In the craziness of life, Action Steps – aka, tasks that need to be completed – are unlikely to happen without a sense of accountability to complete them. However, at some point, individual supervision backfires. Having a boss looking over our shoulder can actually reduce our motivation. We want to take pride in our own productivity and not feel like others induce it. For this reason, we must take accountability by the reigns and set up our own collaborative systems. There are various tactics for doing so:
Action Step Recounting
Some teams have a quick “action go-around” at the conclusion of every meeting. Each person takes a turn reciting the Action Steps that he/she captured. After each turn, the rest of the group has a minute to comment on anything that may have been missed - after all, most ideas never happen because the actions required are not properly captured. This verbal exchange that takes place is a powerful force of accountability. Magic happens when you state publicly that you are going to do something.
Public To-Do Lists
Accountability via Photocopy & The Mailman
While our natural instinct is to seclude ourselves into our own productivity cocoons, we must also incorporate the necessary pressures to stay on task. Most often, these pressures are external and must be tolerated, if not embraced!
***This article is based on research by Scott Belsky and the Behance team. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the Action Method project management application, the Creative Jobs List.
