Author Archives: Tom Foster

About Tom Foster

Tom Foster spends most of his time talking with managers and business owners. The conversations are about business lives and personal lives, goals, objectives and measuring performance. In short, transforming groups of people into teams working together. Sometimes we make great strides understanding this management stuff, other times it’s measured in very short inches. But in all of this conversation, there are things that we learn. This blog is that part of the conversation I can share. Often, the names are changed to protect the guilty, but this is real life inside of real companies.

Make Me a Promise, and Keep It

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“Where’s the beef?” Marilyn shouted.

Paul was standing at the front. For the past ten minutes, he had been explaining his plan for the year. At the end of his presentation, I broke the group into four teams of three. Each team had two minutes to prepare three questions. His presentation had been nice.

“Where’s the beef?” repeated Marilyn. “You say, this year, you are going to try to become the premier service provider in the tri-county area, by exceeding the expectations of your customers. But I don’t know what that means. It sounds like the same thing your competitor is saying. It’s all fluff, meaningless. If I was your customer, (and, by the way, I am), and you told me that, I would think you are full of crap.

“If you are going to exceed my expectations, I want you to define your service level. How long will it take for you to respond on-site? To what specifications will the work be done? What kind of written guarantee will you sign? Will I pay exactly what you quoted on the phone for the work?

“Get specific. If you want to become the premier provider, you can’t just say it; you have to get specific about your level of service. You don’t have to exceed my expectations. Just make me a promise and keep it.”

Our online program, Hiring Talent 2013, kicks off on January 25. Pre-registration is now open.

Calling an Audible on Every Play?

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“So, it’s January 10, and you are all assembled here to present your plans for the year. First, I want you to know how unique this is. Most organizations, in spite of the push for planning, are still in the writing process and will likely never finish their plan. This means they will continue to run their companies without any strategic direction.”

This is my speech today to an executive group assembled for the sole purpose of grilling each other about their 2013 Business Plans.

“These companies will be subject to the whims of the marketplace. They will react as best they can without a plan. It’s like calling an audible on the football field for every play of the game. Without a plan, you can’t exploit a market, wear down a competitor, take market share, open a new line, create a new department, establish a new branch. You can’t do any of those things calling audibles.

“It’s ten days into the new year and you know what you want. Today, you will likely get beat up by this executive group. Tomorrow, you will be ready to present this plan to your teams back at the office. You are ready to be a more effective leader.”

Our online program, Hiring Talent 2013, kicks off January 25. Pre-registration is now open.

Not Sophisticated, but Effective

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“It seems we just get so busy that we forget to have follow-up meetings about our annual plan,” said Joyce. “We get busy, and before you know it, summer’s almost gone.”

“Do you have a 2013 calendar?” I asked.

“Well, yes, I think I have three.”

“Well, pick the one you are going to use this year and call a meeting,” I said. “And tell everyone to bring their calendars. This is not a very sophisticated management skill, but it works every time. Right, now, while your annual plan is fresh on everyone’s mind, schedule your follow-up meetings.

  • April – half day to review first quarter.
  • July – half day to review second quarter.
  • October – half day to review third quarter.

“Get them on the calendar, now, so as time marches on, those dates are already protected.

“Schedule one to two full days in December to review the fourth quarter and to finalize plans for 2014. That’s it. Now, you have a follow-up plan in place. You will get busy, that’s why you have to schedule this stuff, now.”

Our online program, Hiring Talent 2013, kicks off on January 25. Pre-registration is open now.

Grooved Habits

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“Where we drop the ball is follow-up.” Nathan shook his head from side to side. “We are pretty good at setting goals, but as soon as we’re done with that, life goes on and we forget all the hard work and time we spent planning.”

“What habits do you need to create,” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Nathan looked puzzled.

“Follow-up is not just a ball that gets dropped. As a management skill, it is a way of life. I always look for habits. What are you not doing as a routine that stops you from following up?”

It was like a smack in the forehead with a beer can. “I see where you are going with this,” Nathan said, still shaking his head. “We usually have a short huddle meeting every Friday to follow-up on the promises we made to ourselves. Ever since the holidays crept up, we just stopped having the meetings.”

“What’s on your schedule this Friday?” I quizzed.

Nathan was quick to respond, “I think we should have our regular Friday huddle meeting.”

Sometimes effectiveness has nothing to do with being brilliant, but only in continuing to do the things that work.
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Hiring Talent 2013 kicks off on January 25. Pre-registration is open now.

Clarity

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“What do you think is stopping you from creating a plan for this year?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” replied Dawson. “Sometimes, it seems like just an exercise that we go through every year. You know, it’s January, we have to have a plan.”

“I don’t think you know what you want,” I challenged.

“That’s not true!!! I know what I want. We have a new product we are trying to get out of the ground and a new branch we want to open in the north part of the state. There is a new market we want to go after by repackaging one of our existing services. There is a lot of stuff we want to do.”

“Good,” I said. “Now, draw 3 pictures for me, one for the new product, one for the new branch and one for the new market.”

Have you written down your action plan for 2013? What is the benefit of writing it down?

