What Does an Accountability Partner Do?

Accountability is like a secret weapon for people who struggle to maintain productivity in the face of myriad goals and deadlines. As an accountability partner, you can help someone keep their commitment or progress on their desired career or personal goals.

Accountability partnerships can be of many kinds: you can assign someone to keep you on track with your goals or agree to a two-way system where you hold each other responsible. In business environments too you can be given a predetermined accountability partner--a team leader or colleague who is tasked with ensuring your goals are met. In any case, there are certain things all good accountability partners should do. Read on to find out what these are!

How to Be a Good Accountability Partner

Starting any job is easier when you know exactly what to expect. Accountability relationships are no different--here are some guidelines to direct you!

Set Goals and Boost Productivity

Accountability only works when you have something to track. The first step should be to decide the aims of the accountability partnership--what is the desired outcome, how can you set goals related to it, and what do you have to do make sure they're being ticked? Have detailed conversations with your partner on these aspects so you both know what you want to achieve.

Set SMART Goals for better success! Try our SMART Goal Generator here.

Be Encouraging and Supportive

To maintain a good accountability relationship, focus on keeping up your partner's productivity by being encouraging and supportive. People know they've found the right accountability partner when they have a full-time cheerleader that keeps them motivated and on track.

Practice Active Listening

As an accountability partner, your job is not just to track progress and provide advice, but also to try to understand what is holding your partner from moving forward. Give your partner undivided attention and create a distraction-free safe space so you can together dig deep and find a way to bring out the best in their work and life. Show empathy and try to pick up on subtle clues they offer to find out why they don't want to do certain things or are unable to see a lot of success.

Watch for Unproductive Behavior

Sometimes people give in to procrastination, distractions, or other negative behaviors that deviate them from productivity and progress--these urges can get stronger when they feel a lot of stress or pressure to complete their tasks. Part of an accountability partner's job is to identify these behaviors and call them out when they get too excessive and disruptive.

No Judgements, Please

No matter what your partner may be struggling with, they're probably already beating themselves up plenty. So while you are allowed to be assertive and strict while keeping them accountable, do not judge them too harshly for giving in to urges or seeing slow progress. Whether you follow a positive or negative reinforcement working system, make sure they know you come from a place of support.

What to Get Out of an Accountability Partnership

Whether you are being held accountable, or taking up the responsibility for someone else, there are certain benefits everyone wants from this relationship:

A Support System

Accountability partnerships are supposed to be safe spaces where a person feels comfortable sharing their desires, goals, hurdles, and fears without hesitation. They need to feel completely supported so they can tackle challenges head-on and listen to their accountability partner's advice and feedback.

A Motivation Channel

Starting with a goal is not enough--a person needs to stay motivated throughout the journey to reach the end. An accountability partnership needs to provide encouragement to keep moving forward and not give up even in the face of huge setbacks or failures.

Reminders to Celebrate Wins

Just like failures need to be learned from, wins need to be celebrated! But people don't always remember to take a beat and appreciate their progress. An accountability partnership can be a way to remember the smaller wins that deserve a round of applause.

Reality Check, When Needed

When people are too close to a goal or desired outcome, they miss seeing the big picture and end up ignoring certain realities. A weight-loss journey, for example, should not come at the cost of one's health. But if the person is unable or unwilling to let go of actions that do more harm than good, it's up to the accountability partner to step in and provide a reality check.

Tips for Finding an Accountability Partner

There's no set place to find an accountability partner--the right person can be anyone! But here are a few places you can looking for one:

Check with Colleagues or Peers

If you're looking to take up professional goals, you may find a perfect accountability partner in your work circle. Team up with colleagues and peers who know exactly what you do, explain your end goals to them and let them help you decide which strategies to follow. Then, they can start to track your progress with you.

Look for Online Groups

Platforms like Reddit, X, and Facebook already have accountability groups for different demographics and goals, where you all share your progress and hold each other responsible for commitments you make in public. Coworking platforms like Caveday and Focusmate are also specifically created to keep you accountable!

Use Accountability Partner Apps or Services

Accountability partner apps are everywhere nowadays! Based on your exact requirements, you have a ton of options to choose from, including Boss as a Service (that's us!) and our friends at Beeminder and stickK.

Ask Family or Friends

Mixing personal relationships and accountability partnerships can be tricky, but if you have a trusted friend or family member who can help you out, test the waters with them and see if it helps.

Setting up Accountability Partnerships

After you find that trusted person to hold you accountable, set some ground rules to ensure the partnership begins smoothly:

Check-in Regularly

Regular in-person meetings and phone calls are essential to maintain consistency and connection in an accountability partnership. Discuss everyone's availability and create a check-in schedule that you can stick to.

Make Decisions with Purpose

It always a good idea to deliberate on your goals and debate strategies. But make sure you're spending more time on work, rather than on discussing just what to do. Make quick decisions, but leave some room to revisit and reiterate the plan when needed.

Test for Compatibility

Your accountability partner may not always share your opinions or working strategies. Make sure ideas don't clash to the extent that the relationship gets muddled. At the end of the day, you need to be comfortable and happy to work with each other!

Communication is Key

Share whatever doubts, fears, excitement, or negative thoughts you have about your goals, so your accountability partner knows which aspects you need help with. If you're not feeling too comfortable sharing everything in the beginning, take it slow with smaller goals and gradually move towards more important things.

Acknowledge Success and Failure

Denial is not just a river in Egypt--acknowledge all the positive and negative milestones you encounter in your journey. A good accountability partner will try to ensure you learn from each success and failure, so make sure you take the time to listen to their feedback and advice and act on them.

How BaaS works as an Accountability Partner

If you're now convinced you need to find an accountability partner, why not come to Boss as a Service? Our trained bosses know all about holding people accountable and are ready to help you through the entire journey--setting goals (SMART ones!), measuring progress, remembering wins and failures, and achieving what you've set out to achieve and do.

Here's an example of what accountability with BaaS looks like:

Final Thoughts

Accountability partners come in many shapes and forms, but are ultimately geared towards helping you get wherever you want to.