Team Accountability

At the time, I was thinking about and working on this post. I was running a new experiment with my team to give an individual the opportunity to take over the lead role for a month. There were many reasons for running this experiment; the main motivation was to allow the individual to try the role before acquiring a role they thought they wanted.

While talking through this experiment with my leader, they were clearly uncomfortable with what I was doing. It was made quite clear to me that this was not only new to the leader but also new to the organization. After this uncomfortable conversation, I took the information back to the entire team.

The thought of informing the team of this conversation felt very natural. I wanted them to know that not everyone is on board with what we are trying. Such that they are prepared to answer any and all questions when asked by others in the organization who are aware of the experiment. Lastly, I wanted them to understand that this was ultimately my decision. They are not the ones at fault for any issues that could arise from this experiment. If there was any blame to be placed, it was to lie 100% on my shoulders. On the opposite side of that coin, if the experiment was a success. The success was to be applied across the entire team. Not a single individual was responsible for the success; it was a team effort.

All of this was for accountability and safety within the team. Had I said nothing and my leader brought the topic up to a teammate, it is entirely possible that the conversation leaves the team member with a negative view of the current experiment and makes them less interested in participating in future experiements. What I want in a team is honesty, fairness, and consistent improvement.

Ultimately, this experiment was a success. The team member who acted as our lead for the month was able to learn more about what the job actually takes. Where they already had the skills to perform the role, and what could be refined. In polling other team members on the experiment, we received great feedback on areas to improve the experiment for the next iterations. Once back in the office after the holiday, the plan is to queue up the next team member for their turn in the driver’s seat.