Keeping Your Team Accountable (Without Offending Them)

Something I’ve often told financial advisors when speaking with them personally or during one of my speaking engagements is: “Giving out an assignment is not the basis for accountability. Rather it is the acceptance that the responsibility for a thing resides with him, which initiates accountability.”

Accountability really is something people must do for themselves. That being said, how can a financial advisor keep team members (who are experts in their own right) on track without causing needless offense?

Here are three easy-to-implement steps:

1. Confirm every team member’s responsibility by providing each one with information in writing about the delegated task. Ask him (or her) to tell you his understanding of both the task and goals. If the team member’s answers don’t match your expectations, review the request again in detail and reconfirm it in writing.

2. Establish boundaries by clarifying personal authority. Specifically define the scope and degree of authority given to the team member for the delegated task. Explain which decisions can be made independently and which require your approval. Give the team member the authority necessary to accomplish the task but not so much authority that he or she can create a major disaster before anyone discovers the problem. Again, having the person repeat back to you his or her understanding of authority regarding the task will resolve any misunderstandings at the beginning.

3. Establish a series of follow-up meetings to monitor progress and determine the need for assistance. This helps you avoid a discovery two days before the due date that the task isn’t on schedule. Also, some employees hesitate to ask questions. They fear their assigned leader will interpret this as a sign of weakness or inadequacy for the job. Follow-up meetings give them the opportunity to ask questions within the context of a meeting designed for that purpose. The frequency of follow-up meetings will vary depending on type of project and needs of each team member.

If you eagerly accept a task, you plan on seeing that task through to completion, right? Wouldn’t you appreciate someone alerting you when your focus wanders too far from this commitment? In its purest form, accountability is being willing to allow others to remind you of the commitments you have made to yourself and others. When you approach your team with that attitude rather than being overly critical, they will be eager to fulfill their obligations.