Are you teaching accountability as a skill?

Most people have had at least one experience with a co-worker or even a friend that never seems accountable for his or her actions. Accountability is not something that we typically teach in a traditional sense (although accountability 101 class isn’t such a bad idea), it’s definitely an attribute that’s needed in business.

It’s important to hold students accountable for their individual work and their work with teams so they can learn the skill of accountability.

Accountability: Important for classrooms, vital in business
Excuses, placing blame on others and not assuming responsibility for work are all things that can put a person at risk professionally Instructors need to make sure they nip these bad habits in the bud so students learn responsibly and become a valuable asset at their future place of employment.

Accountability as a student starts early.

Teach accountability as a skill

Students have a responsibility to pull their weight when it comes to teamwork and to strive to get individual tasks completed. Students have varied experiences so it’s risky to assume they understand what being accountable means. It may be something you need to teach them yourself. Many instructors profess their toughness at the beginning of the semester and most hold students accountable for their individual work. But how do you measure the level of accountability in group projects? Technology can help you create an environment of accountability across all student assignments and projects. According to the SouthEast Education Network, data analytics are valuable tools that can lay out the progress of student accountability in a streamlined fashion – and, best of all, the information can all be analyzed in real time. By looking at classroom data, instructors as well as team members can spot pain points early and monitor progress based on individual and team performance.

Accountability through evaluations
Students need to be more accountable for teamwork initiatives and classwork in college than ever before. With peer and team evaluations, college students can get a first-hand look at what other students think about their contribution to group projects and other endeavors. Often, people think they are offering a lot when it comes to team-based initiatives, but it isn’t until they see team and peer evaluations that they can get a true, unbiased self-reflection about their contribution.

Simplify accountability with TeamMATE

Measuring your students’ success is essential for them to develop into skilled and accountable workers. With an easy-to-use online tool like TeamMATE, instructors can collect data about a team’s performance, enhance student learning and collaboration, and simplify the grading scale so they can offer instructive feedback for each individual.

Through TeamMATE, teams can assess individual performance, look to analytics to diagnose a problem and then work to improve teamwork. As an added bonus, students can track and see these improvements themselves, allowing them to stay accountable for their work moving forward.