ACCOUNTABILTY CULTURE
CREATES
ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERSHIP
An accountability partnership is s strategic relationship with an organization to provide oversight and guidance in holding departments and employees accountable to following processes and documenting key metrics. This service provided helps to remove some of the angst associated with a new process by putting a structure in place by having someone dedicated to ensuring the metrics are being captured and processes are working as anticipated. The accountability partnership can be as much as weekly support ar as little as quarterly support based upon the needs of the organization. The purpose of this agreement is to both verify data is being collected accurately and consistently, and to support employees on adapting to the new workflow.
Changes can be difficult to implement without consistent reminders, support and communication. This partnership takes some of the heat off of the management team to facilitate the data collection and to be able to instead focus on innovation and solutions the data provides. Management can often get bogged down by administrative tasks that take them away from more impactful purposes. This can lead to projects falling behind or getting completely left behind. By having an accountability partner on your team it they manage the administrative minutiae to free up your company leaders. Conversations are elevated to be about the data rather than the exhaustion of collecting the data.
BENEFITS
Benefits of an accountability partnership are rooted in the understanding of human nature. Although most people have very good intentions of getting things done, all too often they don’t. Everyone falls victim to putting things off or pushing them aside for things that appear more urgent or that they prefer.
Then excuses come into play, then frustration builds, and communication breaks down. When communication breaks down team members begin losing trust which is one of the biggest demises of a highly functioning team. Too often it’s the communication breakdown and misunderstanding that kill productivity and innovation.
Investing in an accountability partner helps to keep everyone on track. It’s like having a personal trainer or coach to keep you focused on your goals. The interactions with the accountability coach are isolated to specific metrics and documentation. This is not a managerial role or a replacement for internal leadership. It is simply a supporting function to alleviate management from the administration of data collection process.
Also, the involvement of an outside consultant raises the bar. When everyone is aware there is an additional layer of oversight people tend to be on their best behavior. They know their performance is being measured and they will be more engaged. Better engagement increases productivity and
PROCESS
The process to integrate an accountability partner is customized based upon your company’s needs. We understand every company is different and the level of support needed varies.
- Goals
- Cadence
- Scope
- Budget
We will determine the cadence, scope and budget for the partnership based upon best practices and the goals. All partnerships require access to contact info, key documents and company goals.
DOCUMENTS
Documents are a big part of the accountability partnership. First, there needs to be documents in place to collect the data. These documents should already be in place before an accountability partnership is established. Access to documents to ensure they are completed and data is being properly transferred increases the quality of the data. Consistency is key as well as accurately collecting the data.
As a second set of eyes, the accountability partner will help catch any errors before they are applied erroneously. Knowing quality data will be there, allows management time to review, analyze, and apply the data rather than spending time chasing down the data.
These documents should already be prepared and part of the process. The accountability partnership is managing the completion of the documents after they have been created and verified.
PARTNERSHIP OPTIONS
Cadence
How often the accountability partner is checking in depends upon the needs of a business. Some businesses will require weekly check-ins, most monthly, some quarterly and others bi-annual check-ins. The cadence depends on a variety of factors. However, all the options will improve accountability and create transparency.
The more time that passes between check-ins means more time that things can get off track, but some businesses looking too closely at metrics is not productive. We will work together to develop the cadence that works best for your business.
Scope
The scope of the partnership can be as vast as holding all employees accountable to working only with senior management. The scope can be a combination of email reminders, phone reminders, phone support, and document updates. This means it can be as much or as little as your team needs to meet the company goals.
Budget
Budgets vary, so we offer this service to meet a variety of budgets. We offer and hourly not to exceed monthly retainer, a flat fee, or an hourly options. It is proven even a small amount of oversight can improve outcomes. Our goal is to make it possible for our partners to stay on track to reach business goals.
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