August, 2007

Who’s Accountable to Whom?
By Tim Trotter

How many times have you wished you had greater control or accountability within your business or organization?

Accountability is one of the most talked about issues within management today. Everyone wants and demands accountability from their employees, but how do you get beyond the talking stage?

Unfortunately, many leaders look down the organizational chart for the gaps in fulfilling tasks at hand, rather than look at their own actions.  In my opinion, accountability begins and ends with leadership and management.  Are leaders operating their organization with any type of strategic plan?  If not, is there any type of operational plan to guide people and programs?  If the answer to either of these questions is no, accountability may be hit-or-miss.

Accountability should be the product of planning and deploying a well-executed plan, whether an official or unofficial strategic plan.  Such a plan provides an organization with a clear view of their mission, goals, strategies, timelines, measurement and human and financial resources allocation.  Anything less than that falls short of expectations, and results in a lack of organizational understanding of what is being done, why it is being done and when it is done.

A good plan is communicated and understood by everyone.  People must see their role within the plan and how their job and performance is critical to the outcome.  A sound plan also holds an organization accountable to itself, rather than from a top-down mentality.  Employees have confidence in the decisions made, rather than question whether management may change their minds or shift the focus.  When changes are made, tasks and duties often change also.

Remember, accountability can only be achieved by those organizations where all employees share in and live by a sound plan.