Team Effectiveness Ladder of Accountability

What:  Effective teams demonstrate a high level of leadership and accountability among the individual team members. The Ladder of Accountability describes eight levels of accountability. The top four describe a stance focused on movement toward the future. The bottom four describe a stance generally focused on the past or avoiding discomfort in the present. Choices higher on the ladder tend to increase anxiety in the short-term and decrease it in the long-term. Why:  This tool provides the team and individuals an effective way to look objectively at an issue(s) that they are dealing with and make some deliberate choices about how they want to handle it. The further up the ladder the team can move, typically the more choices they will make available to themselves. The greater the percentage of team members who choose stances in the top portion of the Ladder, the greater the chance the team has of collaborating and successfully attaining its goals.