective).
Reactive Recovery

Steps to Reactive Recovery (continued)
• Identify impacts of not meeting expectations. They may include such things as:
– Quality of work
– Team members’ or other stakeholders’ (colleagues, customers, vendors and suppliers,
etc.) productivity and/or ability to complete their work
– Cost, time
– Reputation of you, your team, your organization
• Review the consequences of non-compliance. Your agreement should contain specific actions
that will occur.
• Discuss what the other person can do to minimize the negative impact and restore
credibility and trust.
– Listen for obstacles and separate valid problems from excuses.
– Problem solve collaboratively.
– Focus on what can be done to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Reactive Recovery Part 2

Steps to Reactive Recovery (continued)
Remember, this conversation shouldn’t feel disciplinary. While one person may guide the
discussion, there should be a genuine dialogue where you work with the other person to identify
problems or outstanding issues and what can be done to recover as gracefully as possible.
Reactive Recovery Part 3

The second type of recovery conversation is one that is initiated by the person who broke the
agreement—proactive recovery.
Steps to Proactive Recovery
• Apologize. Preferably in person. Whether in person or electronically, be sure to include
everyone who was affected by the accountability agreement.
• Identify impacts of not meeting expectations. They may include such things as:
– Quality of work
– Team members’ or other stakeholders’
productivity and/or ability to complete
their work
– Cost, time
– Reputation of you, your team, your
organization
Practice Proactive Recovery

Steps to Proactive Recovery (continued)
• Acknowledge the consequences for non-compliance stated in your agreement. And be
prepared to carry them out.
• Discuss what you will do to minimize the negative impact and restore credibility and trust.
Focus on what you will do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Sample Conversation: “I know I made a commitment to
complete the analysis by Feb. 15, and I know that my failure to
meet this agreement has resulted in delays in other people’s
work, causing productivity to suffer and our department’s
credibility to take a hit. I’m sorry, and in the future I will give you
an update every week so that you will have confidence that I am
on track. In the meantime, I will contact the other departments
who are expecting the analysis and let them know it was my
responsibility and my fault they didn’t receive it on time.”
Practice Proactive Recovery Part 2

What to Measure
Taking time to measure success will help the organization modify strategies to improve
adherence to accountability agreements. Measure:
• Frequency that accountability agreements are used
• Frequency that accountability agreements are kept or broken
• Nature of agreements that are broken; for example, do they tend to be more behavior-
oriented or task-oriented?
Measure and Recognize Success

How to Recognize Success
Taking time to recognize success builds buy-in and increases motivation to continue the work
necessary to complete and monitor accountability agreements. Here are some ways to recognize
success:
• Spread the word! Acknowledge successes within and outside
your team. Consider personal, hand-written thank you
notes/notes of congratulations—a novel concept nowadays!
• Celebrate with food. Hold a barbecue or order a pizza at
lunch, or bring some treats in to the office, such as chocolate
or baked goods.
• Have some fun. Organize a team outing, such as going
bowling, seeing a movie, or attending a sports event.
• Offer some “takeaways” – this could include t-shirts, mugs,
hats, etc.
• Offer time off.
Measure and Recognize Success Part 2

Which of the following most accurately describes a reactive recovery conversation?
Test Your Knowledge
A. A conversation whose purpose is to make the person who broke the agreement feel guilty.
B. A conversation whose purpose is to tell the other person what they did wrong and why it
matters.
C. A two-way dialogue with the intent to help the other person find solutions to obstacles and
make amends.
D. A two-way dialogue with the intent to allow the person who broke the agreement to explain
all the reasons why they couldn’t keep the agreement.

Read the case study and answer the questions that follow in order to put your skills into practice.
Organization: A chain of retail sporting goods stores
People: Monica, regional manager; Connor, district manager of six stores in Monica’s region;
Ryan, another district manager in Monica’s region; Suzanne and Jimmy, store managers in
Connor’s district.
Situation: Monica and Connor are meeting to review the sales results of the last quarter.
CASE STUDY—Apply What You’ve Learned

Monica: “Connor, I’m sure you are aware that the sales results for your district were below
average.”
Connor: “Yes, I know. But my stores have had to deal with so many things out of their control—
Roskie Manufacturing closed and 400 people lost their jobs—that’s a big part of our customer
base. Then we had all those storms, and it just seemed to scare customers off.”
Monica: “I understand those are unusual events; however,
that’s all the more reason to work even harder to compensate
for them. Besides, other stores in my district have been
affected by the same events, but their sales are at least
average, if not higher.”
Connor: “So what are they doing? I’m happy to try new
things.”
CASE STUDY—Apply What You’ve Learned Part 2

Monica: “I’m glad to hear it. One thing Ryan has done is start using accountability agreements for
tasks and behaviors he and his store managers consider most critical to success. You could get in
touch with him and find out the details. In the meantime, we’ll review this quarter’s results in
three months, but of course we’ll have our regular meetings before that.”
Connor: “Okay. Thanks.”
Connor contacts Ryan to discuss how he uses accountability
agreements.
Ryan: “I’m happy to share; they have worked really well for
us. We—that is, my store managers and I—decided to focus
on improving communications across stores. It seems like we
should be able to remember to include everybody, but
putting it in writing has really made a difference.”
Connor: “Can you show me an example?”
Ryan: “Sure; I’ll email a couple to you.”
Connor: “Thanks, Ryan. Let me know if I can help you in any
way.”

