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Clear communication is an important aspect of good leadership. This includes communicating about expectations, rewards for success, and the consequences for work that doesn't succeed. In other words, each team member should understand what is expected of them.
One method to do this is through individual accountability. This can occur through verbal or written agreements with the project manager.
Accountabilities are often shared with team members in a kickoff meeting. It’s important that each member knows the tasks they're required to complete, along with the time and resources available to complete the work. This should occur for every activity and task in the schedule. Whether verbal or written, the roles and responsibilities of each team member must be agreed upon.
If the project manager chooses to write accountability agreements, then they should be written like project objectives and follow the SMART method. SMART is an acronym that means:
IN CONTEXT
A well-written task description using the SMART method is needed for a mobile email product.
Activity/Task Resource Estimate Commitment Quality Test Mobile Email Ron Jones 20 hours 100% High Quality Standard - Fewer than 5 bugs after release Test Email Creation Ron Jones 5 hours 100% High Quality Standard Test Email Send Ron Jones 5 hours 100% High Quality Standard Test Email Receipt Ron Jones 5 hours 100% High Quality Standard Test Email Reply Ron Jones 5 hours 100% High Quality Standard
You can see that the total commitment to the project is specified and how much time is estimated for each task assigned to the team member. In this case, the team member is spending 100% of his time on the project.
The quality of deliverables is also specified. Note that it references a quality standard, which can be common in some organizations.
The team member then verifies that they agree to task ownership by signing off on the document.
Team accountabilities occur with an entire project team and help ensure project success. As a whole, teams are accountable for:
Source: this work is adapted by sophia author jeff carroll.