Today begins the Orientation for our Working Leadership Online program. Those who have registered will receive their program codes later today. Next Monday, we will begin our first subject area on Setting Goals and Time Span.
We will continue registration throughout this week, so if you have an interest, please follow this link.
Setting Goals seems so elementary, it would be easy to overlook. Perhaps that is why so few goals get written down. And it wasn’t until my understanding of Elliott Jaques research on Time Span that I began to see Setting Goals in a new light.
A goal is simply a What by When. For some reason, we always seem to focus on the What without understanding the importance of by When.
It is this lack of focus on by When that causes misunderstandings, missed priorities, project delays and overruns. This lack of focus causes procrastination and our inability to manage the complexity involved in longer Time Span tasks.
“Who decides the by When of a task?” asked Torrey.
“The Manager,” I replied.
“But what if my team tells me they cannot meet the deadline?”
“It is the responsibility of the team to tell you that. And the sooner they are able to tell you, the sooner you, as the Manager can make the adjustment.”
“You mean, move the deadline?”
“No. If the deadline is important (not arbitrary), then you, as the Manager, must make adjustments. And these are decisions that only you can make. You might bring in more manpower, allocate more machine time, authorize overtime. None of those decisions can be made by your team. Only you, as the Manager, have that authority.”
__
Join us for Working Leadership Online.
Feb 2 – Goal Setting and Time Span (2 weeks)
Feb 16 – Delegation (2 weeks)
Mar 2 – Planning (2 weeks)
Mar 16 – Decision Making (2 weeks)
Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops (2 weeks)
We have 8 week subscriptions and annual subscriptions.
As the old saying goes, with Project Management, we are given all of the responsibiity but none of the authority. How does one overcome the situation here when that is the scenario? Do we go and demand the authority, especially where it is the only logical thing to be done? Or do we continue to delegate that authority to management, where the decision just sits on someone’s desk?
In a nutshell, what is the best way to gain the authority needed when you are responsible for the tasks and the schedule, but the authority isn’t inherent in the organizational culture for the PM position?
That’s a good question. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen customers get led down the wrong path after I’ve explained form, function and legal aspects of certain jobs. Perhaps I didn’t put enough effort into the relationship, so I frequently ask myself; “What can I do better and different, the next timeâ€
I have had great success with education; education of myself, prospects, customers and yes even competitors. Become an industry expert in what your company does on a daily basis. Become a true student, break out of your comfort zone. Go Green, develop a seminar with some sort of accreditation, start a blog, get involved with your industry, network… the list goes on and on.
Authority built on respect can be an amazing thing.