If you want to be successful, then you need to be accountable. This means being responsible for your actions and taking ownership of your results. Accountability is essential for maintaining a productive and positive environment in the workplace. And in our personal lives, it helps us stay on track with our goals and maintain healthy relationships. This blog post will discuss accountability and how you can become more accountable professionally and personally.

Personal accountability matters

Staying accountable is essential in the workplace and our personal lives. It ensures we stay productive to meet our goals, take responsibility for our actions and the results we may get from them, and maintain good relationships with the people around us. However, holding yourself accountable can be challenging, especially if it's not yet a habit and because it involves several things that require a good amount of self-discipline. Still, you may want to learn self-accountability, as goals may not be met without them. For example, there can be a conflict between people working on a project or plan when something happens, and no one takes responsibility for it. In addition, a lack of accountability can decrease productivity, morale, and trust. So as much as possible, we should learn to be accountable, and several things can help us achieve it.

1. Work on goals

Accountability matters a lot when working on goals, so if you want to practice it more, you should start working on one, be it a small or big goal. Being in the workplace will most likely immerse you in a goal because you need to meet specific objectives to accomplish long-term goals set by the company. In addition, you may need to work with others to meet a long-term goal, and this is an excellent setup to exercise accountability. You may also set goals by yourself aside from what your work demands, such as a personal dream you want to achieve. In short, consistently working on goals will more likely make accountability a habit for you.

2. Be honest

Accountability demands honesty, so if you have difficulties being honest, you better start practicing it. Admitting responsibility when particular outcomes happen, whether a success or failure, is part of being accountable. You also have to be clear with people on how you feel and what you think about what you are doing and with others so that corrections, if needed, can be made early and everyone can progress. Honesty is also essential when others check on you on how is your progress with your work. You have to tell others when something is lacking, if you are having difficulties, or how far your progress is already so that others can be updated with what they are doing. Being honest also prevents blaming others when things don't go okay.

3. Identify your role and who you should be accountable for

Being accountable means you owe up to what you are responsible for, and for that to happen, you have to know your role in a particular project or activity. Your superiors may outline your roles and responsibilities for a specific endeavor depending on the situation. You may try asking for one if there isn't such a thing in your workplace or organization. An outline of everybody's roles makes it easier to determine who is responsible for what. When something fails or goes wrong, the team will know who to refer to and take proper action to solve the situation. This can involve others helping the person concerned or the individual taking action. Accountability is different from blaming, and its goal is not to pinpoint the person that should shoulder everything but to focus on what can be done that should start from the person concerned, and if they can't anymore, others can pitch in.

On your part, it also becomes easier if you know the people you should report to regarding your responsibilities. Knowing someone's work can be affected by your work can make you more responsible with your actions and decisions. In addition, you don't want to lose face with someone you respect, who trusts you to do your job, so you will be more inclined to take responsibility and do your best to succeed.

4. Have someone check on you and give feedback

Having an accountability partner can make it easier to hold yourself accountable. It can be anybody you trust and know how to be strict and professional when meeting goals and not being too lenient because you are friends. Your supervisor or team leader is the most likely candidate to be your accountability buddy as they immediately grasp what needs to be done in the workplace and know what you have to do as someone under them. In addition, they are likely responsible for checking on your work, so you may not even need to tell them to give you feedback, but you can ask anytime in case they forget. Aside from your superiors, working with a life coach or coworker who shares the same goal as you or works on the same project can also act as partners for accountability. With someone regularly checking on you, there is no excuse to be lazy and avoid taking responsibility.

5. Develop good habits like time management, being organized, and avoiding procrastination

Accountability is challenging to develop because it requires a good set of habits to own up to what you are responsible for and be disciplined to do what is asked of you. In addition, managing your time wisely is essential since you must coordinate with others to complete tasks and ensure you finish your responsibilities on time. Procrastination has no place if you need to finish a task on time, as others' work will be affected. Being organized with your things and making plans to structure and be systematic with your tasks can also help. All these things require a good amount of discipline and self-control to pull off, and you want to do them if you want to be accountable because your work and actions also matter to all the people that will benefit or value in some way from what you do.

6. Learn to admit mistakes

In whatever thing we are working on, it can't be helped that mistakes will happen, which leads to failure. For some, pointing fingers is the first thing they will do, finding someone to take the blame to avoid responsibility. Accountability prevents such instances if everyone has the right mindset and knows that blaming won't solve anything. While a person can still get pinpointed in a setting where all people believe in accountability, the situation doesn't only stay there. The goal is to know who is responsible for what, so they can learn to do something to rectify the situation and aid their personal development. Others may also pitch in if necessary, as a team effort is needed to accomplish some projects, and the concerned individual might be overwhelmed in the first place, so they made a mistake. The responsible person should also know to admit their errors as early as possible, so they can be corrected quickly before the situation worsens. Admitting mistakes can be tricky, but it's better to do it before everybody else gets affected and worsens the situation. People will also trust and respect you more if you admit your mistakes, which is part of being accountable.

Your actions and decisions matter to others and yourself.

The main goal of accountability is to ensure that things push through so that the desired outcome for any purpose or project is achieved. Everyone's role must be clear, and everyone involved should understand what to do and how their role affects others. It's a matter of checking to ensure things get done, and it's clear that everyone has a part in something. Individually, accountability ensures your commitment never falters, and you get what you want. Without accountability, people can lose motivation and be less committed to hard work if they know they don't have to answer to anyone. People can do anything, and this includes things that may harm others. That's why practicing accountability is essential to ensure people do the right thing and the desired results can be obtained.