Roles and Accountabilities

The below post is by Kate Mercer of Leaders Lab. They help build collaborative organisations, that work well for everyone’s benefit.

Accountabilities

‘What is this role being paid to deliver?’

Imagine how much easier it would be to do your job if, instead of the endless to-do list, you knew:

1. the three to five key things that you are expected to produce, and…
2. exactly how those are measured.

Imagine you had an agreement with your boss and the rest of your team as to what those things were, and you knew what those things were for all of them too.

That’s what we’re going to do. For your whole team, and for every role in the team, we’re going to define the three to five major deliverable outputs of each role. Then we’re going to agree how each of those will be measured in both quantitative (numbers, money etc) and qualitative (quality, client satisfaction etc) measurements.

NB Over time, people and teams often accumulate activities that aren’t really meant to be part of their role. The aim of this exercise is to draw up accountabilities that describe the work as you think it ‘should’ be (not necessarily as it is done now) for what your team and your organisation need now and in the future.

At the end of the exercise, you will all know exactly:

1. the three to five things your whole team exists to deliver.
2. how you are all agreeing to measure these things.
3. the three to five things each role in the team exists to deliver…
4. and how these things will be measured.

And you will all have had an input into every one of these sets so that you will all know exactly what your team’s job is, what your own job is, what everybody else’s job is, and what you’ve all agreed will be the measurements.

Well designed accountabilities

• describe outputs not inputs – the results that are delivered, not the inputs or activities which produce the result.
• describe things that are produced, not abstract concepts (‘innovation’ is an activity, not an output), or personal qualities (‘leadership’ describes the role-holder, not the role itself).
• describe the unique contribution the role makes to the business – stick to areas where the role has (near) total control/authority, and which can be measured.
• are expressed in one to five words – ‘an effective and satisfied team’, ‘production output’ etc.
• provide immediate, obvious feedback – effective accountabilities let you know when you are doing well. You won’t need your manager or a formal appraisal to tell you.

How to do it – your team

1. Draw up a list of all the main activities in your team as it is now. Tidy the list up a bit if you think there are things that should be done differently in future.
2. Group the activities into related ‘themes’ – ‘people’, ‘systems and processes’, ‘finance’, etc. Aim for a total of three to five themes to encompass all the activities in your list.
3. For each theme, describe the ultimate product of all those activities. For ‘people’, for example, the product might be ‘an effective and satisfied team’. This, together with its measures (next step), is one accountability.
4. For each accountability, state the metrics by which you will measure success. For example, ‘cost per unit’ or ‘production output’ in a manufacturing role; ‘sales revenue’; ‘client satisfaction’ etc. Aim for a mix of numbers/costs etc and the more qualitative measures such as ‘service quality’ and ‘client satisfaction’.
5. The accountabilities should together describe the team’s total contribution in terms of outputs, as you see it should be performed.

How to do it – your own role

1. Draw up a list of all the main activities in your role. Tidy the list up a bit if you think there are things that should be done differently in future.
2. Group the activities into related ‘themes’ – ‘people’, ‘systems and processes’, ‘finance’, etc. Aim for a total of three to five themes to encompass all the activities in your list.
3. For each theme, describe the ultimate product of all those activities. For ‘people’, for example, the product might be ‘an effective and satisfied team’. This, together with its measures (next step), is one accountability.
4. For each accountability, state the metrics by which you will measure success. For example, ‘cost per unit’ or ‘production output’ in a manufacturing role; ‘sales revenue’; ‘client satisfaction’ etc. Aim for a mix of numbers/costs etc and the more qualitative measures such as ‘service quality’ and ‘client satisfaction’.
5. The accountabilities should together describe your role’s total contribution in terms of outputs, as you see it should be performed.

Example end result

Inevitably every company and every role will have different accountabilities. However, below is an example of what a completed one might look like (click to download PDF):

Why bother?

What are the benefits of Role Accountabilities over “Activity List” job descriptions?

• Everyone in the team knows what they, as a group, and individually are accountable for
• Focuses emphasis away from activity to results
• Helps to correct misperceptions of what individuals and teams do
• Ensures there are no gaps or overlaps between functions in the Company, and roles within the team
• Everyone knows what their, and everyone else’s, priorities are
• Provides a sound and practical basis for individual and team performance reviews
• Enables each team member to support colleagues to achieve team outcomes
• Helps management to manage others and to manage themselves
• Keeps everyone focused on what’s important – rather than what’s urgent what job holders like doing or believe they are good at doing
• Results in greater teamwork and cross-functional teamwork
• Emphasis on results means that at any time you can check how well you are doing
• Is a simple motivation tool
• Gives a platform for planning and resource allocation
• Ensures that the sum total of individuals’ outputs can produce the team’s objectives, and that teams’ outputs produces the required contribution to achieving the company’s objectives

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