When it comes to community-based work, we hear a lot about accountability. We want accountability for results, for keeping our word, and for spending donor dollars effectively. We face demands from our superiors, our communities, our boards, and our regulatory bodies. Even amongst the well-intentioned and passionate, it’s a daunting task. Accountability is vital, but the problem is when we think about it in a one-size-fits-all way.

To achieve the mission of social well-being, we must be looking at three very different types of accountability. While they’re all connected, we must recognize just how distinct they are. It means the difference between trying hard vs. achieving measurable impact. Not every person is responsible for every type of accountability. Separating them helps us clarify who is accountable for what, work together more effectively, and figure out how to improve well-being collaboratively.

The beauty of Results-Based Accountability (RBA) as a methodology is that it separates two different types of accountability while demonstrating their interconnectedness at the same time.

Anyone who has read Trying Hard is Not Good Enough by Mark Friedman, attended an RBA 101 workshop, or earned an RBA Professional Certification knows that Mark has two levels of accountability in his framework – Population Accountability and Performance Accountability. Many groups, organizations, and individuals are responsible for achieving results for populations. Organizations and teams are responsible for managing the performance of programs and services. Individuals can only be held responsible for the tasks they have control over to contribute to the first two kinds of accountability.

Population Accountability is about achieving Results for whole populations. Results are conditions of well-being for entire populations — children, adults, families, or communities, stated in plain language. They include things like “all adults are literate” or “all children enter school ready to learn.”  Indicators are measures designed to tell us whether we are achieving those Results. They’re things like “% of adults in our community that are literate.”

In contrast, Performance Accountability is about organizing our work to have the greatest impact on our “customers” – the individuals we serve directly. Included in Performance Accountability are programs or services and Performance Measures. Programs are specific ways of implementing strategies, usually targeted toward a particular sub-group within the population. Performance Measures are measures of how well public and private programs and agencies are working. The best performance measures tell us how much we’re doing, how well we’re doing it, and most importantly, whether anyone is better off. Lots of organizations measure performance on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.

So, where does personal accountability come in, and how do we measure it? After seeing what a weekly focus on performance measures has done to guide our business and maintain the entire team’s direction, we added another layer of accountability – personal accountability. Personal accountability is similar to performance accountability, but it’s specific to each individual’s contributory tasks and reported weekly in a check-in meeting.

Imagine if everybody on your team knew their 1-4 most important metrics and had to share updates with their boss or team weekly?  Do you think it would help drive the expected behavior? Do you think it would help achieve the outcomes your organization desires?

Now, I know you might think this would be a burden or take up precious time needed to do your job, but you can streamline the process and get everyone on board with the right tools. Here’s where Clear Impact comes in. We offer everything from data collection with Clear Impact Compyle to weekly performance dashboarding with Clear Impact Scorecard. We can also advise you on establishing the weekly measures to align with your Population and Performance Accountability goals.

If you’re interested in testing out weekly performance check-ins with your team and authentically engaging in the three Ps of accountability, schedule a time to chat with one of our friendly staff members here.