Ensuring Teams Get More Done

Have you ever worked in a place where everyone knows that there is stuff to be done, and everyone seems busy, but projects just can’t get over the finish line? I have worked with many organizations that have this happen to them, not on big stuff — obviously if nothing ever got done, they would be out of business, but on enough stuff that it was an irritation for everyone.

One of the most common elements of these situations is that there is a mismatch between what is expected of people and what they think is expected of them. In 99% of these situations when we mapped out what was happening, someone expresses frustration that Person A does not do certain things and Person A becomes a bit defensive wondering why they were never told this expectation. Communication.

One of the best communication tools that I have found in organizations is a responsibility map. Is simply a chart that outlines the tasks associated with a project and assigns roles to the involved people. Tasks are listed down the left hand margin and all people / roles are listed across the top. Within each intersecting box, a letter is written to indicate each person’s role on that particular task. Not everyone will have a role on each task, but if someone has no roles, they can obviously be removed from the project.

The assigned roles are critical and there are some rules to them. There are R’s, S’s, V’s, and I’s. The R’s are people who are responsible for a task. These are the champions of that task, they need to ensure it moves forward and will be held accountable if it does not. There can be only one R for each task — if more than one person is responsible it is the same as if no one is responsible. The S’s are the support for the task. These are the people who will get things done at the direction of the R. There can be many S’s. One of the most common mistakes I have seen is when R’s don’t delegate and try to do all the support work themselves. The V’s are decision makers and have Veto power over the tasks. Not every task will have a V, but if someone does, it is important to mark it clearly on the map. Last, are the I’s. These are people who need to be kept informed of what is happening even though they play no direct role in the task.

Responsibility maps help ensure people know exactly what is expected of them, when they have a role, when they don’t and what the “big picture” is. Use them and watch your team become better at what they do.

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.

— Colin Powell