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Little Accountability When Productivity Is Low - Project Management Mistake # 5

August 19, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Concepts, Communications Management, Role of the Project Manager

Little Accountability When Productivity Is Low - Project Management Mistake # 5 (#5 in the series 15 Deadly Project Management Mistakes Government Agencies Make Which Cost Them Revenue, Time & Efficiency)
By Keith Mathis - PM Expert Live

Running project teams can become very difficult, especially when you are not their immediate supervisor and do not have position power over them. This is complicated when project teams have no formal way of evaluating the work their team members have completed or a way to give feedback to the team member’s supervisor. This results in team members who are working on projects and have a very low productivity level, but they continue to get great performance evaluations from a supervisor.

We are going to look at the reasons this happens, ways to change accountability in your culture, and, finally, how to set up feedback sessions for tracking project teams and holding them more accountable.

Reasons for low accountability

There are three primary reasons why project teams struggle with little or no accountability. Many of these can be removed through simple communication, the setting of standards, and detailing the roles and responsibilities of each team member. Let’s examine each of the three reasons for little accountability on a project team.

The first reason why there is a lack of accountability in projects is due to the usage of staff from various departments who report to difference supervisors. This has become more complicated due to the internal culture of most agencies which requires the only person to hold a worker accountable would be their direct supervisor. Problems surface when communication breaks down and there is a lack of feedback about the worker’s performance on a particular project. Poor employees know about this gap, and they have started using this lack of communication to their advantage.

The second reason why there is little accountability on many project teams is due to a lack of proper evaluation of the work one has performed. As project teams develop, there should be a reasonable amount of evaluation taking place to maintain quality, communication, and make sure the objectives of the project are being achieved. When there is no internal evaluation to maintain quality, it compels the team to put off examining quality until the end of the project. This forces corrective actions to take place at the end of the project which increases budget and time. Unless evaluation is examined throughout a project and individual roles and responsibilities of each team member are detailed, hold the entire team accountable even though it might only be one or two team members.

The third reason why there is little accountability is due to an improper manner of setting up the project team. Project teams are set up without a code of conduct or a value statement of how the team plans to work and will conduct themselves. Without this code, many teams find themselves floundering as they try to hold each other accountable with no position power. Since there is no standard that the project team is agreeing to follow, each individual is a standard among themselves with different measuring indicators. Unless the code or standard is set up in the beginning, this team will continue to have conflict after conflict throughout the entire project.

Changing accountability culture

Changing accountability culture must take place with the support of the project manager, project sponsor, and the entire project team. Unless you have the support of the project manager and sponsor, the team will notice a lack of resource leverage. Changing the culture of the project team to one which possesses more accountability happens through a series of detailed steps rather than just one activity.

The culture of an agency can be defined as the way we run the organization and what is allowed. This can be demonstrated by how we treat individuals, what is talked about, what is joked about, as well as what has been said behind the backs of others. All of these examples demonstrate culture. When we focus on a culture which violates accountability, we are discussing a problem which sabotages positive work and reinforces the slug mentality.

The following is a listing of some of the events which must take place in order to change the accountability culture in your project team and in your agency.

First, the organization must detail what the new culture design or model will be. This means having a good idea of what would bring about the best successful situation for the agency. It can be something as simple as shifting from a strong autocratic style to one which is more team oriented. In other situations it is making adjustments on how communication is distributed among the personnel. Regardless of what is needed, there must be a picture in the leadership’s mind as to the proper culture for the future.

Second, you must brainstorm which personnel will be the most supportive of this new culture and get them active in making the shift. Some personnel struggle with any type of change taking place in an organization. There are other employees who love the thought of change, especially when shifting culture is described. What you want to do is get employees who are supportive, as well as those who might be resistant, working on making the needed changes. Resisters will bring up ideas of future hurdles that might hinder the shifting of culture. As you solve these problems within the team and prior to rolling it out to the entire agency, you have actually made the changing of your culture a stronger plan than before.

Third, you must be willing to weather the storm of negativity that follows the shifting of a paradigm such as this. People have the tendency to be more negative than positive, especially during times of massive change such as the one being discussed. You will need individuals who will verbally support the change of this culture in spite of a high level of negativity from others.

Setting feedback sessions for tracking

Creating the feedback sessions is one of the best ways for monitoring the performance of the project team. These feedback sessions must include detailed evaluation of the quality, communications, roles and responsibilities, budget, and cohesiveness of the project team. To have a feedback session and refuse to be involved in evaluating these details is like leading a team to shoot at a target blindfolded.

Feedback sessions can be done on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. They are not done just to examine the negative things wrong with project. They are done with a motive of evaluating performance and progress. This means in a normal feedback session, it is possible not only to discuss where a team has not measured up but also to point out those areas where outstanding work has been accomplished.

In summary, it is very important for the culture of any project to hold team members accountable. If this is not taking place, then it is the responsibility of the project manager, project sponsor, and each team member to discuss the situation and fix it immediately.

Dr. Keith Mathis, founder and CEO of The Mathis Group, specializes in Project Management, Management Leadership, and Marketing training for private businesses and government agencies of all kinds. He offers 33 Project Management courses, is a Project Management Professional, is certified by the Project Management Institute and will customize every training session to your individual company’s needs. The Mathis Group also sponsors www.pmexpertlive.com, which is a powerful project management resource with free reports, podcasts, videos, and a monthly newsletter. He also offers customized management training and coaching on any subject with prolific communication and professionalism.

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