Accountability vs Responsibility

Responsibility may be bestowed, but accountability must be taken.

Let’s provide some clarity around these terms…

An accountable person is ultimately answerable for the activity or decision. The responsible person actually completes the task.

Can you think of ONE example of accountability you have experienced in the past six months? This is where you or someone else put your hand up and said, “I did this and I’m sorry. The buck stops with me.”

It doesn’t happen very often, does it?

In our new virtual world, it is now more common for clients to postpone or cancel training workshops as the traditional consequences of hotel booking penalties have largely disappeared.

Such precipitate action falls most heavily on the shoulders of trainers should the training they agreed to deliver is postponed or cancelled.

How do you set goals and roles?

Managers/leaders need to establish clear expectations about the task he/she is giving
They must gain commitment from the person responsible for completing the task
They need to review the task to ensure it will meet their expectations
Finally, they need to provide feedback and consequences

Another example of accountability and responsibility are companies providing Service Level Agreements or SLAs, usually containing a sensible cancellation policy that

holds the client to account, and
sets expectations and outlines responsibilities to the provider

Our advice? Ensure you have a solid SLA with a clear cancellation policy before signing up for virtual training. In this way, both parties have ‘skin in the game’, both answerable to the other should a delivery fail to occur.

John Eades, CEO of LearnLoft, shares tips and best practices to help leaders hold people accountable.

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