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Accountability at Workplace



Accountability means “we start taking responsibility for our actions”. Our actions are defined by our behaviours. When we say we are accountable, we are saying that our actions are transparent and when questioned, we are answerable for the same. Accountability at workplace indicates all the people in the organisation are responsible for the behaviours, actions and results. When the company deviates from its stated goals and values which were made publicly, the company is accountable and owes an explanation for the deviated behaviour as well. If the entire team is performing work and keeps itself busy without any accountability, then such processes will not continue for a long time.

An organisation, however big or small can function in a healthy way and in the most productive way only if there is accountability at all levels. Efficiency sets in as accountability among the team members exist. For example, a person from accounts team goes to the marketing team to obtain some copies of a document and does not make it a point to handover the documents and come back to his seat. He uses this opportunity to chit-chat with the marketing team without even understanding that at peak business hours, allowing others and being self-disciplined to devote oneself to work is the need of the hour. There is no harm in chit-chatting for refreshing oneself, however use 10 minutes of dedicated time and do the chit-chat, instead of disturbing oneself and the entire team. Efficiency because the team head or management is watching is not being accountable.

Few tips to evaluate if you are accountable or not:

Knowing one’s role in the organisation: It is very important to know what you are supposed to do in the organisation, only then you can plan your goal. It is important every now then to check if you are moving in the direction of the goal or in the opposite direction. Make it a point to sit with your higher-ups every now and then to obtain the right feedback. It is your responsibility to look into all aspects of your role to see that there are no gaps in your understanding of what is expected and what you are delivering. If you feel that gaps do exist or if it gets pointed out in team meetings or by the management, take it as an opportunity to better yourself and dig deeper into the gaps and see to it that your deliverables are met. Do not get unnecessarily upset that people are trying to target you in the process.


How team members approach you?: Check out what you feel from within regarding team’s members level of trust. Do team members approach you when in times of need?. Are you the one on whom team members feel that they can trust to lead? Sometimes when it comes to choosing reliable person even for small tasks, does you name pop out from the team? If the answer is yes to the above questions then you are a person who is accountable not only in your eyes but also in the eyes of the team. Accountability is a valuable asset. People who are accountable do not blame others and instead look out for the best solution that works well for the entire organisation. Top performers are always self-accountable.


Review to-do lists: Every goal of yours should be broken down into steps. To reach each step a set deadline has to be fixed. The tasks and activities to reach the goal has to be defined and has to be converted into a daily and weekly and monthly to-do lists. It is important to check oneself if the tasks are being performed as per to-do lists. This gives a direction if the activities being performed are as per the priority. These lists need to be reviewed and if things are going as per the plan, reward yourself. If things are not going as per plan, start doing certain changes after the review. Then check if the review changes are going as per the plan.



Honouring your commitments: To honour your commitments, you should always know how much of your time is being consumed by each activity. Then it becomes easy for you to plan your tasks. You will always know if it is within your capacity to commit to new tasks or not. When you say you will be finishing the tasks, you should see to it that you are really finishing them and not just doing lip service alone. If need be stretch yourself and keep the person to whom you owe an explanation informed, that you were unable to see the extended task capability and take the extra time and finish it on high priority. Always stick to your commitment schedule and have a little bit of your time for unplanned and unforeseen situations. This will always give you an opportunity to have little bit of extra time on your hands. Use the extra time to plan for tasks ahead. By doing all these steps you will stand to being countable.
Start building the culture of accountability in your personal and professional life. This will make you open and honest. You will see that you will start enjoying your work in the process. You will start looking to new challenges and an opportunity in every challenge. You should be the team member whom the company will trust to handover a new project or lead a team as you are the most accountable person around.


Comment below with your thoughts. Watch this space for more insights on healthy mindset for self-leadership. Want to bring about the culture of progress, performance and productivity for maximizing your profits, attend our Turning Point– Turn in and Tune in workshop. Mail us at turningpoint@hasovan.com for more details. Our team would be happy to get in touch. Catch the work-place philosophy of various companies in the book “Erupt with Joy” by Savitha Hosamane. 


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