People are the foundation of every great business. For companies to achieve their vision and succeed, they need a team of truly great people, from top to bottom, working together to solve issues and make progress. Most business leaders know this, however, 83% of business owners say that people issues were their #1 frustration in their business before they started implementing EOS.
Recently, I was humbled to be a part of a workshop led by Beth Fahey, certified EOS Implementer and Speaker, and René Boer, co-author of EOS book, How to Be a Great Boss. As we talked through the qualities of what makes a great boss, René reminded us to “put a hand to heart” and look in the mirror. As the leader, are you doing everything you can and should be doing to help your people be the best they can be? Sometimes—actually, most of the time— the problems in our business aren’t actually with our people, but they instead stem from us.
When your employee doesn’t seem to ‘get it’ – have you been crystal clear on your expectations for them? When no one seems to get anything done – are you fostering a culture of accountability? The fact is that most leaders are not doing their part in helping their people get aligned with what their roles are and what it means to be a great employee in the company.
Hold Yourself Accountable to Define Roles
Take a look at your team. Ask yourself this:
- Does each person on your team know what their 5 high-level roles are?
- Do you have quarterly conversations with each person on your team about what you expect from them?
- Does everyone know what success looks like in their role within the company?
While everyone’s responsibilities and your expectations might be obvious to you as the leader of the business, chances are they aren’t as crystal clear to the rest of your team as you might think. There have been many times in my session room with clients where the leader has said “Well that’s been clear in my head the whole time” and their team had no idea.
Remember, people need to hear something seven times before they internalize something for the first time. If you’ve only told your team something four times, you’ve still got three more times before it’s really going to stick with them. That’s why one of the first things I do when I start working with a new client is to help them build out their Accountability Chart.
Accountability & Clear Expectations
The Entrepreneurial Operating System’s accountability chart is one of my Foundational Tools used to help businesses achieve the level of clarity they need to define everyone’s responsibilities.
Your accountability chart isn’t where you define job titles or hierarchy. Instead, accountability charts focus on ownership of responsibilities. Who owns what? What problems, roles, and responsibilities is each person individually accountable for? When COVID hit and new challenges kept hitting your company, who was the person on your leadership team accountable for owning the solution?
By clarifying the 5 high-level roles and creating clear accountability throughout the entire organization with measurable expectations, your business will be on the way to creating a healthier culture built to empower everyone on your team so they are more likely to have consistent success and help the company achieve its vision.
As your business succeeds and grows, make sure you regularly review your accountability chart and determine if new responsibilities and roles are needed. Often, when a team has hit a ceiling, they will need to adjust their accountability chart to help them break through to the next level. Accountability charts are a great way for leaders to help their employees know they are the right people in the right seat. And allows for a real, transparent conversation about what success looks like for this seat.
Or let’s connect! I am ready to help you get everyone in your organization on the same page and create clear accountability in your team so that YOU can set your team up to be successful.
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