How to increase accountability while you build high-performing teams
This article is the third of a four part series on the topic of accountability. Read part one: 7 signs accountability is low in your organization and part two: How to create accountability in your engineering organization.
Great teams have a high level of accountability. As a manager, we can foster a culture of accountability to support our teams to level-up their performance and ultimately feel happier at work. In other words, see management as “my opportunity to give this person the best work experience they could ask for.”
Over the years, I had the chance to work with leaders who excel at creating this level of accountability in their organizations. I recently had the pleasure of talking with one of them: Jasmine Jackson-Irwin (she/her) is a seasoned Revenue Leader who’s built enablement programs in hyper growth startups. She’s also a fierce advocate for equity, inclusion, transparency, and psychological safety in the workplace. So how does Jasmine build accountability into the revenue organizations she enables? And how can line managers treat their team members humanely and uphold accountability?
Read my inspiring conversation with Jasmine below. We talk about what accountability is and isn’t, how to set up a culture of accountability and learning from other departments.
Why do you think accountability is important?
How do any of us get better - whether it’s personally or professionally - without expectations and follow through? Whether it’s to ourselves or other people, it gives us something to reach for and provides a clear understanding of whether we’ve achieved, or not achieved, what we set out to do.
In business, accountability creates a culture of trust and transparency. It helps you build relationships and feel that as a team you’re working towards a common goal, with everyone playing a part (and taking responsibility for the same goals). To me, accountability is as much about equity as anything else.
For many people I talk to about this topic, it seems like “accountability” is equated with “firing people”. What does accountability mean to you?
Accountability to me means clear, attainable goals (stretch goals are important, but it can’t possibly be the only work you do) with explicit communication of why the goals are important, what’s contingent upon them, and what happens if they aren’t reached.
For managers, it’s being consistent in your communication to your team and leading with transparency. Similarly, making sure that you’re following through on your commitments and being a good partner to your team - you work for them as much as they work for you. This translates into direct feedback on what’s working/not working (and being open to mutual feedback and iteration).
What practices have you found useful to build a culture of accountability in the teams you work with? How do you actually do this (with your teams and individual employees)?
I always try to bring conversations back to the ‘why.’ Especially when working cross-functionally, it’s easy to just focus on what you’re looking to get out of a given project/task and how it impacts you and your team only. It’s important to think about that, but we also have to think about other teams and roles we are interacting with. Does the initiative meet their needs? Why or why not? To what extent does your approach have to change to benefit more than just your team? Bringing it back to the ‘why’ (and in some cases, ‘who’) helps make that thought mapping a lot easier.
I also try to set clear expectations on what I can or can’t do when working with other teams. Enablement is highly cross-functional and there’s often a lot of conflicting priorities, and put simply - way too much work for any one person to handle. I try to be explicit about what I’m working on, what space I have, and how I can tie something into my existing priorities. I will work with stakeholders as needed to reprioritize things accordingly. To me, that’s a way I show that I’m committed to contributing, even if I can’t act on it immediately.
Can you give me an example of how you’ve set up a culture of accountability, while putting the human-element first?
“You can choose to view accountability as a metrics topic, a type of interacting with people in a professional environment and management style - but you can’t get to a place where metrics and performance are successful without putting the human element first. Throwing an OKR spreadsheet on the table isn’t going to be successful if you don’t start with getting to know your team as human beings, what matters to them - and then how to motivate them and get them interested.”
I think the OKR process is a perfect example. In a previous role, it was initially received by teams as micromanaging - there was a bit of an uproar. To mitigate this, I brought my team into the decision-making process. I talked to the team two weeks before the current quarter ended and asked, “based on what you’ve seen, what do we need to prioritize?”
This meant that I could go to leadership and talk about what’s important, and then go back to the team and say: “Here are the OKRs, here’s how your input was considered, here’s how it ties into our top-line goals.” I also used 1:1s and group meetings to openly discuss whether everyone feels good about the OKRs, are they attainable and is there anything that could prevent our success.
I support my team members in owning execution, listen to their concerns and make sure they have what they need to feel confident in delivering. Weekly progress reports are helpful for setting up a framework where, as we progress, I can talk to the team, remove obstacles or adjust expectations. By the time we get to the end of the quarter, I have gathered the feedback I need to start the process over again.
So from initial skepticism, we moved to a place where the team said they knew what was expected of them, knew I was there to support and help be unblocker if needed. That meant they could just focus on what they needed to do without extra noise and distraction.
“Accountability doesn’t start with telling people they’re doing it wrong, it starts with clear expectations”
You’ve worked with a lot of fast-growing teams. What do you think engineering and other departments can learn from revenue and sales teams?
I love this question. The big thing I can think of is to expand thinking beyond “how does this work” to “why is this important?” Both are important, but especially in B2B companies where your product will only really get to market via a human being, you have to consider what it means to pitch someone on your product. Considering the customer is critical.
I think having metrics tied to performance can be challenging for a lot of engineers to get comfortable with, and it can feel reductionist at times. I’d encourage folks to shift their thinking and see it as a way to understand what impact your day-to-day output is having. If it’s not having an impact, that’s worth changing. Now - that isn’t to say that every single day your work is going to be 100%, grade A impact-driven. But using metrics as a means of prioritization and process improvement is important.
Metrics conversations can just feel like a progress report, and sometimes it is. But, especially in high-growth environments, they’re also a compass to make sure that you’re still moving in the right direction, and that it’s on track with what the rest of the business needs. This way, metrics help you look beyond your individual input + production.
How do you model the accountability you want to see from your teammates?
Constant feedback, both proactively, reactively, positive, and constructively critical.
With my team, I try to model the behaviors I want my team to embody. If I’m asking them for clear, direct communication, I give that back. If I'm asking them to be open with me about concerns or needs, I do the same. I also try to create regular feedback loops where I can get feedback from them to ensure that my approach continues to benefit them and their professional growth. If it’s not, that’s worth reevaluating.
And finally, what do you find challenging about holding people and teams accountable? What do others who you work with find challenging?
It requires a lot of trust and confidence, which can be slow to build. Especially if you’re working with a new team, you have to put yourself out on a limb a bit - which is scary!
This is where communication and expectation setting becomes even more important - give folks a glimpse into what you’re trying to accomplish and use that to gain buy-in. You have to work on your communication to drive accountability successfully. Be bold, be kind, and be curious.
Jasmine Jackson-Irwin (she/her) is a Revenue Leader with 6+ years experience building enablement programs in hyper growth startups. In addition to enablement, Jasmine has a background in Sales & Marketing Operations, and frontline selling. She is passionate about building inclusive and accessible learning environments where new hire experience, ongoing professional development, and operational excellence reign supreme. Jasmine is a fierce advocate for equity, inclusion, transparency, and psychological safety in the workplace.
