As a CEO of a small company, you’ve likely experienced growing pains as your company moves from one stage of growth to another. And you’ve probably learned that there are times when your business is growing so much, you and your team are struggling to keep up.
When you get to this point, a system of accountability may be just what you need to get everybody on your team aligned with where the company is heading and make clear their roles in the company’s growth plan.
Benefits of a System of Accountability
A system of accountability is simply a process for running your business that creates clarity and accountability for your leadership team members and the departments they run. There are several options that are suitable for growth-minded companies, including EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System), System & Soul, The Profit Recipe, and the Baldrige Excellence Framework, to name a few.
If you are new to accountability systems, a good introduction is the book Traction by Gino Wickman, the founder of EOS.
According to Forbes, being accountable and holding yourself and other team leaders to a higher standard is the best thing you can do for your business. A system of accountability is essential for exponential business growth and the overall success of a business by garnering these benefits:
- Strengthens the workplace culture.
- Propagates excellence.
- Ensures ownership.
- Builds trust.
- Sets expectations.
- Achieves common goals.
- Defines the mission.
- Sets performance indicators.
- Empowers the team.
Ultimately, accountability drives results. One study found that consciously deciding that you will meet a goal has a 25% success rate, committing to someone that you will meet a goal has a 65% success rate, and establishing a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed to has a 95% success rate.
Creating an Accountability System
What goes into an accountability system? Gallup outlines these key components of an effective accountability system:
- Create and share your vision for your company’s growth.
- Define what people are accountable for.
- Set and cascade goals throughout the organization.
- Provide updates on progress.
- Align development, learning, and growth.
- Recognize and celebrate progress.
The system should be simple and straightforward. An overcomplicated vision, excessive goals, and too many messages can be overwhelming for your team and end up being counter-productive.
Implementing the System
Setting goals and definitions is essential but providing progress updates and making alignments is where the hard work starts.
Some ideas for progress updates include setting regular accountability meetings, like EOS’ L10 meetings, or regular one-on-one meetings.
A regular meeting cadence during which you identify and resolve issues, create to-dos, give feedback, recognize good work, and reinforce how the work you are doing ties to the growth objectives of the company is essential for the success of the accountability system.
Implementing an accountability system for the first time isn’t easy, so it’s often helpful to use an outside facilitator who leads your company through the process. Outside facilitators or implementors are trained and skilled at navigating emotions, leading change management, and keeping all of your team members on track with their implementation plans.
As Fractional VPs of Sales, we love working with companies that use accountability systems because we know how important accountability is for sales team success.
Contact Sales Advisors to learn more about how an accountability system can help grow your business.