Having methods of creating accountability in your small business is essential for forming an efficient, dedicated team to work for you. Accountability begins at the top — you, as the owner of your small business, need to clearly define your own goals, expectations, and job description so you can hold yourself accountable for your work and begin to develop a plan to hold others accountable.
While it may seem difficult to create extra accountability in your workplace, there are simple steps you can take that will make your team efficient and able to handle any challenges that come your way. Begin with small steps to avoid micromanagement and resistance from your team so you can work toward a fully accountable workforce.
Adopt a Business Plan
Adopting a business plan is the first place you can begin to create accountability in your small business. A business plan will outline the long-term goals you have for your business and can help you identify ways to meet those goals. Your business plan should include your potential future markets, possible new products, a driving mission statement, and an approximation of the resources you will need to maintain sustainable growth.
After you adopt a business plan, you can start looking at the individual objectives and expectations you have for each member of your team.
Draft Thorough Job Descriptions
WIth your business plan ready, start drafting thorough job descriptions that detail every single aspect of each role in your company. The job descriptions need to be accurate and only touch on information pertinent to the individual positions. While you may think to overlook it, including a positive work attitude as part of your job descriptions can help you overcome negativity, laziness, or inefficiency as you hire more people to your team.
Define Goals for Your Team
Now that you have job descriptions start setting small goals for your team members. While job descriptions describe the overall goals and responsibilities of a job, the goals you set every day should determine the work your team performs day-to-day. The goals you set for your team should also align with the goals you outlined in your business plan — assign work to your team that will help your business meet your goals.
Performance Reviews
One of the most important — and most dreaded — ways to increase accountability in your small business is to use performance reviews to track your team’s progress. Performance reviews can help your team understand their exact responsibilities and the level of quality you expect from them. Your performance reviews should change depending on the type of employee you’re reviewing.
You can rely on customer feedback for much of your forward-facing employees, but you should still conduct periodical reviews of their skills. For back-end employees like bookkeepers or accountants, you can conduct in-store audits to check their past work and make sure they are adequately maintaining your finances.
Conclusion
You will not achieve accountability in your small business overnight. With time and dedication, though — and some savvy business planning — you will be well on your way to creating an efficient team to carry your business to success.
