People who do not take responsibility for their work can negatively impact their team. To address this, managers should first ensure team members have the necessary resources to do their jobs. They should also clearly communicate roles and responsibilities. Managers can then re-engage people by connecting their work to their values and building self-confidence. Helping team members take control of their work in smaller, achievable steps can increase responsibility. Micromanaging should be avoided, and praise given for responsible actions. Using these strategies can help most people improve, though some may not be ready for the responsibilities of their roles.

1. Helping People Take
Responsibility
Encouraging Accountability

2. A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you
come to terms with the realization that your
decisions cause your Rewards And Consequences.
You are responsible for your life, and your
ultimate success depends on the choices you
make.
- Denis Waitley, author and coach.

3. Case Study

4. • Sade manages a team of exceptional people, who
work well together to accomplish the team's
goals. However, one person, Felix, regularly
causes problems with the rest of the group.
For instance, he consistently misses deadlines.
When asked why, he points the finger at one of
his teammates, instead of admitting that it was
his own procrastination that caused him to fail.

5. • Felix's behavior has a significant negative
impact on the team. People don't want to
work with him; and they resent his apathetic
attitude and his unwillingness to change his
behavior.
It can be frustrating to have people like Felix
on your team. However, there are steps that
you take to put things right.

6. What Causes a Lack of
Responsibility?

7. Signs and Symptoms
• Lacking interest in their work, and in the well-being of the
team.
• Blaming others for mistakes and failures.
• Missing deadlines.
• Avoiding challenging tasks and projects; and not taking risks.
• Regularly complaining about unfair treatment by team leaders
and team members - and engaging in self-pity.
• Avoiding taking initiative, and being dependent on others for
work, advice, and instructions.
• Lacking trust in team members and leaders.
• Making excuses regularly - they may often say "It's not my
fault," or, "That's unfair."

8. Strategies and Tools

9. Neither of these approaches is ideal
The situation is likely to get worse if you just leave it
alone; while laying people off should be a last
resort, especially if you're dealing with people who have
the potential to be effective team members.
Instead, your aim should be to provide your people with
the skills and resources needed to do their jobs, and then
to create an environment where it's easy for them to take
responsibility for their decisions and actions.
And yes, sometimes you'll need to be firm and
courageous, and sometimes your actions will cause
conflict.

10. Start by Talking

11. Your first step is to talk to the individuals
concerned. Find out if there are circumstances that
are contributing to the situation, or if there are
problems that you can deal with.
Then provide feedback, so that the
individuals know that their behavior needs
to change.
What you learn in your discussion
provides the context for the next
actions that you take.
GROW Model

12. GROW Model
There are a number of different versions of the GROW model. This version presents
one view of the stages but there are others. The 'O' in this version has two meanings.
This is the end point, where the employee wants to be. The goal has to be
G Goal defined in such a way that it is very clear to the employee when they have
achieved it.
This is how far the employee is away from their goal. If the employee were to
R Reality look at all the steps he/she needs to take in order to achieve the goal, the
Reality would be the number of those steps.
• There will be Obstacles stopping the team getting from where they are now
to where they want to go. State all the obstacle and tell he/she that if there
Obstacles were no Obstacles the team would already have reached their goal before
deadline.
O • Also know from the employee what went wrong.
Once Obstacles have been identified the boss need to find ways of dealing
Options
with them if they are to make progress. These are the Options.
The Options then need to be converted into action steps which will take the
W Way Forward
team to their goal. These are the Way Forward.

13. • Tip:
Make sure that you have clear, accurate
examples that you can quote when you
provide feedback. If you don't, your
arguments won't stand up, and you'll risk
leaving the individual feeling victimized.

14. Ensure Adequate
Resources

15. Ensure Adequate Resources
• A sensible early action is to ensure that your
people have the resources they need to do
their job. This might include providing
training, equipment, access to MENTORS and
COACHES, and suchlike.

16. Communicate
Roles, Responsibilities, and Objectives

17.  Your people also need to know clearly what their job roles and responsibilities are.
 Make sure that you have an up-to-date job description for each team member, and be
as detailed as possible about every responsibility that they have.
 When working with your team on a project, use a Responsibility Assignment Matrix to
help keep assignments and responsibilities clear. You may also want to use a Team Charter
to define everyone's roles and responsibilities within the team.

18. Re-Engage People
• This then leads on to re-
engagement. Think about how
you, yourself, feel when you're
doing work that you love or care
deeply about.
• Your people will be more
engaged if their work aligns
with their values. Meet with
them to find out what these
are. Then, illustrate how their
daily tasks and responsibilities
align with those values.

19. Help People Take Control
Sometimes, people feel that they have no control over their lives. To them, it doesn't
matter what they do or how hard they work, nothing makes much of a difference.
• Help them overcome this.
• Help them build their self-confidence.
Also, remind them of their strengths and past
successes, and teach them how to think
positively, instead of engaging in
damaging, negative self-talk.
You can also break up any large tasks or projects into smaller goals or steps. A huge
project or goal will make people feel overwhelmed

20. Don't Micromanage

21. • Look at your own management style. If certain
team members aren't taking responsibility, it
could be because you aren't delegating clearly, or
because you're micromanaging them - if you
hover over their shoulder and second guess their
every action, they're going to be reluctant to do
anything without you in the background.
So, learn the art of delegation and avoid
micromanagement. Give your people the
freedom they need to make their own decisions,
but be ready to guide them in the right direction
if required. If they're able to make decisions on
their own, they'll start to realize that their efforts
really do make a difference

22. Give Plenty of Praise
A final thing to do is to give plenty of praise when people do take responsibility.
And, help them improve by providing them with consistent, effective, fair feedback.
 By using these
strategies, you'll be able to go a
long way towards getting people
to take responsibility.
Some people, however, may
simply not be mature enough to
do the job. Do what you logically
can, but don't keep them
"hanging around" once you've
exhausted all reasonable options.

23. People who don't take responsibility for
their work or actions are likely to have a
negative impact on their team. Look for
apathy, finger pointing, missed
deadlines, or phrases like "It's not my
fault" to spot team members who are
avoiding accountability.
To help people take more responsibility
for their work, provide them with the
skills and resources to actually do their
job. Then set up an environment that
makes it easy for them to change, and
help them take responsibility for their
decisions and actions.

24. You can do this by:
• Ensuring adequate resources.
• Communicating roles, responsibilities, and
objectives.
• Re-engaging people.
• Helping them take control.
• Avoiding micromanagement.
• Giving praise.

25. THANK YOU