“What could I have done differently?” Joyce asked. “I thought Phillip was the right choice. I know now, that I was wrong, but how do you make the decision on whether or not to promote someone?”

“Why did you think he was a candidate for promotion?” I asked.

“Well, he has been with us for a little over a year. He knows the ropes. He was a team leader, had the respect of his team,” Joyce replied.

“And what do you think his Time Span was?”

“Well, based on what we have been talking about, his current capability seems to be about four weeks or a little more, but not a lot more.”

“So, how could you find out how much more?”

“Well, he was successful at four weeks. I could have given him a task that took six weeks to complete, or eight weeks.”

“Exactly,” I pointed out. “The best way to determine performance is to test it. The problem with testing, is that, until we talked about Time Span, you had no way to determine the complexity of the task. With Time Span, you can now measure with more precision. Your job, as his Manager, becomes more precise.” -TF

Our next Leadership program in Fort Lauderdale begins July 16. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Our next Leadership program Online begins in September. Watch for details. –TF