Editor's Note: Unless you have a human resources background, chances are you've had absolutely no training in managing people. Your position, however, may require it. This new column by professional management consultant Lisa Aldisert is intended to provide tips to motivate, effectively lead, and help develop a staff, be it one person or an entire department.

"It would be easier if I just did it myself." This is a sentiment shared by every manager, either consciously or unconsciously, multiple times over the course of a week. Even if you know in your heart of hearts that you can do it faster, easier, and/or better, this isn't good managerial practice.

Good managers have developed and learned the skills that make them accountable for the successful performance of their team members.

The goal in being accountable for your people is for you to focus on what will help them to be successful in their jobs. It's about them, not about you. The happy outcome of this approach is that when you focus on their success, you'll be successful too.

What It Takes to Be Accountable for Others First, understand what makes your people tick. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Does the job play to their strengths, or are they set up to fail because it's a bad match? What motivates them? Do they like their work? What do they like about working for you?

You may know some of the answers to those questions, but have you ever intentionally sat down and gotten to know your people? If you haven't, do it now.

Second, be accountable to yourself. Learn how your role influences the outcomes of your employees. For example, if Jim made a mistake communicating with the catering staff for your event, be a detective. Identify what went wrong, why it went wrong, and how to approach the communication differently the next time.

Third, don't play the blame game. You'll never be a good manager by reacting that way. You need to understand why something goes wrong to prevent the same mistakes from happening in the future. Here are five tips to shift from blaming to coaching:

• Debrief what happened with your employee. Do more listening than talking, and when you talk, ask questions and try not to lecture.
• Provide sufficient resources. It may seem obvious, but there are many examples of employee failure that would have had entirely different outcomes if those employees had been given the right tools.
• Evaluate your instructions. Were you clear enough? Did you make assumptions that were wrong? Managers often assume that employees have the depth of knowledge and/or an understanding of subtleties that come from experience that they may not yet possess.
• Realistically manage your expectations. Specify what you want as clearly as possible. Evaluate how the employee performs based on his or her ability, not yours.
• Don't disappear once you assign something. Did you check in while the assignment was being done? This isn't micromanaging. It's making sure everything is on track.

Finally, when you provide feedback, make sure you correct the behavior or action. Criticizing the person can be disrespectful, while correcting an action isn't as personal. Reinforce what s/he did right then give concrete suggestions about how to do it more effectively.

Being accountable for your employees is something any manager can learn. It may feel awkward at first (especially if you've tended to be a do-it-yourself kind of manager) but your investment in this will result in a better performing team - and greater satisfaction in your ability to lead.

You may think it would just be easier to handle the task yourself, but that kind of thinking doesn't make you an effective manager. You need to learn how to rely on your staff to get the job done. Here's how: u Take the time to know each staff member.

• When something goes wrong, resist pointing the finger. Figure out how the mistake happened and what everyone can do to prevent it from happening again.
• Ensure every member of your team has the tools s/he needs to be successful.
• Don't assume your staff understands subtleties or the political realities of your organization or industry.
• Correct the action; don't criticize the person.