Goals and objectives are meaningless unless there is accountability. In high functioning teams the most compelling level of accountability is from peers. They are usually the first to know when a team member is not meeting the expectations and in the best people to help, or encourage them to get back on track.
Teams who don’t hold each other accountable for team results
1. Develop silos – they will not take input about their area, nor give it.
2. Are hesitant to share resources and information outside of their area of responsibility.
3. Create unhealthy competition in a win / lose basis.
4. Let ego and status become more important than results.
The old notions of solely leaving it up to the boss to be responsible for ensuring tasks commitments are not practical in today’s virtual teams, nor is it effective. By the time most team leaders are aware that there are problems it is normally too late for easy intervention, and the overall team suffers.
