Which action best promotes accountability when delegating tasks to committee chairs?

• A. Ensure tasks are defined with expected outcomes and due dates.
• B. Require clear deadlines and regular progress reports.
• C. Avoid written records to keep things simple.
• D. Let committees manage themselves.

Answer: (A)

Clear expectations tied to a deadline create accountability. By defining what needs to be achieved and by when, everyone knows what success looks like and when it should be delivered, which provides a concrete standard to judge performance against. Without a defined outcome, tasks can drift, and without a due date, there's no built-in urgency or timeline to measure progress. While deadlines and regular progress updates can help, the foundation is specifying the task’s objectives and the deadline first; updates matter only when there is a clear target to report on. Avoiding written records removes a durable reference to what was agreed, making accountability hard, and letting committees manage themselves without clear scope leads to ambiguity and responsibility gaps.