Teams Miss the Boat on Accountability

The Table Group, the consulting firm of business author Patrick Lencioni, has identified a major trend plaguing teams today - team members readily avoid holding their peers accountable for both their performance and behaviors that might hurt the team.

A full 68% of teams scored "red" on accountability - or lowest on The Table Group's three tiered rating scale of green-yellow-red. Other red scores for the remaining four dysfunctions include: absence of trust (44%), fear of conflict (39%), avoidance of commitment (25%) and inattention to results (28%).

Lencioni's definition of accountability goes beyond just informing people about missing "their numbers." The essence of this dysfunction is the reluctance of team members to tolerate the discomfort that accompanies calling a peer on his or her behavior. Team members have a general tendency to avoid difficult conversations.

This problem is even more apparent at the executive level- 80% scored in the "red". This is attributed to the fact that members of an executive team typically have similar socioeconomic status and, therefore, don't feel justified commenting on a peer's performance.

To overcome this dysfunction, Lencioni suggests leveraging peer pressure on a team by publicly stating the team's goals and standards, instituting regular progress reviews and rewarding team achievement (rather than individual contribution).