How Trust, Accountability and Communication Issues Impact Work Teams and Organization Success

Accountability and communication impact work teams and organization success. One of the key factors that influence trust and accountability is communication. Managers need to communicate their plans, expectations and feedbacks to their team members and encourage them to do the same. Communication should be clear, respectful and honest to avoid confusion. Managers must ensure that all important communications be done in an open forum for everyone to get a clear picture on what is unfolding. Call everyone together so that all members are clear as to what is expected out of them. According Moss (2018) this is where the “7 Cs of communication come in – clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous – can help you help get your message through more clearly”.

Trust is an important factor for a team performance, when there’s a lack of trust, opinions and ideas of the team will not be heard and this negatively impacts productivity. In order to build a successful team, managers should engage in constant relationship building activities with team members for the success of an organization. The following personal skills effectively build relations between managers and team members: (i) Respect – a mutual respect between team members should be the bedrock of interaction; treat one another as equals, share knowledge, recognize the achievements of others, and be honest (ii) Understanding – taking your time to know your colleagues or team members is of a benefit that cannot be over emphasized – that mean knowing what drives/motivates them and what doesn’t. And this includes introductory and continuous face to face meetings, establish shared objectives, and perform quarterly survey to gauge employees’ job satisfaction (Building Effective Working Relationship, n.d.)

Trust builds teamwork, improves productivity, and empowers ethical decision making. When trust is in an organization, tasks get accomplished with less difficulty because people are more likely to collaborate and communicate with each other and this leads to successful outcomes –“to build trust, you need to lead by example, communicate honestly and openly, get to know individuals as people, avoid blame, and discourage behaviors that breach trust” (Moss, 2018)..  Accountability on the other hand motivates team members to complete their work on time and guides them in knowing their responsibilities and roles – “results occur when you inspect and act on what you expect. If it is important enough to place on your list of strategic objectives, operational goals, or corporate values, it is important enough to measure” (Pennington, 2009, p.148).

Conclusion

In every organizational strategy, communication, trust, and accountability are the management skills that tie team members’ performance to organization success. Managers must endeavor at all times to build trust with work teams through clear communication and relationship building skills. Continuous interactions through face to face meetings, annual surveys with measured feedbacks, and using performance measurement tools will go a long way in maintaining organizational growth and sustainability.

References

Building Effective Working Relationship. (n.d.). University of Southampton. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/~assets/doc/hr/Building%20effective%20working%20relationships.pdf

Moss, D. (2018, October 24). The top 10 management skills you need. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/book-blog/pages/the-top-10-management-skills-you-need.aspx

Pennington, R. G. (2009). Yes, but how? Nine tips for building a culture focused on results, relationships, and accountability. Industrial and Commercial Training, 41(3), 146-150. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850910950943