A Mistake when Holding People Accountable
❌ WRONG: “Don’t deploy on Fridays!”
✅ CORRECT: “We’ve agreed not to deploy on Fridays as if something breaks, we have to do overtime. Next time, wait for Monday.”
You can’t have accountability if you don’t have an agreement!
Don’t get us wrong, we’re all for holding each other accountable. After all, one of the top team dysfunctions is avoiding this.
So, we should create an environment where communication is open and people share feedback freely.
But we should manage this properly.
When someone says “you shouldn’t have done that” 👉 ask “Why?”
When someone says “it’s my fault” 👉 ask “Why?”
Yes, it could have been a mistake.
It could have been something done NOT as expected.
But if you answer the “Why?”, you’ll make this team agreement clearer to everyone on the team.
And having clear team agreements will lead to more united people and better performance!