A good meeting. But what did anyone commit to?

The meeting went well. People contributed. There was a useful discussion. Everyone seemed happy with the decision. Two weeks later, very little has happened.

It is tempting to call this an accountability problem. Before you do, look at the conversation that came before it.

Did anyone make a clear commitment?

Agreement can leave a lot unsaid. “We should do that” can mean several things:

• I think it’s a good idea.

• I’m happy for someone else to do it.

• I’ll help if I have time.

• Or simply: I don’t want to reopen this discussion.

None of those tells you what will happen next.

A commitment needs more. A person. An action. A shared understanding of what that action involves. And a time to come back to it.

Ask four questions before you leave.

What have we decided?

Say it plainly. If people describe the decision differently, there is more work to do.

Who is committing to what?

Give the person space to answer. Being assigned an action is not the same as making a promise you believe you can keep.

What needs to be true for that to happen?

They may need another person’s input, a decision from you or permission to stop doing something else. Find that out now.

When will we check back?

Agree a date and what you expect to see. Make it clear how someone should raise a problem before then.

These are simple questions. They can still feel awkward if the team is used to moving on quickly.

Make room for an honest answer.

If the only acceptable answer is yes, don’t be surprised when commitments become unreliable.

Someone needs to be able to say: “I can do that by Friday if this other work moves.” Or: “I don’t think we have agreed what good looks like.” That is useful information. It gives the team something real to work with.

The leader’s response matters. If you want an honest commitment, stay curious when the answer isn’t the one you hoped for.

Follow up on the work and the conversation.

When something slips, ask what happened.

Was the commitment clear? Did the priority change? Was a dependency missed? Did someone know there was a problem but feel unable to raise it?

You can hold people to what they promised and examine whether your team makes those promises well.

Try it at your next meeting.

Leave five minutes at the end. Ask each person with an action to say what they are committing to, when it will happen and what they need.

Listen for the gaps. Work through them before you leave.

---

I work with leadership teams on trust, priorities and powerful conversations. Find out about team coaching, or book a free introduction to talk about your team.