Best ways to be accountable at work in 2020?

Picture of By Darren Finkelstein
By Darren Finkelstein

The Accountability Guy®

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How to improve accountability at work?

Accountability is an obligation you’ve follow through with when you join a team. It’s basically your willingness to being honest, cooperative and be responsible for timely delivery of your part. There are certain factors that you need to keep in mind to be an accountable employee. 

Today I will teach you how are the BEST ways to be accountable at work and be an efficient worker. These tips will certainly turn you into a crucial asset for any company. That’s a promise by your very own accountability coach.

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Create a Plan

You can’t be accountable if you don’t have a plan.

Coming up with a smart and strategic plan shows that you’ve thought about the job and are serious about it. A plan keeps you honest and accountable to your own commitments.

Not only that, but planning is at the root of every success. We are where we are today because of detail oriented planning. Here’s what a plan of an accountable worker includes:

  • Setting goals and ensuring you understand their importance clearly
  • Setting start and end dates
  • Breaking down big projects into smaller manageable tasks
  • Identifying steps for delivering on time
  • Having your team do the same

Prioritse

Some things are more important than others. They say, it isn’t always the hard worker that completes the work first. Most of the time, an employee that works smart is the one that delivers first. That’s why you should always work smart rather than grinding your gears by working hard for something that can be solved better using your intellectual skills. Putting it shortly,

  • Collect and list all your tasks.
  • Point out the most important tasks of the bunch.
  • Assess their priority level based on urgency.
  • Order them according to difficulty level.
  • Adapt to jobs you are inexperienced at and be flexible enough to learn.
  • Know when to quit and ask for help.

Apply my 5 x D’s of getting things done.

Here’s five actions you can do immediately to make a difference:
  • Do
        • Put your maximum effort into getting it done.
  • Delay
        • Delay something you can’t do until you learn how to do it.
  • Delegate
        • Have someone else do something you can’t do, in your stead.
  • Delete
        • Focus on another task.
  • Call me
I’ll be your accountability partner. – We will work together and I’ll hold you to account to ensure you “do what you say you’re a going to do, when you say you will do it”.

Partner Up

Ask someone to be your partner. I am serious. No successful person has achieved success without another mind at his side. Two minds are very useful when it comes to high quality decision making.

Take the example of the world’s former richest person: Bill Gates. He founded Microsoft in partnership with his childhood friend: Paul Allen. They ended up creating one of the most successful software companies in the world.

You need another person by your side. The reason is, people feel temptations more times than they think of. Only a sincere partner can pull you out of those in the nick of time.

Without a partner, I have seen many people rise, and then immediately fall back down, even lower than from where they started. All this because they gave in to temptations.

Don’t choose a friend; fiends are not going to call you out and they are not going to have the hard conversations with you, and give you the kick in the pants when you need it. Choose a person, ideally another business person who’s walked the talk, someone you trust.

Meet with your accountability partner regularly; say weekly, fortnightly or even monthly so they can follow up on your progress to ensure you do the things you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do them. They will provide you with support, encouragement, and even a shoulder to lean on when you need it, and they can celebrate your success with you.

A study* in the USA was undertaken and found out that the probability of completing a goal is:

    • 10% – If you have an actual idea or goal.
    • 25% – If you consciously decide you will do it.
    • 40% – If you decide when you will do it.
    • 50% – If you plan how you will do it.
    • 65% – If you commit to someone you will do it.
  • 95% – If you have a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed to.

After reading this, how likely are you to achieve your; goals, promises, obligations and commitments alone?

Conclusion

To be accountable at work, you must plan your actions with complete attention. Prioritise important tasks first, do hard jobs later. And at the end of the day, for continued growth, you must choose a partner (buddy) to keep you away from temptations and hold you to account. Accountability increases opportunity and opportunity is where you make money.

However, if you still can’t think of someone, I’m always here to save the day.
Just dial me up (+61 418-379 369) and I will prioritise your business growth over everything else and I’ll be your accountability buddy.