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.

Seven Years Done

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In November, 2004, we talked about starting this blog. Here we are, seven years later. This is post #1,580. Much has changed, we have weathered a recession, published through Hurricane Wilma. Sometimes people ask, what it takes to keep something like this going.

In the end. This conversation, like most conversations, is with myself, there just happens to be other people in the room. Thank you, for being in the room.

Off to Washington DC, working with three Vistage groups on my favorite subject, the research of Elliott Jaques.

Tomorrow, we roll into our eighth year of publishing. Today, I think I will have a beer.
-Tom Foster

Volunteer for Project Work

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I have been following your blog for a while and I have learned a lot. My question is a bit unorthodox, but here goes. My manager is very happy with my work, but is hesitant to give me more responsibility. I know he is afraid that if he does promote me, and it doesn’t work out, it might be a bit of a mess. The problem is that I feel like I have reached the peak of my position, and I am ready to move on. Tom, how can I show him that I am ready to start moving?

Response:
This is a dilemma for every manager. If we promote people and they fail, we have to fire or demote, neither of which is in our best interest. I will give you the same advice I give to those managers. Volunteer for project work.

Project work allows both the manager and the team member to experiment with designed task assignments that might be a stretch in capability, skills or interest. If the project works, everyone is more comfortable, trust based on evidence of success. If the project fails, then we just have a failed project. No firings, no demotions.

So, it is time to schedule that conversation. The risk in not having the conversation is that you will remain frustrated, it will impact your work and relationships. In the end, you will move, one way or the other. We all do.

Practice

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We were running north with a hint of a tailwind. The bike computer said we were running an easy 23 mph. Six cyclists in a pace line. The lead cyclist created the forward wind tunnel, expanding larger as each team member passed through. Even with a 5 mph tail, at 23, we still had 18 mph of head wind. The efficiency of the pace line allowed the team to run quicker than a single cyclist alone. The leader on the nose can put maximum effort into the wind, with the rest of the pack safely tucked in behind. The pace line rotates its leader to keep fresh legs up front.

In the dark, the approaching car was easy to see, its headlights piercing out from a hidden driveway. The halogen beams continued to brighten the road in front. We could see the car, the car couldn’t see us.

“Car right! Car right!” echoed off the passing buildings. The pace line, which had been a steady snake for the past 7 minutes suddenly began to bunch, alternating riders cheated left and right. “Slowing!” yelled the lead. Each rider focused simultaneously on bike separation, an escape path and the intersecting car. What would happen next? The riders were bunched, speed had dropped to 18, the efficient wind tunnel disappeared, each bike now flaring its own path into the resistant air.

The headlights stopped. The lead rider made eye contact with the driver and held up a stopping hand. The driver clicked to high beam and back to low.

The lead rider came out of his saddle and pressed hard into the wind, pushing back to 20. The second rider came back from the left and tucked in behind the lead 24 inches off the wheel. Each successive rider adjusted position, pressing into the forming tunnel.

The last rider hooks on and the lead hammers back to 23. In the short space of 8 seconds, the pace line approached danger, lost its effectiveness, then regrouped into a highly interdependent efficient team.

How does your team run its pace line? When circumstances throw it off course, how quickly does it react to protect itself? How does your team re-establish its operating groove? What is communication like? How quickly does the wind tunnel return? Does your team practice this drill?

100 Percent Responsible

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“But, what if my team just doesn’t want to listen to me?” Susan protested.

“And, how does that make you, as the manager, less responsible for the communication?” I asked.

“Yeah, but, if they don’t want to listen, how can I make them listen?”

“Indeed, how can you make them listen?”

Susan stopped, this wasn’t going anywhere. “I can’t make them listen. If they don’t want to listen, I have to figure out how to get them to want to listen.”

“That’s a start. Remember, as the manager, you are 100 percent responsible for the communication. So, how do you get them to listen in the first place?”

“Well, I guess I have to talk about things they are interested in. I have to get their attention.”

“And since you are 100 percent responsible for the communication, that is exactly where you should start. Speak in terms of the other person’s interests.”

The Question Behind the Question

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“You’ve seen my workload,” Rene complained. “I have a ton of management issues I am dealing with. As Vice President of this division, I have a lot on my plate.”

“And one of the things on your plate is the hiring of a new supervisor in one of your production departments,” I replied.

“Yes, but don’t hang that one on me. I have a manager in that department. It’s his responsibility to make the hire. The less I get involved the better,” Rene resisted.

“Tell me, Rene, why is that supervisor role open, anyway?”

She saw the question behind the question, and smiled. “You know the last person didn’t work out, and yes, I stayed out of that hiring decision, too.”

“And, in your role as VP, as the manager of the person who made the poor hiring decision, who do I hold accountable?” I asked.

“Well, I guess, since you are sitting in my office, that would be me.”

Placing Accountability

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From the Ask Tom Mailbag:

Question:
I have an IT person, very skilled in technology, but seemingly unable to look beyond next week. He is brilliant at solving network issues, working around this problem and solving that issue. But his backlog of projects is growing. It appears he is unable to prioritize or track progress on any project longer than one or two days. We have temporarily assigned him to report to one of our senior managers, she’s very organized, to try to keep him focused. Together, they have created tracking spreadsheets, and meet once a week to update the status on projects. But the more time goes by, the more out of control things get. The value we deliver to our clients depends on our technology, so this truly has my attention.

