"My team don't care about hitting our targets" (Take these 4 steps)
The 4 steps I use to build a really accountable team
Gooood morning team,
I hope the start to your week has been just as special as you. And if not, respond to this email with your worries to expel them (a problem shared is a problem halved).
"My team don't care about hitting targets" (Do these 4 steps)
Recognising accountability’s worst enemy (Blame)
The signs you have a lack of accountability
The 4 steps to switching your team back to being hyper-accountable to their numbers
Recognising accountability’s worst enemy (Blame)
To deeply understand building an accountable team, we first need to be highly aware of accountability’s worst enemy… Blame.
There’s a quote I need you to read twice:
“When you point a finger in blame, there are three fingers pointing back at you”
The phrase has strong philosophical roots going back thousands of years.
In Leadership, we MUST regularly look in the mirror, practice dropping our ego, and check ourselves first before we move to others.
Our team will do as we do. So when things don’t quite go to plan, what does your response look like?
Do you find factors outside of your control to blame?
Or do you focus on what you can do?
The signs you have a lack of accountability
Accountability needs to be at the core of your behavior and team culture.
Accountability in the workplace means that each member of the team feels responsible for their own actions, performance and decisions.
And when targets aren’t hit, they find ways to innovate and experiment to get there.
Some signs you have a lack of accountability:
Team are regularly late to meetings
Deadlines aren’t hit without you checking in
When you handover tasks, you’re not certain it’ll actually get done (either to a high standard, or at all)
Your team aren’t experimenting or trying new things to hit their targets
Low employee engagement (When asking questions in groups etc)
If you tick all those boxes, don’t panic, we can turn it around
Here’s the 4 steps I got my entire team feeling accountable to their KPIs and performance
The 4 steps to Building a Hyper-Accountable Team
Step 1 - Start with yourself
Another quote…
Just because it’s not your fault, doesn’t mean it’s not your problem.
A few years back I had a member of my team, a manager himself, who was worried about the accountability in his team.
He felt as though he was the only one in the team who cared about driving to hit the KPIs each month.
We had a chat and built a plan.
But as the weeks went on, I started to notice something strange… He wasn’t hitting his own deadlines with me. He was turning up late to meetings, and not following up on actions that had been set.
Then the conversation I had went a little like this..
“How on earth can you expect your team to be accountable, when you’re consistently lacking in responsibility for your own actions and deadlines. You’re teaching your team that this is accepted”
It was a beautiful moment of realisation for us both. Accountability has to start with yourself. A checklist for you to run through today:
Get organised af with your tasks, deadlines and commitments. Communicate really clearly where they have been recorded, how you’re progressing, and when they’re complete.
When you schedule meetings, set an example, be respectful of your team’s time by showing up prepared and on time. Have a clear agenda.
Take ownership of the problems you bring to the table, by helping to find solutions too.
Do what you say you’re going to do. Stop over-promising and start over-delivering for your team instead. Be a stellar example of what accountability looks like.
Commit to a 30-day timeline of working on yourself with those things above before you move onto the rest. Start to be a beacon of accountability within your team. This will set the standard and coach your team in the culture you expect.
Step 2 - Clarity on accountability
Now we need to ensure you are setting your team up for success, each employee needs to know exactly what they’re accountable for.
Each member of the team should have the following…
A clear Roles & Responsibilities document. These should be constantly reviewed and updated to ensure their accuracy.
Once each team member has clarity on their role, you need a consistent reporting rhythm (set of meetings) for everyone to report their targets and performance into. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say this is a monthly meeting with your full list of the team’s KPIs, and each one is assigned to an individual.
Step 3 - Holding them to account
Now let’s move into how you hold your team accountable in meetings. This is a really important switch-up in your language.
Think of this step as training your team with your behavior and words.
Example
A member of your team has the KPI: 30 leads this month.
The end of the month comes around, along with the reporting meeting, and they explain to you they couldn't bring in the leads because:
Their Linkedin shut down
The economy isn’t doing great
People just aren’t replying
All fine reasons. But there needs to be a ‘so this is what I did instead…’
And we’re going to coach them there with our words.
First of all, here’s what NOT to respond with (but often people would)
“that’s annoying, maybe next month” (re-inforcing the blame)
“Not good enough”
“Ok, instead you should…” (fixing their problems for them)
These answers allow the blame reasonings to be validated. They perpetuate the cycle of blame culture.
To build accountability in this member of the team, my line of questioning and response would instead go something like this…
Since you were struggling to get a response, what other methods did you try to contact people? Did you try sending them a video? Posting something to their office?
Since we’ve struggled this month, what other projects have you been working on to build better systems for bringing in leads next month/quarter?
How are we making sure this doesn’t happen again next month?
These questions help to keep the accountability in solving the problem with the team member, meaning you don’t jump in and rescue them, and they can feel accountable, grow, and be better next month.
The questions also aim to challenge in the right way, they point your team member in the right direction as to where they should be looking for answers. But not solving the problem for them.
Yes in month one you might catch them out a little with those questions. It might feel tricky as you know they most likely haven’t tried other methods. But keep consistent in pointing them in the right direction (as opposed to solving the problem) and watch what happens next month, then the month after that.
You have cut out all opportunity for blame, and built an accountable meeting. The first step in building a culture of accountability.
Step 4 - Keeping track (Meeting Rhythms)
Holding them accountable with your words isn’t the end of the story. We need a what, a why, and a how. And a solid meeting system in our team that doesn’t waste people’s time in pointless meetings, but does hold space for everyone to report on (and get excited about) their work.
This is what the agenda for your target reporting meetings should look like:
Headlines (the numbers)
Why? (the reasons)
What we’re doing about it (The accountability)
Each team member should come prepared with their numbers, the reasoning and the accountability above.
Ideally we want to give each person the spotlight for 10 mins in the meeting, allowing them to shout about all their great work, explain what they’ve struggled with, and explain what they’re experimenting with next month.
Summary
Recognise first blame in yourself, where does it creep in?
Once you’ve begun to master your own accountability, you can begin nurturing others to do the same, and ultimately build a highly accountable team all driving toward those targets
Peace,
H
P.S. The first 10 people to purchase my Fresh Start course are going to get a special gift through the post - Get on the waitlist so you don’t miss your chance
P.P.S What is your greatest struggle in your leadership role right now? Drop a comment and let me know