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.

Next Week Predictable

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Brent wasn’t sure he heard me right. I know he was expecting some sympathy for all of his long hours.

“Your long hours are not because you are working hard,” I said. “Your long hours are because you didn’t budget your time.”

He tried the puppy dog look. “But I don’t know exactly how much work there is to do until it piles up on me,” he protested.

“That’s BS,” I responded. “If you would sit down and think about your week coming up, you would find that 95 percent of it is totally predictable.”

“Well, I have a TO DO list, if that’s what you mean.”

“No, I am talking about a Weekly Time Budget. I am going to email you a Weekly Time Budget Planner. It’s one page. Spreadsheet format. Let’s meet tomorrow afternoon and plan your Time Budget for next week.”

Managing Time, Managing Yourself kicks off on March 15, as our next Subject Area in Working Leadership Online. The Weekly Time Budget Planner is only one tool we will talk about as we explore how Time impacts everything we do, as managers. As a participant, you will receive a copy of this powerful, but simple, weekly planning tool. If you would like a Free Trial to the program, follow this link.

Working Leadership Online Free Trial

Just Regular Work

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I had a hot tip to stop by and visit with Brent. As I entered his office, I noticed his eyes were sunk in. It was Friday, but he didn’t look like he was ready for the weekend.

“You look like crap,” I observed. “When did you get here this morning?”

Brent sat up, a bit startled. “Oh, man,” he said. “I rolled in around 5:00a. I just had to get some stuff done.”

“And when did you leave last night?”

“Well, I got out of here about 9:45p. I don’t know what it is. This has been going on for the past three weeks. On Monday, things don’t look so bad, but come Thursday and Friday, the work just seems to pile up. I have worked the last three Saturdays and last week, had to come in on Sunday. Missed the football game.”

“So, this is not some special project. Just your regular work,” I inquired.

“Yeah, in fact, if I had known about it ahead of time, I could delegate some of it out and it would already be done. But I don’t know about some of this stuff until it’s too late, or don’t realize how long it is really going to take. All of sudden, the pile is stacked up and everyone has gone home. The work’s gotta get done.”

“Brent, what if?” I started. “Brent, what if I don’t believe you.”

Mentoring and Supervision

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
What are your thoughts regarding the advantages and disadvantages of both mentoring and supervision? I believe that it’s best to have mentoring from someone outside their organization. Do you agree?

Response:
Bringing in someone from outside the organization, a consultant, should only be used as a last resort, and only when there is no one inside the organization to play that mentoring role. Elliott Jaques, Requisite Organization, was very specific about these two roles, mentoring and supervision. They are separate and distinct.

Elliott was one of the few, who recognized, and distinguished the role of supervisor from manager. The role gets confusing because we have all kinds of words, supervisor, coordinator, director, first line manager. If you have people engaged in production, the role of the supervisor is to make sure production gets done, using schedules, checklists and meetings. If your production role is measured (Time Span) at Stratum I, then the role of the Supervisor is clearly Stratum II. This relationship between the Stratum II Supervisor and Stratum I Production is based on accountability. Their conversations are coaching conversations. The purpose, is to make sure production gets done.

So, who is this mentor? What is this purpose? And why should it be an inside role, not a consultant role? If Stratum I attends to Production, and Stratum II makes sure production gets done, Elliott described Stratum III as a true managerial role, whose focus is in creating the systems in which production is done. It is the role of Stratum III to determine the best sequence of process, to design the order, set the standards. The most critical element in any business system is the people system. What do we have people doing? What skills are necessary? What capability is required? AND who do we select into those roles?

As time goes by, the Stratum III manager constantly evaluates the effectiveness of the Stratum II supervisor. We don’t have to ask the manager to do this, it is a sub-conscious evaluation that occurs every single day. At some point, the Supervisor role will turn over. The person will be promoted, transferred or will move to Montana to go fly fishing. And the Stratum III manager will now be required to fill the role. And this is where mentoring comes in. The first place the Stratum III Manager goes is to the Stratum I Production team. Is there someone on that team ready to move up to Stratum II responsibility? The only way the SIII Manager knows this, is through mentoring conversations, about career development.

Mentoring conversations have a very distinct purpose and are required as the organization goes forward. Mentoring conversations help the Stratum III Manager make decisions about who? Who has the capability, who has the necessary skills, who has the interest to move into this Stratum II role?

An outside consultant may be close enough to assist in this process, but has no stake in the game. It is the distinct role of the Stratum III Manager to engage in mentoring conversations with Stratum I. This is the role of the Manager-Once-Removed (MOR). These same mentoring conversations should occur between the Stratum IV Vice-President and the Stratum II Supervisor. These same mentoring conversations should occur between the Stratum V Business Unit President and their Stratum III Managers. Succession happens all over the organization. This mentoring relationship from the MOR is the necessary piece to make sure we make the best decision.

India and Alabama

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I am Karthi from India. I would like to ask you a simple question. We talk about theories in management. But, people with experience in management say that, well defined theories will not work. I, myself, agree with this. Considering human resource management, a single management strategy will not work for people from various geographical locations. For example, you cannot deal with Indians and Japanese in the same way, right?

Response:
Karthi, thank you for the question. There are levels where you are accurate, where there are distinct differences and levels where management strategies are identical. Let’s explore both, and discover.

There are certainly differences in customs between Indians and Japanese. In the United States, there are customs that are different between people from New York and people from Texas. These differences can easily be observed in greetings, dress, pace. Each of these will be important for a manager. Handshakes, bows, hugs, kisses, smiles all create a platform for communication.

