{"id":51146,"date":"2021-09-30T08:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T12:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=51146"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:14:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:14:41","slug":"joint-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/joint-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Joint Accountability: Be Accountable as a Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is joint accountability? What can you, as a leader, do to foster a mindset of joint accountability amongst your team members?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joint accountability starts with recognizing that, as part of a greater whole, you and your team members are interdependent. To instill a mindset of joint accountability in your team, leaders must emphasize results over employees’ individual duties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’ll discuss some tips on how to foster a spirit of shared team accountability<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of\u00a0Shortform\u2019s guide to team-building<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joint Accountability Starts With Recognizing Interdependence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While each of your team members has specific responsibilities for which they’re individually accountable, they also have shared responsibilities\u2014like picking up the slack to meet a group deadline when a coworker is sick\u2014for which they\u2019re jointly accountable. Any group that\u2019s working toward a shared goal\u2014a sports team, students submitting a group project, or employees at a company\u2014succeeds or fails together. That interdependence means members need to be accountable together, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People<\/em><\/a>, Stephen Covey contends that interdependence is critical to success because your relationships with others<\/a> affect your productivity and ability to grow. Three of his seven habits focus on developing your interdependence through collaboration, cooperation, and communication.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Nurture Joint Accountability<\/strong>, Focus on Results <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To help people look beyond their basic responsibilities and think about the things for which they share accountability with others, leaders should emphasize the value of results<\/em>.<\/strong> It\u2019s not enough that people just do what they\u2019re supposed to do\u2014follow directions, check off the list of duties in a job description\u2014if they\u2019re not producing positive results. It\u2019s not enough for the company as a whole to maintain a status quo while falling behind competitors. The results matter more than performing assigned duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make it clear to employees what kind of results you\u2019re looking for, and be specific\u2014whether it\u2019s to hit a certain sales threshold or grow the team by a certain number of roles. Identify the numbers you\u2019ll need to see to know that you\u2019ve succeeded. To score a goal, employees have to be able to see the goalposts. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team<\/em>, Patrick Lencioni asserts that by having tangible measures of success, teams are better able to attract and retain achievement-oriented employees. Also, it\u2019s easier to evaluate performance, and a focus on results avoids the distraction and waste of energy occurring when team members pursue individual agendas<\/a> at the expense of the team.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve established the need to get results, defined the results you\u2019re after, and explained how you\u2019ll measure them, you\u2019ll then have to motivate your team<\/a> to focus on results<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: On their Partners in Leadership website, the authors of The Oz Principle<\/em> provide an interactive tool called the Propeller<\/a>, which helps leaders and their teams focus, communicate and track key results<\/a>, as well as build empowerment and ownership. As one aspect of the platform, team members each create a personal impact statement of how their role and duties contribute to achieving specific results; everyone can see everyone else\u2019s impact statement to see how roles work together. A sense of empowerment increases team members\u2019 motivation.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors cite rewards as a valuable motivational tool, even if the reward is purely symbolic, like getting a gold star on your homework in school). Give people gold stars in the form of praise and recognition, as well as substantive rewards such as commissions, bonuses, and so on.<\/strong> Some companies offer equity, knowing that employees who own a piece of the company are invested in the whole, not just in their own job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead With an Accountability Mindset<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you understand the building blocks of an organization-wide culture of accountability, follow these steps to become the kind of leader who can create that culture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n