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Helping people leaders build accountability with empathy and confidence
Learn how to address performance and behaviour early and fairly, understand what’s getting in the way, and improve outcomes while strengthening working relationships.
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Accountability that strengthens trust and improves performance
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What you will learn
Learning formats
Best for: Teams or organisations wanting to build consistent accountability, clear expectations, and a shared approach to addressing performance and behaviour issues early.
How it works:
- Delivered onsite in-person or live virtually
- 1 day training following Conversations for Mastering Dialogue training (typically 3-4 months after)
- Tailored to your organisation’s context and real workplace scenarios
- Suitable for intact teams or cohorts across the organisation
- Facilitated by a Crucial Dimensions Trainer, or
- Option to train your own internal trainer to deliver the program ongoing
Best for: Individuals or small groups who want to build practical communication skills without organising an in-house program, or organisations looking to assess the training before a wider rollout.
How it works:
- Live, facilitator-led virtual sessions
- 1 day training (prerequisite: Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue)
- Delivered by a Crucial Dimensions Trainer
- Open enrolment with participants from different organisations
- Ideal for sending one or a small number of staff
Become a Certified Trainer for your organisation
Our train-the-trainer certification option provides a scalable, contextual and cost effective approach to embed Crucial Conversations for Accountability capability across your organisation.
Become a Certified Trainer for your organisation
Our train the trainer certification option provides a scalable, contextual and cost effective approach to embed Crucial Conversations capability across your organisation.
Tackling your organisational challenges head on
Close the gap between expectations and actual performance.
In today's fast-paced workplaces, unaddressed performance issues can quickly snowball into major problems. Crucial Conversations for Accountability equips your leaders and work teams with proven strategies to diagnose performance gaps, provide constructive feedback, and collaboratively develop action plans for improvement.
- Build an accountable workplace
- Improve individual and team performance
- Increase productivity and efficiency
- Enhance trust between managers and employees
Create a workplace where everyone takes responsibility for results.
Many organisations struggle with a culture where accountability is seen as "someone else's job." Crucial Conversations for Accountability training teaches skills to create an environment where team members, at all levels, feel empowered and motivated to take ownership of their work and results.
- Increase employee engagement and initiative
- Reduce blame and finger-pointing
- Improve overall organisational performance an psychological safety
Establish clarity and alignment on roles and responsibilities.
In dynamic business environments, ambiguity in expectations and responsibilities can lead to inefficiency, conflict, and missed opportunities. Crucial Conversations for Accountability training empowers your team with effective communication tools to define roles clearly, set measurable expectations, and ensure everyone understands their contributions to organisational success.
- Increase accountability and ownership
- Reduce workplace confusion and conflict
- Enhance team collaboration and productivity
- Empower leaders to effectively manage poor performers
Transform commitments into consistent, reliable action.
Inconsistent follow-through on commitments can erode trust, hinder progress, and impact overall organisational performance. Crucial Conversations for Accountability training equips your team with proven strategies to create a culture of reliability, teaching skills to make clear agreements, track progress effectively, and address barriers to execution head-on.
- Increase reliability and trust within teams
- Improve project completion rates and efficiency
- Enhance organisational credibility and reputation
- Build a more accountable workplace
Ensure every team member is working towards shared objectives.
In today's complex business environment, keeping teams aligned with organisational goals can be challenging. Crucial Conversations for Accountability training offers strategies to clarify expectations, track progress, and have meaningful discussions about how individual and team efforts contribute to broader organisational success.
- Improve goal achievement and strategic alignment
- Increase transparency and accountability at all levels
- Enhance team cohesion and collaboration towards shared objectives
Learning that changes behaviour
Get unstuck
Identify problems contributing to poor results and struggling relationships.
Master my stories
Keep composure when feeling angry or defensive and identify what stories you may be telling yourself.
Start with heart
Be clear with yourself and others about what you really want.
State my path
Share strong opinions without shutting down others’ viewpoints.
Make it safe
Create safety so you can talk with almost anyone about almost anything.
Diagnose
Identify what’s contributing to the gap between expected and actual behavior.
Make it easy
Don’t lead with YOUR ideas; start by asking others for theirs.
Make it motivating
Highlight natural consequences to motivate rather than using coercion.
