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.

Steps and Relationships

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“Who I am?” Ruben asked, furrowing his brow.

“Yes, who are you?” I insisted. “What is your role?”

“Well, I’m the manager,” he explained. “My role is to manage. It’s my team that actually does the work. I just manage.”

“If all you do is manage, then I have limited use for you,” I pressed. “If all you do is manage, I can get by with a supervisor. What is your work?”

“Well, when my team gets stuck, I help them get unstuck,” Ruben replied, grabbing for any kind of traction.

“And when you get your team unstuck, what do you do, to keep them from getting stuck in the same way again?”

Ruben hesitated, then thoughtfully arrived at a meaningful conclusion. “I look at what we are doing, how we are doing it, the sequence we do it in and think, is this the best way? We might create our own problems simply by the order of the steps we work in. It’s my job to think about that stuff.”

“What tools do you use to think with?” I prompted.

“I don’t know,” Ruben pondered. “I mean, sometimes, I will draw out a flow chart, so I can see things more clearly, you know, boxes and circles and arrows.”

“And when you finish that flow chart, what is that a picture of?”

“Well, it’s the system that we work in, with all the steps and relationships of those steps.”

“And so, what is your work?” I asked, again.

Grabby Stuff

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I was in your workshop, about Time Span. Almost overwhelming. I say, almost, because it is grabby stuff. I don’t know if I will see my company the same way, when I go back to work tomorrow. But where do I start?

Response:
The starting place is with yourself, the only person in the world where you have control and authority.

Time Span is grabby, because it resonates with what you feel, as a leader. Time Span is the scientific explanation for what you intuitive observe in the workplace, as a manager. Anthony De Mello calls it Awareness. And this is where you start.

Before you can take action, any form of implementation, take an inventory of where you are. What is your role? Inside your organization, what are your accountabilities?

Before you can effectively evaluate the roles of those around you, you must first discover who you are.

Where a Manager Skips a Layer

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
You have talked about the role of the Manager Once Removed. In our company, that role is not encouraged and in some cases, we have been told that it undermines the authority of the reporting chain. How do you explain this role, where a manager skips a layer in the org chart and interacts with team members two layers below?

Response:
Let’s start with a hidden land mine in your question. Your description of the organization as a reporting chain sets up a dysfunction that inhibits healthy and productive interaction between team members and their managers, one and two layers above.

We Report to Lots of People
We report to people all over the organization. I may be responsible for a project segment on an ad-hoc team. I have to produce a number that is part of a financial report for accounting. I provide feedback to the sales team for available inventory. I report to people all over the organization. But I can have only one manager.

Management as a Value Stream
Managers do not exist so people can report to them. Managers exist to create a value stream for problem solving and decision making to their teams one and two layers below. Every employee is entitled to have a competent manager with the capability to bring value to their problem solving and decision making.

With this understanding, we can now examine how the Manager Once Removed (MOR) can create positive, healthy relationships with their team members one and two layers below. We can actually measure these relationships, using Time Span, to specifically determine the accountability in each of these relationships.

What is the nature of the relationship between the Manager and the Team Member? What are their conversations about? What is the work being done in this relationship? What is the Time Span of the work in this relationship?

Between Stratums I and II, the conversations are all about the work, defined as direct output. What your customer experiences in your product or service, is most often the direct output in this relationship. The conversations between the Manager and the Team Member are about pace and quality. The Time Span of the work is typically short, based on production cycles.

Between Stratums I and III, between the Team Member (I) and the Manager Once Removed (III), the relationship changes, the conversation changes, the Time Span changes. In this necessary relationship, the MOR looks at longer Time Span issues, like efficiencies, sequence of work steps, working conditions, workflow configurations. The MOR also looks at the people system, monitors who might be ready for additional responsibilities, more complex challenges and leadership roles. The Time Span of this work is longer term, based on the growth of the organization and the natural maturity of team members progressing in their roles.

Because LIFE HAPPENS, the Manager at Stratum II will eventually turn over. That manager may be promoted, moved to another department or may re-locate. The Manager Once Removed (III) becomes the Hiring Manager to replace that position. The relationship of the MOR (III) with the Team Members (I) provides the necessary data for the hiring decision. Is there anyone on the team ready to step up or do we have to go outside and recruit?

This managerial web, managers involved in coaching and MORs involved in mentoring, makes for a healthy organization ready for change and challenge.

