Leadership Tip: Peer-to-peer Accountability Strengthens Teams

INFLUENCE ACCOUNTABILITY

Confront peers about problems in their respective areas of responsibility.

Today’s Tip:

Start meetings using a lightning round, during which team members quickly review what they are working on and ask others for feedback and questions. As a leader, you can help pinpoint projects that cross over into multiple areas and prompt the group to share any potential minefields with their colleagues.

Food for Thought: 

Direct, peer-to-peer accountability helps cohesive teams ensure that all team members feel the expectation to improve without enlisting the authority of a manager or supervisor. Keeping one another up-to-date about what’s happening with specific projects or an area of responsibility provides peers an opportunity to offer feedback and advice before a mistake can occur.

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IMPACT! Leadership Tips are adapted from The Leadership Challenge. © James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, published by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved. And The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team © Patrick Lencioni and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.