This describes the fifth of five essential executive onboarding tools: Credible Accountability
- Converging assimilation – New leader assimilation session
- Inspiring direction – Imperative mission and vision
- Enabling resources – Imperative strategy
- Empowering authority – BRAVE culture
- Credible accountability – Milestone management
At one level, milestone management is simple. Lay out what’s going to get done by whom by when. Track and manage.
But doing just that completely misses the point. Milestone management done well is a communication tool, allowing different people, groups or teams to understand what the others are doing, help each other, and integrate their work to build credible accountability. We suggest:
- Track the milestones in a shared file or folder.
- At periodic meetings let all share their wins, learning and requests for help.
- Discuss the requests for help in priority order.
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Done well, this results in people believing others are going to get done what they say they’re going to get done when they say they’re going to get it done. That in turn, enables each of them to stop worrying about what others are doing and get done themselves what they say they’re going to get done when they say they’re going to get it done – fueling a virtuous cycle.
Let’s take last year’s Superbowl as an example. How many passes did the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes complete in that game?
The stat sheet says he completed 34 out of 46 attempts.
But the right answer is zero.
Yes. He threw 34 passes that got caught by his teammates. But none of them were complete until that teammate got done what they were supposed to do and caught the ball. That can’t happen without them understanding what others are doing, helping each other, and integrating their efforts.
Understand what others are doing
This is why football teams practice set plays – so each player understands what others are doing and their own role. On pass plays they need to know:
- When the ball is getting snapped
- To whom it’s getting snapped
- Who’s blocking whom
- Who’s staying back to block people getting through the initial blocks or blitzers
- Who’s running what pattern
- When and where the quarterback or anyone else is throwing the ball
Milestones help teams understand what’s getting done by when by whom. Certainly, part of this is clarifying accountability. But the other, perhaps more important part, is helping everyone see how their role fits with others.
Help each other
Amazingly enough, not all pass plays work perfectly every time. Some routes are easier for a quarterback to hit than others. Some receivers find it easier to catch balls thrown higher or lower or faster or slower. Looking at what’s working and not working allows teams to adjust.
For some, staying committed to hitting a milestone is a source of pride. They do everything they can to deliver for as long as they can. The trouble is that doing that delays others chances to help them. Members of high performing teams flip from saying they’re on track to flagging potential issues as soon as they see them.
That way, their teammates can decide together if it’s OK to let a particular milestone slip or to bring extra resources to bear to help.
“I’m having trouble blocking my guy.”
“Got it. We’ll roll out to the other side.” Or, “Got it. We’ll double team him.”
Integrate their work
One of the hallmarks of a high-performing team is interdependence. High-performing teams fit the pieces together. They understand what others are doing, help each other, and then integrate their work together.
No one cares if Mahomes throws a perfect spiral to the wrong place. No one cares if a receiver runs a perfect pattern on a busted play. It only works if everyone on the team does their part in sync with the others.
Credible accountability through milestone management is the fifth of the five essential executive onboarding tools. It’s useless until a new executive converges, inspires, enables, and empowers. At the same time, the first four are useless if the new executive fails to follow through to help the team execute and deliver together, understanding each other, helping each other, and believing in each other.
Click here for a categorized list of my Forbes articles (of which this is #918)