Timing is Everything

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I just spent some time digesting the latest report from ITR. I have a sinking feeling in my stomach, mixed emotions. On one hand, the recovery is underway, but the next bump in the road is only a scant two years away. I have shared this news recently as a “tapping of the brakes,” but this month’s ITR Report uses the “R” word.

“We see the issues of future higher interest rates; higher taxes; federal, state, and local government deficits; unfunded pension liabilities and inflation (including energy and food) as contributing factors to what we think will be a recession that begins in late 2013 and encompasses all of 2014.”

Driving With Both Feet
And I am only talking about the gas pedal and the brake pedal. Between now and 2013, you have no choice but to charge ahead, as fast as you can prudently go. But keep one foot over the brake pedal. Depending on your industry, and some are still reeling (non-residential construction), be careful about building overhead that you cannot easily get rid of. The good news is that we have some warning and time to position ourselves appropriately.

I encourage you to subscribe to ITR, and pay attention. You can find out more information at this link ITR Trends Report.

Ten Percent Luck

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Tyler thought for a minute. “If we did something wrong, then we have been doing it wrong for some time,” he observed. “That’s the way we have always hired people from the outside.”

“And how is that working out for you?” I asked.

“Ten percent of the time, we get lucky, most of the time we get someone who is okay, and ten percent of the time, we get stung.”

“As you look at your process, who is the first person to touch the resumes on their way to the Hiring Manager?”

“That’s easy,” Tyler replied. “HR.”

“And, you, you’re the Manager Once Removed. You’re the manager of the Hiring Manager. When do you finally see the resumes?”

“Well, right before the Hiring Manager extends the offer, I usually see the last three resumes. Often, I will bring back the strongest candidate for a final interview.”

“And, what would happen, if you turned your system upside down, so you were the first person to review the resumes, to put the slate together, for the Hiring Manager to select from?”

“Now, wait a minute,” Tyler stepped back. “I have enough to do without looking at dozens of resumes.”

“Tyler, what more important thing do you have to do than to focus on building the infrastructure of your team? In fact, the reason you are so busy, is because your hiring process is designed to produce exactly the people you end up with.”

Not an Isolated Incident

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
What do you do when you have a team member with an over-inflated ego. This person does NOT have the capability to work at a higher level. Yet, because they have been here a long time, they think they should be given a promotion and the compensation that comes with it. They are already overpaid in their current role.

Response:
This is where titles and compensation get all mixed up with egos and status. The one thing that gets left out in the cold is the WORK. In most cases, I could care less about the title in the role, I care more about the WORK.

Whenever I am approached about promotions, raises, change of title, my first response is, “Fine, let’s talk about the WORK.”

What you describe is not an isolated incident, but a systemic problem where your organization has had no calibration to determine the level of work (capability) required in its roles. Compensation gets out of hand, people receive raises and title changes based on time served (like we are running a prison).

So, the answer to your question is not a specific technique to resolve this specific situation with this specific person. This is a systemic solution which requires the organization to continually define the WORK, the capability required to complete the work, and to assess the effectiveness of the people we have in those roles, doing the WORK.

This assessment, the Personal Effectiveness Appraisal, continually calibrates, over time where the person is, in relationship to the WORK. This is a simple assessment, a required managerial leadership practice. It asks these questions.

  1. Is this person working satisfactorily in the role?
  2. In that role, is the person working as effectively as someone in the top half of the role or the bottom half of the role?
  3. And in that half, is the person working as effectively as someone in the bottom, middle or top of the role?

This simple calibration, discussing the work and effectiveness, helps everyone – the team member, the manager and the manager once removed (MOR) to have helpful discussions about appropriate task assignments where team members are working at (at least near) their maximum capability.

When used over time, with all roles, the organization creates higher levels of trust by engaging in productive conversations about the work (in roles) and effectiveness. This prevents a lot of nonsense where team members have inappropriate (miscalibrated) understandings of their own capability related to task assignments.

Ambiguity and Muddy Water

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
After reading yesterday’s post, I have a question for you on using someone other than the MOR (Manager Once Removed) for the control of the hiring process.

What are your thoughts on using a truly professional “Human Development” person (much more than an H-R admin) for leading the whole process of determining the economic value of the open role, required capability, the relevant behavioral questions and screening candidates versus the agreed upon hiring criteria?

Several companies are now using a very high level (“C” level) and qualified person in this role. It seems better positioned to achieve the company’s culture alignment, finding and growing both new or existing persons to their full potentials.

Response:
Most HR roles suffer from the same dilemma I talked about in my last post. The biggest mistake most companies make is underestimating the Time Span capability required for success in the role. And I don’t think they are trying to be cheap in their approach. I truly believe they misjudge the value of the HR role.

