How often have you expected your workmates to do something for you and they haven’t? You might have been really clear in your request and yet the work just didn’t get done. Or maybe you’ve been disappointed with how your workmates delivered the task and just weren’t sure how to address it with them.
You no doubt have situations where things don’t work out as you expected or even planned. Before these situations spiral into potential conflicts, it’s best to have conversations to deal with them directly.
Holding others accountable for their actions – or lack of action – can take some courage. So here is our 3 step guide to help you address these types of issues and hold others accountable for what they do and don’t do.
1 Have a conversation for clarity
Invite your workmate to have a private conversation with you. State what you thought had been agreed. Be sure to be specific about the details of when you had the conversation, or sent the request via email. Your aim here is to check there was a commitment agreed to in the first place.
Give your workmate the opportunity to express their understanding or reasoning for not delivering on the commitment. This conversation is not so much about apportioning blame as it is about highlighting and agreeing that there is a gap in expectations.
2 Focus on impact
While a task may seem unimportant or trivial to your workmate, they may not appreciate the flow-on effect of their actions. It’s important that your workmate is clear on the impact or damage that has been caused as a result of their non delivery. How did this impact other workmates? How did it impact on other departments or customers? How does this impact their personal reputation, trustworthiness or perception of reliability in the future?
When your workmate is aware of the negative consequences of their actions, they will be more likely to take accountability in the future.
3 Agree on what needs to be done
The last step is moving the conversation to action. You want to identify and agree on what needs to be done to address the situation – or how this type of issue is to be handled in the future. Ensure you include all the vital elements of what specific actions are to be taken, why these actions are important, any standards that need to be met, as well as agree a clear timeline for completion. Also be clear about any expectations you have for progress reviews or status updates along the way.
To close the conversation, you want to ensure a commitment is definitely agreed to this time. Ask your workmate to summarise the deliverables to ensure that you are both on the same page.
Be sure to give ongoing feedback to reinforce your workmate’s efforts and changed behaviours, as well as make any further requests for different ways of working in the future.
