If You Want Accountability, Start With Clarity

Like what you see? Consider subscribing to get the latest articles here.

You can’t hold a project team accountable for goals they don’t fully understand. 

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from executives and senior leadership is this: 

“Why doesn’t our project management team take more ownership?” 

Before you start writing people off, take a closer look. Most of the time, the issue isn’t laziness or lack of initiative. It’s ambiguity. 

Project managers and engineers operate in a high-volume, fast-moving environment. They’re juggling dozens of priorities, deadlines, and personalities. If they don’t have a clear understanding of what’s expected—what success looks like, how it’s measured, and why it matters—then what you’re going to get is inconsistent performance. 

Accountability doesn’t come from pressure. It comes from clarity. If your expectations are vague, don’t be surprised when the results are, too. 

Accountability Without Clarity Is Just Frustration in Disguise 

It’s easy to point fingers when submittals are late, RFIs pile up, or a schedule isn’t updated. However, the real problem often started earlier: unclear direction, shifting priorities, or assumptions that were never validated. 

Telling an APM to “stay on top of the paperwork” doesn’t provide any real direction. Does that mean submittals? Closeout docs? Meeting minutes? And by when? 

The same goes for vague marching orders like “communicate better with the field” or “manage the subs.” If your PM team has to guess what you mean, you’re setting them up to fall short—and then holding them accountable for a result they didn’t clearly sign up for. 

Clarity Starts with the What, the How, and the Why 

Every meaningful task or responsibility needs three points of clarity: 

• What specifically needs to be done? 

• How should it be completed (tools, format, process, timing)? 

• Why is it critical to the success of the project or the company? 

For example: 

“We need the buyout completed.” 

 becomes 

 “By Friday, finalize scopes, issue all POs for Division 23, and confirm vendor lead times in the procurement tracker. This affects our long-lead coordination for mechanical systems.” 

That’s not micromanagement. That’s leadership. You’re eliminating the guesswork—and setting the standard. 

Define What Success Actually Looks Like 

Your project management team can’t meet expectations that haven’t been spelled out. 

Is the goal to maintain the schedule? Hit a gross margin target? Avoid change orders altogether or manage them more proactively? Should the weekly owner report be turned around the same day as the meeting or within 48 hours? 

Whatever the goal, don’t assume it’s self-evident. Spell it out. Put it in writing. Align on it in meetings. Success is not just “keeping the job going.” It’s meeting performance benchmarks that matter to the business. 

Repetition Is a Leadership Discipline 

Clarity isn’t a one-time conversation. It’s reinforced through repetition. With project managers, this means circling back to expectations in weekly check-ins, progress meetings, and milestone reviews. 

A few tactical ways to repeat and reinforce: 

• Keep an active issues list visible and updated 

• Track progress against specific deliverables in team meetings 

• Use shared tools (dashboards, trackers, calendars) to align timing and responsibilities 

The more you reinforce what matters, the more likely your team is to prioritize it. 

Ask for Feedback—and Listen to It 

Your PM team may not say it out loud, but they often need more direction than they’re getting. And they usually know where the gaps are. 

Ask them: “Is there anything unclear about what’s expected this week?” or “What’s getting in the way of executing what we talked about?” This doesn’t make you soft—it makes you effective. You’re removing roadblocks, not just handing out assignments. 

Once Expectations Are Clear—Enforce Them 

Once clarity is established, then and only then should accountability follow. If a deadline is missed, you now have a solid footing to ask: 

“We agreed this submittal would go out on Tuesday. What happened?” 

You’re not second-guessing or re-explaining. You’re following up based on a shared understanding. This is where professional respect is built—when people know what they’re accountable for and know you’ll follow through. 

Bottom Line 

If your project management team isn’t meeting expectations, start by checking the mirror. Did you clearly define the targets? Did you align on what “done right” looks like? Did you check in regularly? 

Clarity is not a nice-to-have—it’s the foundation of accountability. When your team knows the expectations, understands the priorities, and sees the finish line clearly, they’ll rise to meet it. 

Lead with clarity, reinforce it consistently, and hold the line. That’s how accountability becomes culture—not just a word on a values poster. 

Spark Notes:

• If your project team isn’t taking ownership, the issue is likely ambiguity—not laziness—so start by making expectations crystal clear.

• Vague directives like “stay on top of paperwork” or “manage the subs” set people up to fail; clarity comes from spelling out the what, how, and why of every task.

• Defining success, documenting expectations, and reinforcing them consistently in meetings and tools turns accountability into a shared commitment—not a guessing game.

• When expectations are clear, leaders can enforce them confidently and respectfully; accountability only works when everyone’s on the same page.