From the Ask Tom mailbag:
Question:
I’ve been using your interview guidelines for determining Time Span for some time. I’ve asked candidates, “Tell me a time when..” Often, the candidate picks a project and the time span is very short. I’ve even probed deeper, asking for a particularly challenging project and still I sometimes can’t get anything more than a few weeks. So I would conclude this person’s role is operating in a relatively short time span. But I worry that the candidate is picking a project that just happened to be short but has accomplished more. He or she just isn’t articulating it.
Response:
In my workshop, I share some interview guidelines, and I suggest that managers practice those questions on their own team members (the groundwork for your question). I caution managers not to be surprised at the mis-match between the managers definition of the role and the team members perception of the role. This mis-match in expectations is the source for a great deal of management angst.
Indeed, most team members in Stratum I, II and III roles rarely have conversations with their managers about the real depth and breadth of their role. They never discuss how “big” those roles are. Time Span is helpful, because we can calibrate the complexity of the task at hand and avoid the mis-match in perceptions.
For example, we can talk about the temperature, which I experience as warm and you experience as cold, based on our internal body thermostats. I say “warm” and you say “cold.” We are both right, according to our personal experience, but it will be difficult to come to an agreement. However, if we look at the thermometer on the wall, we can both agree that it is 72 degrees.
Time Span helps us calibrate expectations between a team member and a manager. Time Span helps us understand the “by when” of any goal, any task assignment. Time Span is the thermometer on the wall.
You, as a manager, with an understanding of Time Span see the team member’s role in a different way. Without those discussions, I am never surprised that the team member grossly underestimates what is really required for success in their role.
So, you may think my interview guidelines give you insight into a team member’s Applied Capability, but it is really the beginning of a rich conversation about expectations.
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