Connor meets with his groups of store managers.
Connor: “As you know, sales in our district are below average. And I know what we’re up
against—I explained that to Monica, and she understood. However, she also encouraged and
challenged us to work even harder to make up for it. One idea is to establish accountability
agreements to ensure that we all follow through with commitments we make to each other. I’d
like to try this. Where do you think we should focus our effort?”
Suzanne: “One place I think we could really benefit from
is sharing information about how to attract and keep
repeat customers. I mean the ones who probably
participate on a sports team or in a league and come in
at least once a month for supplies—balls, socks, shoes,
stuff like that. We compare notes about how we contact
them and upsell them.”
Connor: “I think that’s a great place to start. Let’s draw
up an agreement now.”

A month later, Connor meets with his team of store managers again.
Connor: “Let’s review how we’re doing with our accountability agreement.”
Suzanne: “I don’t want to point fingers, but Jimmy hasn’t responded to my calls or emails, and I
happen to know that Jimmy’s store sales are the highest in our district.”
Connor: “Jimmy?”
Jimmy: “I’ve been busy. Sales are good. What can I say?”
Connor: “It sounds like you’re unwilling to share key ideas.”
Jimmy: “Why should I when we receive bonuses based on individual store results? I don’t want
anyone stealing my customers.”

1. Does Connor exhibit personal accountability? Provide evidence.
2. What obstacles are present that are preventing Connor’s team from achieving a high level of
accountability?
3. How well did Connor’s team follow the 5 steps to creating a culture of mutual accountability?
Which elements were present? Which were absent?
4. Connor tried to address Jimmy’s broken accountability agreement. What did he do well and
what could he have done better in that reactive recovery conversation?
Review the ideas and suggested answers provided on the following slides.
CASE STUDY—Questions to Consider

1. Does Connor exhibit personal accountability? Provide evidence.
At first, Connor doesn’t exhibit personal accountability – he blamed external events and
circumstances for his situation. And he didn’t proactively seek feedback from Monica.
However, he took Monica’s challenge to heart and asked for new ideas to try, and then he
took steps to incorporate those ideas in his team.
2. What obstacles are present that are preventing Connor’s team from achieving a high level
of accountability?
Connor and his team shared an attitude of learned helplessness where they let external
circumstances make them feel they had no control over their situation (under average sales).
In addition, Jimmy exhibited a silo mentality when he was reluctant to share information that
would help others on the team. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there seemed to be
an issue of competing priorities of trying to achieve individual success versus organization
success.
CASE STUDY—Suggested Answers

3. How well did Connor’s team follow the 5 steps to creating a culture of mutual
accountability? Which elements were present? Which were absent?
• Clear vision of desired outcome: Absent – they know they want to achieve higher sales by
attracting and keeping repeat customers, but they didn’t discuss any specific measurable
data to determine their success.
• Accountability agreement: Present – though we don’t know how well it was constructed.
• Resolve problems and conflicts: Absent thus far, we did not learn whether and how
Connor addresses Jimmy’s lack of caring for the success of the team.
• Proactive recovery: Absent – Jimmy didn’t initiate the conversation regarding breaking his
accountability agreement, nor did he apologize for it.
• Measure and recognize success: Absent – there is no evidence that they were tracking the
frequency or nature of broken agreements, particularly Jimmy’s actions.
4. Connor tried to address Jimmy’s broken accountability agreement. What did he do well and
what could he have done better in that reactive recovery conversation?
Connor didn’t seem well-equipped to guide this conversation smoothly. He probably would
have benefited from learning more from Ryan about how he and his team handled situations
when agreements are broken (in other words, he needed additional training).
CASE STUDY—Suggested Answers Part 2

By now you should be able to:
• Identify the benefits of accountability and the areas in which it is most important.
• Recognize the components for building personal accountability.
• Recognize the components for encouraging mutual accountability.
• Overcome obstacles to accountability.
• Engage in conversations that resolve broken agreements and lead to a greater commitment to
expectations in the future.
Congratulations!

Appendix

Connors, Roger and Tom Smith. How Did That Happen: Holding People Accountable for Results the Positive, Principled Way. New York, NY:
Portfolio, 2009.
Connors, Roger, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman. The Oz Principle: Getting Results through Individual and Organizational Accountability. New
York, NY: Portfolio, 2010.
Covey, Stephen M.R. with Rebecca R. Merrill. The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything. New York, NY: Free Press, 2006.
Dive, Brian. The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page
Limited, 2008.
Lencioni, Patrick. Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Miller, John G. The Question Behind the Question: What to Really Ask Yourself to Eliminate Blame, Victim Thinking, Complaining, and
Procrastination. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001.
i “Fostering Accountability in the Workplace,” last modified February 2013,
http://www.mswmag.com/editorial/2013/02/fostering_accountability_in_the_workplace.
ii “Team Accountability Activity: ‘The Jar,’ http://studentlifeguru.com/2010/07/13/accountability/.
References

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Published by HRDQ.
HRDQ and the HRDQ logo are registered trademarks of Organization Design and Development, Inc.
This publication is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Reproducible Content End User License Agreement (EULA). For specific
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For more information about this publication or to order additional copies, please contact the HRDQ Customer Service Team by phone at (610)
279-2002 or by email at custserv@hrdq.com.
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ISBN 978-1-58854-845-0
Title slide image: skynetphoto/Shutterstock.com. Images used under license from Shutterstock.com.
Microsoft®, Word®, and PowerPoint® are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
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