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.

Matching Capability

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“Tell me, why do you think it is important to match the person’s Time Span capability with the Time Span required in the task?” I asked. This was like an impromptu quiz, with a point.

Jonas looked left. “Because if the person doesn’t have the capability to complete the task, it won’t get done. Obvious, I think.”

“And how does that person feel about that task, their role in the company?”

“I suppose they would feel frustrated, a bit overwhelmed,” Jonas replied.

“And so what happens then?”

“Well, usually, that person gets put on the bubble. And if they stay on the bubble, long enough, they’re history.”

“Theoretically, that sounds good,” I pushed, “but that’s not what I see. Can this person make it on the basis of their performance?”

Jonas shook his head, “Nope.”

“So, how does this person survive? How does this person stay on your payroll?”

Jonas smiled. “You’re right. I call it Teflon. Nothing sticks. And try to hold the person accountable, you hear every excuse.”

“So, why is it important to match the person’s Time Span capability with the Time Span required in the task?”

Reveal Capability with This Simple Exercise

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“So, how can you tell?” Jonas asked. “How do you measure Time Span capability in a person?”

“How can you tell anything about a person?” I replied.

“I can tell you the most about people I know,” he nodded.

“Let’s start there. With the people you know the most. In fact, let’s make a list of those people who see you, as their manager. That should be a list of four or five people.”

“Okay, I have the list, now what?”

“Take that list and rank them according to Time Span. Longest Time Span at the top of the list and shortest Time Span at the bottom of the list. Here are some questions I ask myself.

  • If I had a project that would take a year to complete, which of those on the list would I feel most comfortable with?
  • And if I had a slightly shorter project, who is the next person I would feel comfortable in making that assignment?
  • And if I only felt comfortable assigning a short phase of a larger project, who would that person be?
  • And who on the list, do I have to check up on every ten minutes, just to see if they are still working?

With that list in hand, how does it look?”

Jonas was working while I was talking. “Got it,” he finished.

“And now, as you look at that list, your team ranked in Time Span order, how confident do you feel about the accuracy of your ranking?”

Jonas nodded, “I think I did a pretty good job.”

“If I were to tell you that you did a highly accurate assessment of your team members, why would I have such a high level of confidence in your ability to make this assessment? Do you consider yourself an expert on Time Span?”

“Well, no, but I know these people. I have known each of them for several years.”

“Exactly, you see, you have not been doing this exercise for the past few minutes. You have been doing this exercise for years. Every manager always maintains a running intuitive judgment about the Time Span capability of their team. You just never though about it this way before. And now, you have a very simple tool to work with.”

The Myth of Results Based Performance

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“I’m curious, though,” Jonas was thinking out loud. “As we create these tests for Rudy, to determine his capability in longer Time Span tasks, I am wondering how long this assessment period will take? If we test his capability on a 12 month Time Span task, does that mean we have to wait for the results after 12 months to make our decision? We base our Performance Appraisals on results. In fact, we hired a consultant to come in to develop our Results-based Performance Appraisal System.”

I held back, all but the glint of a smile. “Interesting question. Many companies proclaim an undying commitment to a results orientation. Management For Results. But let me ask you this, Jonas. When you observe a 12 month Time Span task, do you have to wait 12 months for the results to determine whether the person is being effective in the position?”

Now, it was Jonas’ turn to smile, as he shook his head from side to side. “No, you don’t. You can tell way before that.” Jonas stopped, then continued. “I wonder about our system of Performance Appraisals. Perhaps instead of Manage for Results, we should Manage for Effectiveness?”

Blessed Are the Flexible

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So, what is this recovery going to look like. My primary economic forecasters, Alan and Brian Beaulieu are not expecting a double-dip, but they are predicting a long slow dig out.

Victor Cheng is issuing a strong warning anticipating a double-dip. Victor’s observations are based on conceptual trends and events, while Alan and Brian pay more attention to numeric indicators.

My sense is that we are looking, not at a V shape or U shape recovery, but something that looks more like an L shape recovery. Seven actions to take.

  1. Examine your revenue budget to make sure it is realistic. From your budget, create at least a tactical 6 month forecast, aggressively updated every 30 days.
  2. Take a long look at your personnel plan for the next 12 months. Determine which positions are absolutely necessary based on your revenue budget. Now, lay your tactical 6 month forecast on top of that personnel plan to see if, in the short term, it is survivable. Update aggressively every month.
  3. Eliminate any operational function that is not necessary to meet your customer demands.
  4. Simplify every operational process. It is likely, you will find an effective solution inside most of your methods and processes that is simpler and at a lower cost structure.
  5. Consolidate methods and processes, so that similar tasks are staged and cross-trained. This will allow you to maintain operations in the event you have to reduce headcount.
  6. Outsource any process that is not part of your core value stream. Outsourcing allows you to fix costs and jettison overhead in the event that process is no longer necessary.
  7. Technology. Before adding headcount, explore technology to see if there is an alternative to labor intensive processes.

    8. During this time of uncertainty, blessed are the flexible, for they will not get bent out of shape.

    Credit to the Four Hour Work Week, for some of the central themes of survivability.

