How do you balance employee autonomy and accountability?

The autonomy and accountability equation needs to match and stretch the individual's skill level and ambitions. Empowering people to get a team moved from Point A to Outcome B by Date C is a critical developmental step for succession planning and retention of top talent as they evolve into strategic thinkers. This activity demands transparent, trusting relationships, and communication with parameters clearly established by applying standard management approaches. You can grant a wide range of latitude to the individual when there is clarity on what the ABC’s and milestones will be to define success.

Far too often the expectations are only half expressed. We assume others know what we want, get disappointed when they don’t give us what we don’t ask for and then blame them. This happens way more than most realise.

Clarifying is critical for the autonomy and accountability of work regarding a task, but it is not enough to just think that the task and the expected result are clear. It is necessary to have confirmation from the person responsible that their vision is the same as the leader's vision and that both know perfectly well what the expected result is. Any noise in communication will greatly harm the employee's autonomy, compromising the final result. Furthermore, it is necessary to be clear about the limits of the How, as results cannot be achieved at any cost, so the employee needs to be clear about the limits to which he can go.

Outline the goals, quality standards, and timelines but let your team chart the path to achieve them. This hands-on autonomy paired with a clear understanding of what needs to be achieved forms a solid ground for accountability. Regular check-ins help keep the balance, providing a space for feedback and realignment if needed. It’s about creating a culture where freedom to operate and responsibility towards goals coexist, propelling both individual and collective growth forward.

Para equilibrar la autonomía y la responsabilidad de los trabajadores, es esencial encontrar un punto medio entre la libertad para tomar decisiones y la rendición de cuentas por los resultados. Esto es vital para un trabajo eficaz y motivado, y para fomentar una cultura donde los errores se consideren oportunidades de aprendizaje. Para lograr este equilibrio, es importante establecer expectativas claras desde el principio y proporcionar la capacitación necesaria. Además, establecer hitos para dar seguimiento y ofrecer retroalimentación ayuda a garantizar que los trabajadores estén en el camino correcto hacia el éxito.

Delegation is not abdication. Assigning a dynamic body of work with competing needs and available resources to achieve the defined beneficial outcome grows new leaders. Regular 1:1 meetings will ensure the plan, mitigation steps, and contingencies remain sound. Preparatory sessions should review metrics and ensure a deep understanding of key drivers/levers of success and shortfalls. Be available, consultative, and curious. Ensure stakeholders are aligned and questions are addressed by the owner. Meetings innately hold the owner accountable as they present on milestones, progress, and dialogue addresses questions or concerns. Empower that employee to synthesize and present the results of their work.

Delegating effectively starts with matching tasks to the right team members based on their strengths. Clearly outline the goals, milestones, and timelines, setting the stage for accountability. Hand over the reins, allowing them the autonomy to tackle the tasks and make decisions along the way. Stay available for guidance, but avoid micromanaging. Schedule regular check-ins to assess progress, provide feedback, and ensure the goals are on track without stifling their independence. Celebrate achievements, reinforcing a positive cycle of trust, autonomy, and accountability, which drives individual and collective growth towards organizational goals.

Delegating efficiently is what gives your team autonomy and accountability over tasks, but to delegate efficiently, it is not enough to just distribute tasks; you need to align all the points, starting with the Why of the task and its objective. What the expected results are clearly, why that person is the best employee to perform it, and what the employee will learn in the process. Only then will the employee feel like they own the task, and will have a sense of purpose in carrying it out, greatly increasing their engagement and quality!

This is not your work product to hijack. Be generous with consistent public credit. They are looking to you to deepen their mastery, sharpen analytical and communication skills. Empowerment here impacts career trajectories, expands networks and increases visibility. This set of skills is measurably more valuable than the year end bonus. When done well, it will significantly increase lifetime earnings power. Use the company’s talent management tools to track progress and provide regular feedback. Communicate honestly about your feedback, thoughts, and considerations. Your regular 1:1 meetings should tie directly into and align with the end of year summary. To cement trust there should be no surprises here.

