Accountability to work commitments

Accountability is a big word. If you are a human on this earth, there is so much to be accountable to, and so many ways to be accountable.  Yourself, your boss, your loved ones, anyone who relies on you for something allows for accountability to be present.

For this blog post, though, I’ll be talking about accountability in the work. Not necessarily accountability to how we have or could cause harm as a result of unchecked power dynamics; though that is critical and you cannot have one without the other; i am specifically talking about accountability to each other when we commit to taking on a project or task. 

A common pain point I talk with managers about is something along the lines of:

“I give folks I work with so much opportunity to collaborate and opt-in; yet they are still not following through on what I thought we agreed on together.”

While these managers often understand they hold power and are even actively taking steps to minimize harmful power dynamics, the impact of the power they actually hold can be difficult to grapple with. Hint: it’s a lot more than you think

Because of the power managers hold over their employees well-being and career, even the most well-intentioned, open, loving manager will still find themselves met with this friction. This sort of dynamic absolutely does and can happen the other way around as well, where a manager is making promises they do not follow through on. 

So, what is there to do about it? 

Well, first and foremost, acknowledge the power dynamic. Acknowledge that you understand how it must be difficult to say no to a manager, or to slow down enough to figure out if they need to say no. 

Second, create space to talk about *why* it happens, and use specific examples if you have them.

For example, you and the person you’re managing agree on a workplan. As time passes, you are seeing that this person is not doing the workplan you thought you agreed on, and they’re also not communicating about it as milestones pass. 

This is hard for you because you really thought you came up with a manageable plan together and have created a space where they can be honest if they can’t follow through or need more time. It’s also impacting your ability to be accountable to your work because your tasks are impacted by them doing what they said they were going to do. 

Ultimately, the thing doesn’t get done, and no one is feeling good about it!

So, what happened at each point in this process, including the planning process, that led us to this conflict? Here are some questions to ask:

Why did the person say yes, and then not follow through? 

Did they not feel clear on their schedule or the amount of work it would actually be?

Did they not feel like they could say no? 

Did they feel excited by the *idea*, so said yes without really considering if it was something they wanted/needed/could do?

From  here, we can start to understand better what our actual capacities are, and how we can better communicate with each other and be accountable to the work we say we are going to do. 

Lastly, working in collaboration to dismantle power dynamics between managers and the people they “manage” is critical. Language such as “the people I manage” in and of itself can be incredibly de-humanizing - we do not inherently control one another. we can choose to move away and opt-out of this sort of binary and compulsory relationship.

One way to start to mitigate this is to get more specific about people’s roles outside of the manager / employee binary (i.e. see folks as a whole person and as inherently important to the functioning of the team). This can help re-wire our brains to see the difference between helpful and harmful power dynamics. You can also use tools like the social change ecosystem map to get clearer about roles outside of the manager / employee binary. 

Creating a culture of accountability is a long game. It requires communication, education, and trust building. It requires us to understand our impact on other’s, and work together so that impact overall feels good to those involved, and there is space for it to shift when it doesn’t.

If you’re looking to build more skills around communicating with those you work with, I offer 1-on-1 coaching, and group facilitation and management trainings. You can also check out my workbook on impactful facilitation.