Your question was carefully worded to include “C” level (Stratum IV capability). This person can bring a lot to the table in terms of resources, focused time and expertise.

Here is the problem. An internal HR professional is rarely in a position of accountability for the output of the team. One of the primary elements I hold a manager accountable for, is the composition of their team. Understanding the cascading goals which flow from one Stratum to the next, it is the Manager Once Removed who will have in line accountability for the output of the Hiring Manager (one Stratum below) and the output of the team (two Strata below).

The issues, related to accountability, lead us to role of the Manager Once Removed and the Hiring Manager as the drivers of this process. Internal HR professionals can be valid (individual) contributors, yet, an attempt to relieve the MOR and the Hiring Manager from culpability, muddies the water and creates ambiguity. Ambiguity kills accountability.

Biggest Mistake in Hiring

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Can you clarify the role of the Manager Once Removed (MOR) in the hiring process. You describe that the MOR creates the candidate pool, the slate for the Hiring Manager to select from. Sounds a little dictatorial.

Response:
It may sound that way, but in practical terms, it is high touch with rich discussion.

First, there should be initial agreement that an open role actually exists. The Hiring Manager and the MOR should be in tight communication about the necessity of that role, its budget impact, its operational impact on team productivity and capacity. If there is agreement, they move to the next step.

Any open position is an opportunity to re-think that role. What is the work in that role, what will be the task assignments (what, by when)? Based on the task assignments, what is the Time Span capability required in the role? What skills are required?

Both the Hiring Manager and the MOR create the role description, establishing decision criteria and interview questions. Again, these are high touch discussions, both have a vested interest in a positive hire.

Yes, the MOR will drive this process. This may include resume screens and phone screens to make sure the talent pool contains qualified candidates and that unqualified candidates don’t make it to the Final Four.

The biggest mistake most companies make in the hiring process, is underestimating the Time Span required for success in the role. The participation of the MOR is to make sure we don’t make that mistake.

First Moves

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I was in your Time Span workshop last week. Fascinating. Where do we start? What are the first moves that we make?

Response:
The first moves are always with yourself. Elliott’s intention was that Requisite Organization be a comprehensive organization-wide managerial system. And the first moves are always with yourself.

Organize Around the Work
Define the roles that are necessary. The first missteps an organization makes, is to focus on the capability of their people. Before you examine that capability, you must know what capability is necessary in the roles. It’s like MBWA. Before you do all that walking around, it would be a good idea to know what you are looking for.

Defining roles is fundamental managerial work that most would like to skip, and that is where it starts. What is the work that is necessary?

Only after you have defined the market need and determined a viable product or service, where there is enough value that the customer is willing to pay for, that we can profitably produce, with enough volume to create an organization, we can begin.

Organize Around the Work
What is the work that is necessary? What is the direct output of our production teams that creates the product or service that our customer experiences?

Organize Around the Work
With our production teams, how do we maintain the pace of that production to meet market requirements (sales orders)? What are the roles necessary to coordinate all the materials, machinery, equipment and people at the right time, to create our product or service? How do we maintain the quality standards demanded (necessary) by the market? How do we count what we produced, overproduced, underproduced to make sure production got done?

Organize Around the Work
As your volume builds, things begin to happen, problems crop up. Over and over. Some of the new work has less to do with production and more to do with operations, operational work. With some analysis, we begin to systematize the work with an eye to operational efficiencies and profitability. What analytic work is necessary? What systems need to be constructed and monitored? How do our systems prevent problems? How do we change our systems to accommodate new problems?

This is where you start, by looking at the roles in the organization. Organize around the work.

A Consultant Gets to Walk Away

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Can a third party, like a consultant, operate in the capacity of the MOR?

Response:
The Manager Once Removed (MOR) is a specific role inside the organization. On the surface, it may appear plausible that someone from the outside could step in and move things along, but, there is a missing critical element.

We may give an outside person, like a consultant, authority to act in some capacity, but they are still outside the organization and being on the outside relieves them from accountability. At the end of the day, they get to walk away.

Examples abound in government. There are lots of people who would like to have “oversight” on a given issue, jump in with both feet, throw some people under the bus, act all high and mighty, spout their obtuse opinion. But at the end of the day, they get to walk away with no accountability. Doesn’t it make sense that if you have the authority to call the shots, that I should hold you accountable for the moves you make?

The MOR must have both authority (oversight) and accountability. It is that accountability that makes the oversight effective.