Suppose you want to change your behavior. Perhaps you want to work more effectively, listen to others more attentively, or plan your work better. Then a ''stick behind the door'' helps bring about that change. How do you do that? We introduce you to one of our many projects: accountability. This is a method where you test each other in pairs, which helps to get started with behavioral change. We will explain how.

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What is your learning goal?

Step one is to formulate learning objectives. We then focus on concrete individual behavior. What do you no longer want to show and what can replace it? Which behavior makes you more effective?

Paul van Bekkum: “To change behavior, you can ask your environment for help. This is what we call fetching feedforward on your learning goal: this is not about what you saw someone do, but about suggestions for the learning goal. So something different than feedback, because that's where you focus on what happened in the past. This method is being used by Marshall Goldsmith, a leader in helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting behavioral change for themselves and their teams.”

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Accountability

Are the learning objectives concrete and the behaviors you are going to practice with small enough (rather smaller than larger)? Then we can start with accountability. Actually, this is nothing more than dividing employees into duo's with the assignment to call each other a few times a week. They test and question each other about the progress of the learning objectives. Has your colleague done his or her utmost to get started with the learning goal by showing (or not) the behaviors? At first, this feels a bit awkward and people are sometimes sceptical about it. But it's a very nice stick behind the door, because a colleague holds you accountable on your intention to learn and thereby helps you move forward.

Dolf L'Ortye explains: “In this context, by behavior, we mean tangible, visible and audible behavior for another person. One example is that you intend to listen better. A concrete behavior shown under that learning goal could then be: my colleagues hear me start each meeting with an open question.”

In the hustle and bustle of our daily work, 99 out of 100 people find it difficult to consciously focus on their professional skills. Content comes first and the hustle and bustle doesn't help. That is why this method of short (daily) confrontation is very powerful. At Summiteers, we also make use of accountability. Funny example: on our laptops, you sometimes see post-its with our desired behavior. Every six months, we rotate from couples.

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Small goals, big impact

Dolf: “The interventions are very effective. Your behavior actually changes quickly. The effect is enhanced when team members share their learning goals in the team. We therefore ask you to speak to your colleague about the learning objective. Give a compliment when you see someone making progress. Because it's so small and woven into what you do every day, behavioral change gets the place it deserves. When a team of professionals all becomes a little more effective, it has a very positive impact on the entire organization.”

Curious about examples of learning objectives that professionals work with? We've collected them for you:

• I really want to listen focused on understanding the other person (instead of making your point)
• I want to dare to take up more space in a meeting (or take up less space)
• I want to bring more structure to the meetings that I chair
• I really want to be present during a meeting (instead of having my head around other things)
• I want to explicitly test the assumptions I make

We will soon be publishing a handy booklet that supports the above process. Of course, we'll tell you more about this when the time comes, so stay tuned!

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Can we help you?

We create movement, make something complex understandable, something big manageable, a (vague) idea concrete and make something difficult succeed. Can you use help with this? Contact us.

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