Recognizing and rewarding is a tangible way to balance employee autonomy and accountability. Celebrate when employees harness their freedom responsibly to achieve goals. Recognition can come in many flavors - a simple thank you, public acknowledgment, or tangible rewards. It's about appreciating both the results and the autonomous, accountable actions taken to get there. This creates a culture where employees are encouraged to take the initiative, knowing their responsible actions will be seen and valued. It fosters a positive cycle of autonomy and accountability that propels individual and organizational growth.

Nothing demotivates a team more than when the leader takes credit for a task performed by the team. Therefore, for the team to have the necessary autonomy and accountability, it is necessary to recognize the tasks they have already performed, rewarding the autonomy they had and the results achieved. This will reinforce positive attitudes, motivating them to be increasingly autonomous and responsible for their tasks, greatly increasing the team's productivity and removing management bottlenecks.

Another critical point is to understand that there will always be a learning curve where the employee may need more intense support at the beginning so that they can build the necessary autonomy. Failures will happen, but they should be treated as lessons learned and not as unacceptable mistakes. Only with this mentality will the team build the confidence necessary to be increasingly autonomous.

Often, we encourage people to lie and hide. Lost of people will come to you already afraid and only the slightest suggestion that you will attack them for their mistake and they will hide, lie, deflect etc - some will do this at even the slightest hint of your disapproval. You’ve got to start from the ground up and build an environment and approach that rewards honesty - not always easy but can be done if you commit to it.

Help your emerging leader demonstrate that they are effective sophisticated masters of the work. The wisdom behind the dictums: tell a simple story, distill, more insightful charts, fewer words and know your audience will reveal itself along the way. Allowing unimportant pre-launch imperfections requires an adaptive mindset. Ensure there is follow through to appropriately allocate resources to solve important post-launch problems. In the face of a failed project, their leadership maturity index will soar when they trust that they can assert that an endpoint will require too many additional resources or a protracted period of time that is not palatable by the organization's leadership expectations.

Make sure your team's leader understands that all endeavors start with conflict as we vie for limited resources. Managing across complex matrixed organizations is a never ending acquired skill that demands careful consideration and communications to elicit stakeholder responses. Helping your developing leader here enhances their skill sets and reduces your need to intervene. Ensure they listen for statements of impactful resource limitations or delays. Unanticipated adverse financial impacts require trusted relationships that ensure these are quickly surfaced, an RCA is completed and mitigation plans are socialized for transparency and to align stakeholder. This approach can engage experts with alternative solutions to solve the problem.

Yep. It takes a great deal of commitment to the relationship to do this well and often takes guidance so that people can open up more honest conversations while helping the other to feel safe. If they sniff an attack they will only defend- so need to build that trust so you can deepen the candour over time.

Model collaborative, optimistic, and solutions orientation mindsets to help the owner solve for any needed course corrections. Make sure they are taking ground, making progress and are on track for the project requirements. Well considered plans, with mitigation and contingency plans put the people in a good position to succeed. Help that leader know the plan will not likely work that way in real life. They will have more realistic expectations and prevent themselves from seeing turbulence as failure. Rather, it is reality confronting spreadsheets and slide decks.

Autonomy without competence and purpose is a recipe for disaster. Give your employees the reins with clearly defined objectives, provide support/resources so they feel competent in the project, and explain how they play a role in the larger company's vision. This will light a fire under them (in a great way!) and they will automatically take ownership and demonstrate accountability.

A closing thought to consider is that helping people through this process is deeply rewarding to everyone involved. Supporting leaders as they expand their reach, stumble, dust themselves off and get back into the work at hand allows you to turn your attention to new and broader work, which provides a sense of purpose for you. Helping people flourish is one of life’s greatest honors and one of its best rewards. This applies in the mentor - mentee relationship, leader - employee, entrepreneurial endeavors, parenting and in many other equally applicable directions.