How to Hold a Colleague Accountable If Your Boss Doesn’t
When working with teams, I hear a lot of complaints about bosses. One of the most common is about a manager who does not demand responsibility from people. Someone (or maybe a couple of people) on the team is consistently bad at their job, and the boss doesn’t do anything about it.
It’s annoying to say the least, but when it goes on for an extended period, it can infuriate and damage the team as a whole. After all, having just one slacker (who doesn’t get the job done), a downer (a chronic pessimist), or a jerk (disrespectful and rude) can reduce a team’s performance by 30-40%.
Yes, it’s usually the boss’s responsibility to fix these bad performers, but what if they don’t or don’t want to? Maybe the manager lacks leadership qualities, or the employee has a highly specialized set of skills that the boss deemed too valuable to let them go (or risk being fired). There can be any number of factors at play, and they are all out of your control.
I usually tell teams the following: everyone is responsible for the success of the team, not just the leader. They’re not the only ones who can handle slackers, downers, and jerks. You can too. Here’s how.
Appreciate others who contribute
An important factor in building trust in a team is whether its members value each other. This is more than an expression of gratitude, such as: “Hey, thanks for submitting the budget on time.” This is more than a confession that is often performance-based and goes something like, “Last week you delivered a flawless presentation. Great job!”
The appreciation gets deeper. It’s about recognizing the value of someone’s unique contribution to the team. It’s about perspective and life experience. It might sound like, “I appreciate how you disagreed with us today. Your point of view encourages me to look at our work differently and we are better off from it.” Seeing the value that others put forward is the foundation of respect.
Think about the person you would like to hold accountable for, they are more likely to listen to you if they know they have your respect.
Be good at your job
Holding people accountable requires trust. Summarize your work. Do you meet deadlines, avoid gossip, and consistently do what you promised to do well? If so, you are probably reliable and influencing. It also means the team is more likely to listen to your ideas and feedback.
Holding others accountable is a difficult task if you don’t demonstrate consistent performance yourself.
Discuss your expectations
It’s hard to keep someone waiting if they don’t know what the waiting is. Often accountability problems are actually due to a lack of understanding of what is expected.
I used to complain about a colleague from another department who rarely responded to emails within 48 hours. Most often it took him three or four days to write a reply. After a stressful week, I ran into him in the dining room and made a snide comment: “So, are you ever going to answer your emails?” He was confused and thankfully didn’t push me away. We chatted and I quickly learned that his department expected the email to be sent within four days, and three days is good! His boss didn’t want them to be in email all day and told them to get to her when they could.
I was surprised. All we did in our department was respond to emails quickly. After this conversation, we agreed on a two-three-day repair.
If there are problems with accountability, there are probably problems with lack of expectations. Find an opportunity with your team to discuss what you expect from each other in terms of working together. Examples include starting and ending meetings on time, deadlines for completing work, and even allowing sarcasm within a team. (I recommend very little, as it may exclude native speakers and your neurodivergent peers.)
Be more simple
Holding people accountable is uncomfortable, and some even scary. If this sounds familiar, you may be worried that you will offend the other person or be ignored. Even when the workplace is supportive and respectful, this fear is still there. This is common, but the wait is probably the worst part. Simplicity helps quell fear.
Keep a neutral and inquisitive tone. Give the person a presumption of doubt that the problem was caused by an oversight or that they are unaware of the situation. Be brief, start by waiting, and ask, “We agreed that the report would be ready by Friday. It’s Tuesday. When will it be ready?”
Many people find it helpful to plan what to say and practice out loud rather than in their heads. This builds trust, and we’re more likely to say what we mean if we’ve said it before.
Let go or make the problem worse
I can already hear: “What if after you speak, you are thrown away or laughed at? What then?”
If team members value each other, are trustworthy, and negotiate expectations, then this neglect is rare. Which speaks to the importance of fulfilling these three conditions before embarking on the path of accountability.
However, you cannot control other people’s reactions. Each person owns his own behavior, so his reaction is connected with himself, and not with you. You have two options: let go or escalate the problem.
Let go of the situation in circumstances where what is happening does not directly affect your ability to perform well. Instead, you find it bothersome or annoying. Let it go In situations where your work product is affected or your safety and wellbeing is at risk, escalate the issue to your manager or follow your organization’s reporting guidelines.
Jobs work best when everyone takes responsibility for it. Of course, managers play a crucial role, but so does every employee. There is no need to wait for the boss to bring a slacker, loser, or jerk to justice. Anyone on the team can by laying the foundation of respect, trust and expectations.