At Affirm Consulting, we’re continually asked by small and mid-sized business owners as to which organizational gaps do we most often see impacting businesses and their ability to grow. Certainly among the top is ‘unclear and misunderstood R2A2’ (Roles, Responsibilities, Accountability and Authorities), which we currently rank as #3 on the Affirm Consulting – Top 3 Biggest Hurdles for Growing a Business.
Most companies have clearly established roles and responsibilities (R2) for their employees, however it’s typically the accountability and authorities where the understanding between management and employees becomes a little vague, murky or even non-existent. If you’re asking ‘How’ or ‘Why’ is accountability & authorities (A2) important to your organization, the answer is it’s accountability and authorities that drive decision-making and the expectations within your company. In a nutshell, employees who have the role or responsibility to make specific decisions but hasn’t been held accountable for making effective decisions in the past or doesn’t have the authority to actually make those decisions, then these employees inevitably become ineffective for your business and/or will bottleneck your company’s processes.
It’s important to understand that lack of clearly defined and understood R2A2 within your organization can be very difficult to resolve, as it’s inherently intertwined in every person, position and process within your business. So we highly encourage clients to take a surgeon’s approach to untangling and resolving R2A2 within their company. [CAUTION: For all those strong-personality business owners, this is no time to approach the matter with the skills of a blacksmith, as there will most definitely be lots of fire and sparks but the outcome will likely not be favorable to you or your business.] We highly encourage business owners to bring in a professional to help facilitate this process, as most business leaders unfortunately don’t have the time or expertise to successfully set in-place this process. Affirm Consulting would welcome the opportunity to help your organization in this area, however regardless of who you choose, make sure they are not only addressing your current business organizational needs but establishing R2A2 that will take your company to that next-level in anticipated growth.
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R2A2’s: Defining the Roles of Your Team Members

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“When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated. This is why we sometimes attack who they are, which is far more hurtful than addressing a behavior or choice.” – Brené Brown