MEANING OF RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Responsibility

Responsibility relates to tasks and projects. Responsibility is defined as an obligation to perform or complete the assigned task. It is the duty of the subordinate to complete the delegated task adequately.  Being responsible for something means that it’s your duty to carry out the related tasks. More than one person can share a responsibility, such a team being collectively responsible for the implementation of a project or handling a situation. Responsibility is therefore often tied to a required outcome, such as the completion of a particular task or series of tasks. Responsibility is also self-managed, meaning that you choose to take on a responsibility and fulfil it, as it cannot be forced upon you.

Accountability

While responsibility refers to someone’s duty to carry out a task to completion, accountability generally refers to what happens after something has happened. The term accountability means a sense of being answerable for the final consequences. When an authority is delegated, the employee is empowered to perform the task for his superior, but the superior would still take the ownership of the final result. Accountability is therefore concerned with the consequences of someone’s actions, rather than their initial duty to carry these actions out. Accountability is also more often confined to a single person. This is because accountability is about the ownership of consequences and the possibility for subsequent redress. If accountability was shared among a group of individuals, a ‘blame game’ could ensue.

Even if several individuals are responsible for the completion of a task, typically, only one of them is then accountable for its consequences. The accountable individual often has to recount what happened after an event has happened and can be questioned regarding their own duties. If there is a need to make amends for negative consequences, the accountable person is going to be asked to do so. This could be in the form of some restitution or disciplinary action.

Differences Between Responsibility and Accountability

The following points are noteworthy so far as the difference between responsibility and accountability is concerned:

1. Responsibility relates to the completion of a task, whereas accountability relates to the subsequent examination of its success, processes and other consequences.
2. Responsibility refers to the obligation to perform the delegated task. On the other hand, answerability for the consequence of the delegated task.
3. Where accountability is what happens only after a situation has occurred, responsibility is usually ongoing.
4. The origin of responsibility is the assigned authority. On the contrary, accountability arises from responsibility.
5. Responsibility focuses on defined roles, job descriptions, and processes that must be in place to achieve a goal. On the contrary, accountability is committed to the successful completion of tasks assigned to you and being willing to take responsibility for everything that happens as a result of the actions that were taken.
6. Responsibility affects everyone, whereas accountability becomes an increasingly important subject as you go up an organisation’s hierarchy.