And there are some elements which I believe are identical from one culture to the next. One element, is the way in which, we all need to work. I believe, in each culture, individuals require, for their own self concept, the ability to contribute, through work. The goal for every manager is to discover in each team member, the type of work on which, the team members places a high value. We all have this need and it can only be satisfied through work.

What is work? It is the same in every culture. Work is solving problems and making decisions. Often, we see manual work as shoveling, digging, putting things on shelves, filing, copying, answering emails, going to meetings. But that is not the work. The work is in solving the problems and making decisions during each of those activities. And that work is the same in India, Japan and Alabama.

Can’t Do It Alone

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Miguel looked at me. I looked at him. A stare-down.

Miguel spoke first, “You are adding a swing shift, so our production will run 18 hours a day. As a manager I am working 12 hours a day, as it is. And you want me to be responsible for the production of this additional shift?”

“And I want you to cut your hours here at the office from 12 hours to 10 hours per day. Nine hours per day would be better. What changes will you have to make to accomplish that?” I asked.

“Quality is going to suffer,” Miguel protested.

“No, our quality standards remain the same.”

Miguel took a step back. His head went down. He disappeared from the conversation momentarily. “I cannot do it alone,” he finally responded. “I will need to pick a couple of people to help me out, one to head up each shift.”

“And what if one of them gets sick or has to take a personal day?”

“Then, I am back to working 18 hours that day.”

“Not allowed,” I responded.

“Then, I will have to pick four people. Two people to supervise and two people as backups.”

I looked at Miguel and smiled. “Come and see me when you have made your selection. We will talk about your next steps.”
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No one person accomplishes anything of significance, by themselves. While we may single out, give accolades and awards to a person for accomplishment, without a team around them, they would be nothing. What does that mean for every manager?

Twenty-four Hour Responsibility

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“I am already working 12-13 hours a day,” Miguel pushed back. “And you are going to expand the swing shift to run 18 hours a day. How do you expect me to manage? I can’t do it.”

“You can’t do it the way you are doing things, now. What has to change?” I asked.

“Look, I can only be responsible for production about 12 hours a day!” Miguel’s face began to redden.

“No, I want you to be responsible for production 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s why you get paid by the month, not the hour.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little unrealistic?”

“Not at all. You can’t do things the way you have in the past. What has to change?”

“Well, I can’t be here 24 hours a day. I’m pushing it the way it is, now.”

“Actually, I don’t expect you to be here more than 9-10 hours a day. How can you be responsible 24 hours a day when you are only here for 9-10?”

Make Your Move

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Caught in the Swing Shift

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Miguel was stunned. At some point, he thought I was a nice guy, but now he was not so sure. Our production volume was coming back, and because of layoffs in his department, he was already working twelve hour days running a 10 hour staggered shift. We were about to expand to an 18 hour swing shift, adding more production people and expecting Miguel to run the whole thing. Welcome to management.

“But I am already working as hard as I can,” Miguel protested. “How can you possibly expect more?”

“I expect more, because you are capable of more,” I replied. Miguel’s face turned blank. He was tired of fighting. He was tired of fighting the twelve hour days, he was tired of fighting me, but mostly he was tired of fighting his own thinking.

“I can’t work this way any longer,” he resigned. “Something has to give. I am already in trouble with my wife. I hardly get to play with my kids. My golf clubs have rust on them.”

“And I want you to manage a longer work process with about double the headcount you have now. What are you going to change?”

Jeopardizing the Schedule

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
My company went to a big seminar last week, so now, we are on a big kick to “drive decision making down to the lowest level.” As a manager, I am not supposed to answer my team members’ questions. I am supposed to say, “I don’t know, what do you think?” Sometimes, my team members don’t think.

Response:
This is a noble idea, but as with most noble ideas, as a manager, you still have to make a judgment. Which decisions are appropriate to drive down? Some are, some are not.

Decisions can be measured by understanding the Time Span of the goal. If a team member has a goal that is due in one week, that creates a Time Span of Discretion of one week. Most decisions like this will be related to the pace and quality of the work.

For example. If a team member is to produce 100 units in a week’s time, they should have the Time Span of Discretion to decide at any given time, if they are ahead or behind schedule. They should be able to decide if they can work on other projects during that time or if they have to put other work aside to complete the 100 units prior to the end of the week. If they run into a problem that they can solve and still get the 100 units produced according to schedule, then they should solve the problem. If solving that problem will take so much time that it jeopardizes the production schedule, then their manager should immediately be consulted so appropriate adjustments can be made.

The Time Span of Discretion is an accurate gauge to determine which decisions should be driven down and which should be reserved for the manager.

Nuclear Facility or Ice Cream Parlor?

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
What is your opinion on the idea of forcing decision making downward. Do you think downward decision making is desirable?

Response:
It depends. There are a number of factors that will determine this direction. Ultimately, I will hold the manager responsible for the results of any decision that was made. This alone may guide you.

First factor is risk management. How much risk is associated with the result of the decision? If the decision is made poorly, how much damage can be done? Do you work in a nuclear facility or an ice cream parlor?

The second factor has to do with purpose. What is the purpose of driving the decision down a level? Is it a learning purpose? Is its purpose to obtain buy-in to the decision? Get clear on the purpose and that will help you determine the direction to move.

These are the issues we talk about in Working Leadership Online. Our next Subject Area, Decision Making, Time Span of Discretion kicks off on Monday, February 22. Follow this link – Working Leadership Free Trial.