Creating Goal Visibility

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“Goals. Who needs ‘em?” asked Yolanda. “Every year, I set some goals. It’s kind of like my New Year’s Resolutions. By the end of February, I can’t even remember what they were.”

“Oh? So, tell me about your resolution for this year.” Yolanda looked a bit uncomfortable.

“Well, I haven’t exactly worked it out, yet. Until I am sure, I would rather not go blabbing it around.”

“Have you thought, perhaps, that’s why your New Year’s resolution never works?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yolanda, your New Year’s resolution never works, because you never committed to it. You never clearly defined it. Did you ever write it down?” Yolanda was silent. “Here is the management skill. Goals work just like New Year’s resolutions. If you really want to make a change, write it down. Then say it to yourself out loud. Then say it out loud in front of a group of people. And if you really want to make it stick, give that group permission to hold you accountable for the goal. Take that written goal and post it somewhere public, where you see it every day, where others see it every day. You can start with a 3×5 card taped to your mirror.”

What is your resolution this year? What major thing do you want to achieve? Have you written it down? Have you shared it with your team? I am curious. What do you do to keep your goals visible throughout the year?

Planning Perfect

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Last year, they spent $12,000 on a planning consultant to help them put together a business plan that included Carl’s division. Since it was delivered, last February, only three people have even looked at it. No wonder Carl was reluctant when I asked for this year’s plan.

“Why the sad face?” I asked.

“Planning is one of those management skills that I always seem to put off,” Carl replied.

“Carl, at the end of this year, do you want your division to be exactly as it is, now?”

“No way, there are several things I would like to change.”

“Good. Carl, here are some questions for you:

How can you design those changes so they are well thought-out?

How can you communicate your ideas clearly to other people?

How can you bring people together to discuss your ideas so they have a better chance of getting done?”

Carl thought for a minute, then finally spoke. “I guess I should write down my ideas, to make sure they are clear in my own mind, then I can send them around to the other people on my team.”

“Would you like a small planning template to help you get started?” I asked. Carl’s eyes got wide as his head moved up and down.

If you would like a copy of the template I am sending to Carl, just ask.

Can He Do the Work?

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“The profile on this candidate is outstanding,” Rory explained. “It will take a special person to fill this role, and by golly, I think we have found the right person.”

“The profile is outstanding compared to what?” I asked.

Rory looked askance. “What do you mean?”

“It’s nice that he has a personality, but can this candidate do the work?” I pressed.

“Well, the profile says he is suited for this kind of work. Besides, everyone on the hiring team has interviewed him and they really like him,” Rory defended.

“It’s nice that he is a likeable person, but can this candidate do the work?”

“His resume attracted our attention. It says that he has experience in our field and he answered all of our technical questions. He really speaks our language.”

I let Rory squirm for a minute. He had already made his decision, and was waiting to see if I would support it. Without asking any hard questions. “Rory, this role is for a VP of Operations. It’s nice that he understands the technology, but can this candidate do the work of an Ops VP?”

“I don’t know where you are going with this?” Rory shook his head. “I was hoping you would get on board with this guy.”

“It doesn’t matter whether I get on board. Can he do the work? It’s a big role, integrating your sales, your sales forecast with production. You have six month lead time raw materials, tooling that changes, building to stock, assembling to order, staging, logistics. This guy will be coordinating teams of people in meetings, resolving communication paths, working on bottlenecks, manicuring system constraints. It’s nice that he understands the technical mechanics of your product, but can he do the work of an Ops VP?”

Designed Around the Work

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“I know you want me to be the nice guy,” Jim Dunbar pushed back, “that I would have a better organization if I wasn’t so hard on people, but at the end of the day, we have to get some work done around here.”

It stings against political correctness, but if you consider, for a moment, that statement is true, what changes?

What if, it is all about the work? What if the purpose of your organization is to actually get some work done, solve a problem, execute a solution? It’s not for every organization, only those with the intended purpose to get work done, complete a task, achieve a goal.

Some organizations are designed around other intentions, religious organizations, political organizations, educational organizations, collegial organizations, all with purpose, all with goals.

What if the purpose of your organization was to get some work done? What if your organization was designed around the work?

For a VP, What Is Necessary?

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“This hire is for a Vice-President,” Cooper explained. “And there is no one inside that I can promote. So, we have to go to the outside, likely have to go outside our industry. It’s a scary proposition, bringing someone in at the level without our specific industry background.”

“Why is it scary?” I asked.

“It’s a lot of money. It will likely take this person several months just to understand the way our company works in the market. If we make the wrong hiring decision, it’s not only expensive, but we lose time. Not to mention the impact on the people in this division.”

“What will be your decision criteria?”

“We have a job description, and several resumes. In fact, do you want to look at the resumes while you are here?” Cooper baited.

“I wouldn’t know what to look for?” I replied.

“Sure, you would. You know our company, and you would know a VP when you see one. Just give me some direction, a screen, a filter,” he pressed.

“It’s not that I wouldn’t recognize someone with VP potential, but they still might not be the right person. I don’t know your critical role requirements, because you haven’t defined them. When you look at this role, and its parts, its Key Result Areas, what is necessary?”