Over-runs, Under-runs and Backorders

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“It’s just that, with our volume down, it seemed that the supervisor’s role could be covered by one of our managers,” Rene defended.

“For that matter,” I replied, “your production roles are simple enough, couldn’t the manager step in and cover those as well?”

Rene laughed. “We joked about that, but you don’t save any money by laying off a production person. You save more by laying off the supervisor.”

“And how much are you saving, now, running your manager in a supervisor’s role and letting your systems go to hell in a handbasket?”

The smile left Rene’s face. “I know, I know. We haven’t counted up what this is costing us, but with the over-runs and under-runs, and customers on backorder, I figure it took us two weeks to lose back what we may have saved in the last 18 months.”

Put Out Fires, Or Work on the System

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“You are running short and running long,” I repeated. “Are there any patterns to the fluctuations that would help us understand.”

“Absolutely, but the manager is working as a supervisor and doesn’t have the time to lay it all out,” Rene continued. “We have spreadsheet models that we used two years ago, but the assumptions don’t hold up, need to be tweaked. You know, it’s funny. The manager asked me last week if, what he is doing now, as a supervisor, is really the best use of his time?”

“What did he mean?”

“I don’t know,” Rene replied. “For a minute, I though we might have a motivation problem. You know, right now, everybody has to pitch in and do whatever it takes. But it did get me to thinking. We didn’t hire him to be a supervisor, it’s just now, that’s what we need him to do.”

“That’s what you need him to do, or someone else to do? Do you need someone to put out all the fires or do you need your manager to work on the system that will prevent most of those fires?”

Volume Ramps Up

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“What gives?” I asked. (This is known as a probing diagnostic question.)

“We’re having difficulty ramping back up,” Rene replied. “It’s interesting that when we were doing four times the volume, things seemed easier. We had almost no back-orders. We never built excess inventory in our finished goods. I know we are running with fewer people, but we have brought back plenty of production people to cover the output.”

“How do you get both backorders and excess finished goods at the same time?” I wanted to know.

“Easy. One product line runs short, the next one runs long. And we’re not that busy. You would think this would be easy.”

“And, what does the supervisor say?”

“Well, we reorganized last year, to deal with the recession,” Rene explained. “So, we have a manager watching the area, actually three areas. And that’s where the problem seems to be. He tells me that he is constantly putting out fires. Like yesterday, we ran short on raw materials for one of the lines.”

“I thought you had an MRP system that was supposed to take care of those issues?” I pressed.

“We do. But we adjusted our min/max re-order points to deplete some of our inventory during the recession and the manager hasn’t had time to go back and re-adjust as our volume ramps up. Not to mention, lead times from our suppliers, the ones still left, are all over the place.”

Short-Term Precious Time

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“Why is it important to get your team involved in problem solving?” I asked.

Carl had been promoted to manager six months ago, after two years with the company as a supervisor. Stress cracks had begun to show.

“Well, some decisions, I have to make. Between me and my boss, I am still accountable for the productivity of my team,” he replied.

“I understand. But why is it important to get your team involved in problem solving?” I repeated.

“Well, I would get them involved if I thought it would help, but I have to tell you, sometimes the things they come up with are way off base,” Carl continued to resist.

“So?”

“So, it wastes a lot of time. And you know how busy we are around here. Time is precious.”

“Short-term time is precious,” I agreed. “And team problem solving eats time for breakfast. In the short term, it might appear that little is accomplished. So, think about this. What is the long term impact of team problem solving?”

Interest, Passion and Value

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Donna was quiet. “You talk about necessity. It was a volunteer team, so the necessity had to be something inside each of us. To create a new team on my new project, I have to find people who find that same necessity, inside.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “What do you look for?”

“To be on this team, you have to be interested in the work. You have to have a passion for the work,” she replied.

“And what work do we have interest in, as individuals? As a manager, how will you identify the passion we might have for the project?”

Donna was searching. Her eyes moved up and to the left. “I know I have an interest, or passion, for work in which I place a high value. If I don’t place a high value on the work, I will not be interested. I mean, I may show up and slug my way through it, but I will not pursue it, with enthusiasm.”

“Value?” I asked.

“Value. If I see high value, you have my attention.”

“As a manager, how will you see that in another person?”

Something Inside Each Team Member

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“How could it be necessity. I thought you said it was a volunteer project?” I pressed. “Volunteer means you had a choice. How could it be necessity?”

Donna sat for a minute. “You are right. We were volunteers, as a team. But to us, it was necessary. It was necessary to show up on time. It was necessary to support each other. It was necessary to challenge each other. It was necessary to finish the project.”

“Look, you said it was necessity that made your team perform at such a high level. But if you were all volunteers, what made this project necessary?”

“I don’t know,” Donna replied. “It was something we saw in the project.” She stopped. “Or something we saw in ourselves that made the project necessary. For each person on the team.”

I let her words sink in. She had just made the connection. The necessity that drove her team was something inside each team member, that made them push forward.

And then I pressed again, “So, how do you, as a manager, create that necessity, with your team, on this new project?”