Accountability vs. Responsibility at Work: 3 Key Differences

Responsibility is a team member’s obligation to complete tasks based on their role. Managers outline responsibilities in job descriptions and delegate tasks to individuals based on their competencies, but individual team members must take responsibility for completing their duties. Responsibilities can be individual or shared between a team; after the project, the responsible people are accountable for the result.

Accountability is a person’s ownership of the result of an event, experience, or specific task. An example of accountability is requiring the responsible team to individually report on their contribution to the outcome of a project, answering to the successes and failures of the result. The accountable party accepts blame and liability if the desired results fail to meet expectations. Accountability comes after a person’s responsibilities are complete; they then report on their actions.

Defining responsibility is important because it helps employees understand their roles. Providing employees with the autonomy to complete their tasks and fulfill their commitment can help improve employee engagement. While working on a project, each team member’s personal responsibility to complete a task helps the team achieve specific outcomes or meet certain metrics.

Establishing an accountability system is important because it motivates employees to claim ownership of their work. Outlining each team member’s personal accountability to a project can motivate them to achieve better results while discouraging a “blame game” if the expectations fall short. Having a healthy culture of accountability in the workplace requires setting clear expectations and defining roles. A lack of accountability can lead to employee turnover or dissatisfaction.

Both managers and employees must understand what accountability means and how responsibility works. Workplace accountability and responsibility differ in:

1. 1. Emphasis: Responsibility emphasizes tasks, whereas accountability is about results. Responsibility focuses on completing a task using your specific skills, knowledge, or collective teamwork to achieve results. Accountability is about reporting on those results during follow-up meetings or performance reviews.
2. 2. Ownership: Each team member is accountable individually, whereas responsibility can be individual or shared between team members.
3. 3. Timeframe: While personal responsibility is ongoing throughout a project’s life cycle, your accountability kicks in after completing the task.

All you need is a MasterClass Annual Membership and our exclusive video lessons from the likes of Elaine Welteroth (the former editor in chief of Teen Vogue and host of CBS’ The Talk), Issa Rae (the powerhouse multihyphenate behind HBO’s Insecure), Robin Arzón (the lawyer-turned-head instructor of Peloton), and other luminaries who have have embraced the twists and turns on the path to professional success. With their guidance, you’ll learn how to lean into your strengths, follow your heart, and build the career of your dreams.