Move to action
Turn each accountability discussion into a course of action that leads to better outcomes.
Bestseller Behind the Course
This New York Times bestseller provides the foundation for this training, equipping participants with tools to address unmet expectations, broken promises, and challenging behaviours. Packed with practical tools, this book has empowered millions to hold others accountable in ways that foster respect and collaboration.
- Learn methods to maintain respect and improve relationships by addressing problems constructively and fostering shared commitment.
- Gain tools to create a culture where everyone feels empowered to meet commitments and support each other's success.
Begin now — download the first chapter to discover how to bring accountability in every conversation!
Join an upcoming public course
Clear your filters.
Let’s talk about what would work best for your organisation
A short conversation helps us understand your context and recommend the right delivery approach for your people.
Frequently asked questions
What is Crucial Conversations for Accountability training?
Crucial Conversations for Accountability training is designed to help leaders and work teams build more accountable workplaces, and improve performance and culture by developing evidence-based accountability skills. It focuses on addressing broken commitments, missed deadlines, and unmet expectations while strengthening relationships and providing constructive feedback to drive results across the organisation.
Who is this training designed for?
This program is most commonly delivered to people leaders, including senior leaders, frontline leaders, supervisors, team leads, and managers. However, any staff member responsible for setting expectations, managing commitments, or driving outcomes will benefit.
How long is the Crucial Conversations for Accountability program?
This program is delivered as a one-day add-on for participants who have already completed Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue.
While the one-day add-on is our recommended best-practice approach, it can also be delivered as a two-day standalone program for participants who have not completed Mastering Dialogue.
Do you offer customised training for my industry?
Yes, we provide customised training solutions designed to meet the specific needs of your industry. Our expert team will work with you to develop a tailored training plan that addresses the unique challenges faced by your organisation.
Can we run Crucial Conversations for Accountability training without completing Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue first?
Yes. Crucial Conversations for Accountability can be delivered as a two-day standalone program with no prerequisites.
However, our recommended best-practice approach is to deliver it as a one-day add-on following Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue. This approach has been proven to achieve greater learning outcomes.
How long after Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue should we schedule Accountability training?
Most organisations schedule Crucial Conversations for Accountability 3–5 months after completing Mastering Dialogue. This allows participants time to apply their core dialogue skills before building capability in addressing performance gaps and follow-up conversations.
Does the training help people diagnose what’s stalling progress or causing performance gaps?
Yes. Participants learn how to use the Six Sources of Influence model to identify what’s contributing to missed expectations - across motivation, ability, social, and structural factors. This helps leaders move away from blame, understand the real barriers to performance, and problem-solve solutions collaboratively.
Does the program help with performance and behaviour conversations?
Absolutely. The program teaches a calm, respectful approach to discussing results and behaviour, and to work through next steps without assigning blame. Participants learn how to explore what’s getting in the way of progress and collaborate on clear actions that lead to better outcomes.
Does this program support psychosocial obligations?
Yes. The program equips leaders and teams to have clear, early conversations about pressure points, workload, behaviour, stress, and expectations - helping concerns be addressed before they escalate. This supports practical, day-to-day psychosocial risk management.
Is there any pre-work to complete?
No formal pre-work is required. Participants are provided with a short preparation worksheet to help them come to the program with a few real accountability conversations in mind - typically performance gaps that you need to address.
If participants have already completed Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue, they’ll have the core foundation this course builds on.
Can we train our own staff to run the course?
Yes, organisations can train their own staff to run the course by certifying internal leaders and employees as trainers. This allows for effective implementation of the training while tailoring it to fit the specific culture and requirements of the organisation.
Can I become certified in Crucial Conversations for Accountability if I’m already certified in Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue?
Yes. Certified Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue trainers are eligible to complete a fast-track Accountability certification pathway. As they already understand the core concepts and facilitation approach, this pathway builds efficiently on their existing capability.
Is a separate certification required for Accountability?
Yes. Certification in Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue does not automatically include Accountability. However, it does shorten the certification process, which is completed in a one-day certification.
Can Accountability and Mastering Dialogue be delivered together?
They can be delivered in close succession, but most organisations run Mastering Dialogue first, then Accountability several months later.
However, the two-day standalone Accountability option is available for groups that specifically need expectation and performance skills.
