Harvard Business Review Guides Ultimate Boxed Set (16 Books)

Chapter 9

Hold People Accountable

When do you start holding the team accountable for its work? Right away.

Don’t wait for deadlines to slip—or even for someone to show up 15 minutes late more than once. An accountable team strives for continuous improvement from the outset. There’s no time like the present to become more efficient and effective as a group.

Initially, focus your accountability discussions on the team as a whole. Use them to build trust and develop skills in giving and receiving useful feedback. Then you can start having more difficult conversations about individual performance.

Team Accountability

Start small and simple. Do a brief “plus/delta” at the end of every meeting, asking “What did we do well today? What do we need to ...