7 Questions to Evaluate Your Team's Performance and Accountability

June 14, 2021

7 Questions to Evaluate Your Team’s Performance and Accountability

Are You Leading a Truly Accountable Team?

BIG IDEA:

Many teams have stepped up in extraordinary ways. Take time to evaluate how yours is doing and what support they need from you.

I’m a big believer in a mid-year gut check—a time to pause and reflect on your own leadership accountability for the first half of the year. But today, as much as it’s crucial to be an accountable leader individually, it’s also vitally important to build an accountable team.

All our teams have had to step up in extraordinary ways over the past year. We’ve all been tested in different ways by the pandemic. And most of us have had to adjust on the fly to working from home. Have you acknowledged your team for their hard work in making these adjustments and continuing to work under very challenging conditions?

Given the unprecedented challenges we face today, and the complexity of our organizations, collaboration and team performance need to be at all-time highs. Our team accountability must be higher than ever in order to meet our goals. Teams have been stepping up throughout the pandemic. Now, as we return to something like ‘normal,’ is a great time to evaluate how your team has been doing and think about what support they need from you as they work through yet more changes.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Knowing how to build an accountable team is critical to success. But many teams are struggling.

Most leaders today understand the importance of leadership accountability: according to our research, 72% of leaders believe that leadership accountability is a critical issue in their organization. Yet only 31% are satisfied with the level of leadership accountability demonstrated at work. Only 45% of senior leaders believe that leaders throughout their organization are fully committed to their roles as leaders, and only 27% believe they have a strong leadership culture.

If you’re in the majority, then, you have a lot of work to do around accountability. But the research proves it’s work that you can’t put off. And the complexities of the current climate mean that building an accountable team is likely to be harder than it ever has been before.

This is the hard work of leadership you are called to do right now. As a leader, you know you can’t accomplish the goals you are accountable for without your team. And your team simply won’t accomplish the work it needs to do unless it is an accountable team. It’s on you as a leader to step up and show them the way. You must support them through all the changes they’ve faced over the past year and continue to face. You must ensure they have clarity into the strategic priorities for the team. And you must model the high level of commitment to accomplishing the team’s goals that you need all team members to share.

THE IMPACT:

Strong teams make for strong companies. You can drive strategy execution and performance by building an accountable team.

There is a clear connection between truly accountable teams and company performance. If you have many accountable teams in your company, it will translate into stronger company performance. On the contrary, if many teams lack accountability, your company’s performance will suffer.

Building an accountable team couldn’t be more important. Your company’s success, and team’s success, depend on it.

WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO:

Focus on how well your team has stepped up and been accountable as a team so far this year.

In my book, The Leadership Contract Field Guide, I provide a series of questions for you to use to conduct a self-assessment. Here, I’ve adapted those questions to focus on evaluating team performance. You can also download our ebook at the bottom of this page, which includes a quick assessment and strategies to take once you’ve done this Mid-Year Team Gut Check.

Don’t just scan these questions. Spend a good 15 minutes and really think about your answers.

Has your team been an accountable team so far this year?

In what specific ways has your team stepped up and worked together to accomplish your goals this year? In what ways have you stepped up to support your team over the past year?

What are your team’s top priorities for the year? How much clarity do the members of your team have around those goals? Does everyone understand what must be done?

What enduring value has your team created for your key stakeholders? Have you built effective relationships with other teams across the organization?
What difficult tasks did you accept this past year? Did your team demonstrate a strong sense of commitment to doing what it takes to succeed?
Did your team set an example of building a strong community of leaders through collaborative relationships within your team and throughout your organization?
Looking at the next six months, what can you do to make your team truly accountable?

Gut Check for Leaders: Have you supported your team when it mattered most?

Related Resources

Mid-Year Gut Check for Leaders Workshop

Join us for strategic reflection and an opportunity to connect with other leaders as we guide you in creating a plan to finish 2022 strong.

Tuesday, June 21st
9:00am – 11:30am ET (Option 1) / 7:00pm – 9:30pm ET (Option 2)
Learn More and Register

How to Build an Accountable Team ebook

Click here to download an ebook with the 4 top strategies for strengthening your team. With 19-pages of research and useful strategies, and a team assessment, you’ll be able to put these steps in action and move forward with your team.

We have many resources to help you become the most accountable leader you be, develop accountable leaders on your team, and scale leadership accountability across your organization.

Signup for our monthly newsletter with the latest Gut Check for Leaders, Lead the Future Podcast, and other important leadership accountability news.

Also, you can RSVP for our upcoming webinar, join our online community of accountable leaders, or buy Dr. Molinaro’s, latest book, Accountable Leaders, on Amazon.