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You assign a project, explain the deadline, and ask your team to get started. Then the questions begin running through your head.

Are they making progress? Did they understand what you wanted? Will they tell you if something goes wrong?

Before long, you are sending extra messages, requesting more updates, and reviewing details you intended to delegate.

It can happen with good intentions. You care about the outcome, and you are responsible for what your team delivers. But when every assignment requires your constant involvement, people have less room to make decisions—and you have less time to lead.

In my book, Manage the Work, Lead the People, I explore how to provide structure, support, and accountability while allowing employees to own their work. That balance starts with clear expectations and a thoughtful approach to follow-up.

Start With Expectations People Can Actually Use

Before holding someone accountable, make sure you have explained what success looks like.

“Update the dashboard by Friday” may sound clear to you. Your employee might still need to know which measures matter, who will use the dashboard, what needs to be validated, and whether Friday means a review draft or a finished product.

A useful assignment answers these questions:

• What result are we trying to achieve?
• Why does it matter?
• When is it due?
• What quality standards and review steps apply?
• Which decisions can the employee make?
• When should they ask for help or raise a concern?

For example:

“We need a dashboard that helps the business directors identify overdue requests. Please have a review version ready Thursday afternoon so we can validate it before Friday’s meeting. You can choose the layout, but use the approved metric definitions and flag any missing data.”

That gives the employee enough context to make decisions without coming back to you for every detail.

Ask them to describe their plan and any obstacles they anticipate. This gives both of you a chance to catch misunderstandings before they turn into rework.

KBI Tip: A short kickoff followed by a project plan or meeting notes can reveal whether everyone understands the expected outcome. Spending a little time on clarity at the beginning can prevent repeated follow-up later.

Agree on Checkpoints Before You Need Them

When follow-up is planned, employees know what to expect. When it appears randomly throughout the day, they may feel that you do not trust them.

Agree on checkpoints when you assign the work. The right frequency depends on the project’s complexity, the consequences of a mistake, and the employee’s experience.

A familiar task handled by an experienced employee might need only a deadline and an agreement to flag problems early. A new employee learning a complex process may need more guidance. A project with significant customer or financial impact may require milestone reviews.

The goal is to create opportunities to spot problems while there is still time to act.

Before adding another status meeting, ask yourself: What information will this give us, and what will we do with it?

If the meeting produces no decisions, removes no obstacles, and reveals no meaningful changes, consider shortening it or replacing it with a brief written update.

Ask About Progress, Decisions, and Risk

A busy calendar does not tell you whether a project is moving forward. Neither does a full inbox or a stream of status messages.

Useful accountability focuses on evidence:

• What has been completed?
• What remains?
• Which decision is blocked?
• Has the deadline or level of risk changed?
• What support is needed?

In the book, I recommend three questions for checkpoints: What changed? Which decision is blocked? What risk has increased?

These questions give you something to act on. If an employee is waiting for system access, another reminder about the deadline will not solve the problem. Helping secure that access might.

This matters especially for remote and hybrid teams. An employee’s online status tells you very little about the quality of their contribution. Agreed deliverables, quality standards, and timely communication provide a stronger basis for evaluating the work.

Give People Authority Along With Responsibility

An employee cannot fully own an assignment if every decision still belongs to you.

Explain where they have discretion and where approval is required. They may be able to choose the approach, organize the work, and coordinate with partners while still needing approval to change a budget, deadline, or metric definition.

Then allow them to use that authority.

This can be challenging when you know the work well. You may have a preferred method, and watching someone take a different approach can make you want to step in.

Pause and evaluate their approach against the outcome, standards, and risks. If it meets those requirements, give it room to work.

When an employee encounters a problem, ask:

“What have you tried, what options do you see, and what would you recommend?”

Their answer helps you understand both the problem and their judgment. You can provide coaching or make a needed decision while keeping ownership with them.

KBI Tip: Ask, “What can I do to help you succeed, and what do you need from me?” Be prepared to provide access, context, or guidance without automatically taking the assignment back.

Address Missed Commitments Directly

Giving people autonomy still requires candid conversations when expectations are missed.

Avoid letting frustration build until it comes out as constant checking. Address the specific gap early.

For example:

“We agreed on a draft by Thursday afternoon, and I did not receive it or an update. That left us without time for review before the meeting. Walk me through what happened.”

Then listen.

The cause might be unclear priorities, an unexpected dependency, a skill gap, or a failure to communicate. Understanding the cause helps you choose a response that can improve the situation.

Agree on the next action, who owns it, and when you will follow up. If problems are serious or repeated, use your organization’s performance process.

Apply standards consistently while considering the circumstances. You can acknowledge a difficult situation and still be clear about what needs to happen next.

Increase Oversight When the Work Requires It

Sometimes closer involvement is appropriate.

A project may be slipping, a new process may be producing errors, or a customer commitment may be at risk. In those situations, additional structure can help the team recover.

Explain why you are adding it and when it can end.

In Chapter 6 of the book, a composite example shows a manager introducing short daily huddles for a delayed project. The huddles uncover blocked decisions and missing resources. Once the project is back on track, the manager removes the extra meetings as promised.

You can use the same approach:

“Because this deadline is at risk, let’s have a brief daily check-in this week. We’ll focus on blockers and decisions. Once the remaining milestones are stable, we’ll return to our usual updates.”

Making the reason and end condition clear helps employees understand the purpose. Following through shows that additional oversight responds to the work’s needs.

Hold Yourself Accountable, Too

Accountability includes the manager’s commitments.

If you promise a decision, make it. If you agree to remove a blocker, follow through. If priorities change, explain which work should move, pause, or receive fewer resources.

Before assuming an employee needs more supervision, ask yourself:

• Did I make the outcome and standards clear?
• Did I provide the authority and resources they need?
• Did I introduce competing priorities?
• Have I made it safe to report a problem early?
• Am I following up for a useful reason?

Your answers may reveal something you need to change before asking the employee to improve.

Try This With One Assignment This Week

Choose one current project and agree on five things with its owner:

1. The expected result.
2. The deadline and quality standard.
3. The decisions they can make independently.
4. The checkpoints you will use.
5. The issues they should raise before the next checkpoint.

At each review, focus on progress, obstacles, and decisions. Adjust your involvement as the work changes.

You do not need to control every step to remain responsible for the outcome. Clear expectations, dependable support, and direct follow-through give your team the structure to deliver—and the room to grow.

Explore More in Manage the Work, Lead the People

Accountability is one part of becoming the manager your team needs and the leader your people deserve.

In Manage the Work, Lead the People, I explore expectations, delegation, trust, performance conversations, and leading remote and hybrid teams. The book includes practical worksheets and checklists to help you apply the ideas to your own work.

📘 Get Manage the Work, Lead the People on Amazon

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