Response:
If this role was simply to keep your computer network afloat, wouldn’t be a big deal, but you describe this as mission critical. You describe requirements for two distinct roles. One role is technical, directly performing task assignments (direct output), and one role making decisions about priorities, sequence and allocation of resources. You might find both in the same person (if you had the budget), but that is not the case. You have two individuals, which you describe as competent.

Here’s the rub. Who is the manager of the IT person. Like many companies, computers and their networks are so mystical that IT personnel are allowed to roam free, with only vague accountability. The evidence of vague accountability, is that they often have no appropriate manager.

You described that you have a senior manager available, AND you will have to determine their interest in being the manager of the IT person, but here is the difference. Your move is to shift accountability to this senior manager. It is not a matter of the IT person reporting to this senior manager, but this senior manager being accountable for the direct output of the IT person.

This subtle shift in accountability makes all the difference. You see, I don’t know if they need to meet once a week or twice a day. That’s not my decision. That is a decision for the senior manager. And the senior manager will only make the right decision with the understanding that she is accountable for the output of the IT person. This is a game changer.

With New Eyes

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From the Ask Tom Mailbag:

Question:
I listened with great interest to your presentation on Time Span. Intriguing. But where do we start? Specifically, where does a small company start?

Response:
It’s difficult for me to understand what you understand about Time Span, so let’s start from this basic fundamental. Time Span comes from the inside kernel of every goal. A goal is a “what, by when?” It is the “by when?” (Time Span) that gives us insight into the complexity of the goal (task assignment).

And so, that’s where I start. As a manager, if I can more clearly understand the complexity of the task assignment, I can more clearly understand the capability required to be effective in that role. The biggest mistake most managers make is underestimating the capability required for effectively completing the task.

It’s all about the work. That’s where I start.

It starts with the Role Description, examining the task assignments, the accountabilities inside the role. I know this sounds like managerial fundamentals, and it is. But managerial fundamentals with new eyes.

My Decision, Your Decision?

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
What are your thoughts on management that attempts to be so effective with controls that they create an element of fear within employees – paralyzing them when it comes to making independent and discretionary decisions? A side effect of that is when questioned, explanations are seen as being defensive rather than attempting to communication future solutions.

Response:
Some companies, some managers believe that, inside every task assignment, all duties are meticulously prescribed by the manager and all decisions are reserved for the manager. This belief is naive and if enforced, will fossilize the organization into rigid inaction. If every decision is reserved for the manager, normal workflow will become bottlenecked at that point, pressure will build and something will break. Managers cannot be everywhere at every moment, even managers have to sleep.

Managers (organizations) fall into this trap because they have little (or no) understanding of the difference between prescribed duties and discretionary duties. Understanding this difference, measured in Time Span begins the journey to effectiveness, for the manager, for the organization.

Prescribed duties are easy to understand. Prescribed duties are part and parcel of every task assignment. Where there are prescribed duties, there are few (or no) decisions surrounding the task. But every task carries some discretionary duties. It is those discretionary duties (discretionary decisions) that are appropriately placed in the hands of the team member. So, what’s the difference, between prescribed duties and discretionary duties?

A technician running a CNC machine (cutting metal) may have the prescribed duty to cut ten pieces of metal according to specification prior to noon. That task is prescribed, no discretion.

However, if the machine begins to make an abnormal noise, we have to depend on the discretion of the technician (not the manager) to shut the machine down. And not all abnormal noise requires the same decision. The technician, knowing the noise, may need to shut the machine down immediately, after the current cut or at the end of the shift. It is a discretionary decision based on the noise.

So, the prescribed duty, ten pieces, according to spec, cannot be modified by the technician. Shutting the machine down, based on an abnormal noise, is absolutely within the discretion of the technician.

When managers understand this difference, magic begins to happen.

No Buttons

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I was saddened late last night, as I stepped off a plane from New York, to learn that Steve Jobs had passed away. As a student of business, I always regarded him as one of the great teachers.

Perhaps today, I will find a shirt with no buttons and wear it in his honor.

Supervisor vs Manager

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Can you more clearly define the role of a Supervisor versus that of a Manager?

Response:
It can be confusing to nail down what one company defines as a Supervisor vs what another company defines as a Manager. Part of the problem talking about management issues, we don’t have a precise language. We talk using one set of words and others listen using another set.

Elliott Jaques (Requisite Organization) provides helpful direction by specifically describing and measuring the level of work using Time Span.

When I talk about the role of a Supervisor, I am looking for longest Time Span task assignments that can reasonably be completed between 3-12 months. The activities I would describe for that role are coordinating in nature, scheduling people, materials and equipment, tracking progress toward project milestones, solving logistical problems, using discretionary judgment within limits set by their manager. The value add of this role is accuracy, completeness and timeliness.

When I talk about the role of a Manager, I am looking for longest Time Span task assignments that can reasonably be completed between 12-24 months. The activities I describe for that role are planning, sequencing, system creation, system monitoring and system improvement. The latitude of their discretionary judgment is broader (also defined using Time Span). The value add of this role is consistency and predictability of results (achieved by systems).