Learning from My Accountability Groups - Progress Made Simple

Everyone has a system for creating success at work or in business. Some come from books, some from seminars, others from podcasts. Me, I never really had one that I could call my own. And I still don’t. But here’s what I’m borrowing from the conversation I had with a group of business leaders earlier today. We meet every day to provide friendship and support, to state our mostly work-related intentions and to hold each other accountable; I highly recommend the practice. Anyway, here’s what I took from today’s 35-minute conversation.

1.      Set SMART goals. You can decide what SMART means to you, but any good goal has to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

2.      Measure your progress. Figure out the simplest way to measure your progress. Create the simplest possible means of capturing the results. And measure progress daily if you can, but at least weekly.

3.      Set up an accountability system. I am in two accountability groups—one that meets daily and one that meets weekly. They serve different purposes, and both are super important to me. But knowing that they will ask me how I’m doing with my stated goals gives me the social incentives to do my best. And by having SMART goals and a system for tracking progress, it’s becoming easier and easier for me to share the results quickly and concretely.

So I know none of this is rocket science, and I probably just summarized what is in 500 or more business, management and leadership books. But I’ve also heard that sharing and teaching are the best ways to strengthen a new skill, so if you read this entire piece, I thank you for giving me the space to practice and learn.

#Business

#Management

#Leadership

#GoalSetting

#PerformanceTracking

#TrackingAndReporting

#Accountability

#ContinuousImprovement