From the Ask Tom mailbag –

Question:
Your workshop on Time Span makes perfect sense. I see things in my company that I now understand. It was all there, but now I understand why? How much of this do you share with the organization. My executive team immediately got it, but how far down in my management team do I go?

Response:
You assume that Time Span, as a concept, is complicated. It’s not. Time Span is simply the “by when” of a goal. Do you talk about goals with your management teams? Do you talk about tasks and activities associated with those goals? Do you establish time lines associated with those goals?

These are normal, and necessary, managerial conversations required all the way to the supervisor level.

The question behind your question, where most get into trouble, thinking about Time Span, is the notion that we should be calibrating our team members. Let me shift your focus.

The necessary calibration is in identifying the Level of Work, not the person. Judging the effectiveness of a team member must always be done related to the work. And that judgment is a required part of every manager’s role.