There is no doubt that a manager is the “heart” of their team. The other members of his or her team are like “red blood cells”, that require the heart to push them around the “body” to deliver the necessary “nutrients” to each part of that body. It is also true, however, unlike actual human anatomy-that it’s not always solely all up to the heart to motivate and push the blood to do its job. Sometimes the blood cells must propel themselves from within. In this case, we liken the “body” to a company, and “nutrients” to the unique talents that each team member processes. Together, the heart and blood create a strong functioning team and the company thrives.
This sounds pretty cheesy, right? A bit naive? A company functioning like a self-propelled circulatory system in the human body- How on earth does that translate to a real office environment you ask? Well, it’s possible and it is achieved using something called accountability.
What do I mean by the term accountability exactly? Well, holding yourself and your team accountable is not at all about pressure, nor bullying someone in order to meet a set quota. Rather, it is about creating an environment in which each member of your department wants to contribute, and feels encouraged to be successful and deliver their best. Depending on the type of work you do-this can be encouragement to innovative thinking or creative problem solving as much as it can be about meeting deadlines. It is a duty to uphold a positive attitude and strive toward excellence. An obligation to teamwork- to help each other complete tasks and pitch in where needed. Accountability to set goals and follow-through with those goals creates a good environment. People are steered toward successful behaviors, while getting guidance and support from their peers-using their accountability to each other to push past the bad habits that would normally limit them.
What it comes down to is essentially this perfect equation:
Confidence and guidance to set Goals + Support to achieve those Goals
=
Employee growth and job fulfillment.
This is like immune support for an office, keeping lazy or negative intrusive habits from resurfacing and creating an illness. Accountability is like the health elixir that ensures all tasks be carried out with a measure of urgency and commitment. Best of all it’s achieved using an approach that is the opposite of incorporating fear and negative consequences.
Being held accountable or being pushed in a positive way can grow a team and its members both personally and as a cohesive unit. Accountability encourages goal-setting with actual follow-through. It provides a collective incentive to complete tasks, for people to work together, and to move forward and be productive. It encourages team-oriented behavior and a commitment to betterment, all while nurturing a person’s unique talents and pushing them to reach their fullest potential.
Sounds too good to be true, and it’s fine and dandy to preach this concept over an internet blog-but how do I know this actually works? Well, I work in a culture of accountability every day at TrainUp.com. At TrainUp.com, we have implemented this type of culture by sitting down each morning for a daily meeting. In this meeting led by our CEO, each team member must have something to offer-whether that be an idea, a list of tasks completed, or a list of goals. With the rest of the team in the room, this ensures that each person is held accountable to bring his or her best to this meeting every day and have something worthwhile to contribute as is expected of them. With feedback and encouragement from the team-it is not a stressful exchange, it’s not a social judgement either- rather it is an inspiring think-tank. This daily leadership ritual helps each person figure out solutions to what they might be stuck on in a particular project, and helps them to see where their focus should be for the day, week, or month. We each walk into the meeting with a desire to share, learn, refine, and improve, and we each leave the meeting feeling inspired.
This culture has been great for our office. This type of group goal setting and planning has helped us grow tremendously and focus on what is important within our organization. It has redefined our core values and brings them to our attention daily so they are in the forefront of every decision that we make. As a team, we are more organized, on the same page, feel supported by each other and more on track. It created an environment for me personally that has been pleasantly challenging and encourages me to explore new ideas. This culture drives me, and makes work challenging and therefore fulfilling. I am never bored working in an environment where I am constantly held accountable for my own growth, creativity, and innovative thinking.
At the core of TrainUp.com, we have a strong team. The strength comes the fact that we keep each other accountable for the collective success we experience. Accountability is something that has done wonderful things for us, and something that we wholeheartedly believe is essential to achieve growth in any size of business.
With 2018 standing before us, it’s a great time to implement changes within your own department to encourage better personal leadership and accountability. TrainUp.com can help your team get there. Give us a call today about our time management, leadership, communication and team-building custom courses. Our insightful representatives can answer all of your questions because we truly understand where you are coming from and where, with a little accountability, your team could go! Be accountable for your culture, be accountable for your training, and be accountable for your success!
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