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.

Working Against Ourselves

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“What’s at stake here?” I asked. “You seem disturbed by this growing divide in your company, this sense of distrust. Though you may blame it on the economy, the seeds were sown long ago. You didn’t see them, but the trust between managers and team members has always been troublesome. That’s why there are so many consultants and books on management.”

Lindsey grinned. “So, what can I say? What can I do, as a Manager, to create a higher level of trust?”

“I want to drive this discussion deeper,” I started. “Because I am not sure if there is anything you can say that speaks louder than the managerial systems in your company.”

“What do you mean, managerial systems? I mean, I know what a system is. But, do you mean we have systems that create distrust?”

“It’s possible,” I nodded. “Many companies, with the best of intentions, create people systems that work against, precisely, what they are trying to achieve.”

Breaking the Divide

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“With this economy, I feel there is a growing lack of trust inside our company. There seems to be a growing divide between management and everyone else,” Lindsey described.

“What do you see, that makes you say that?” I asked.

“Sometimes I think it is just grumbling in the hallway, conversations in the breakroom. I think people are withdrawing, looking out for themselves.”

“People are always governed by their own self-interest. What is different now?”

“It’s just an uneasy feeling I have,” Lindsey replied. “I mean, I know we have had to make some adjustments, some layoffs, some of us, including me, have even taken pay cuts. It’s been a tough time.”

“What can we do, intentionally, consistently, to create an environment where trust can have a chance?” -TF

Time Span and the End of the Story

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“I don’t understand,” Roger shook his head. “If Brad would just start earlier on these longer projects, things would be under control, and he wouldn’t be cutting unnecessary corners which compromise project quality.”

“Why do you think he procrastinates until the end?” I asked.

Roger shook his head.

“Because,” I continued, “he cannot see the end until he is two months away. On a project with a nine month deadline, Brad cannot see the end. It is too far away. There is so much uncertainty between now and nine months from now, that he cannot see it.

“So he takes no action.

“Of course, the pressure of the project builds, because now things are getting late, but even that is not what finally kicks Brad into action. With sixty days to go, Brad can now see the end. And when Brad can see the end, he starts to act. It is frustrating for us, because we saw this nine months ago.

“Everyone has a story. And every story has a beginning, middle and an end. When you listen to someone’s story, you will hear the Time Span of their story. They cannot take action in their story until they see the end of their story.”

Procrastination, Then Overtime

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I managed to get two steps up the food chain, talking with the boss of Olivia’s boss, a senior vice president in the company.

“So, how did the audit project get delayed for your ISO re-certification?” I asked.

“I don’t know. You spoke with Olivia, one of our supervisors. Her manager, Brad, is really in charge of that project, it’s a Stratum III role, and we have had more troubles than just the audit with Brad.”

“Procrastination?” I suggested.

His eyes grew wide and his head began to nod in agreement. Eyebrows furrowed. “Yes. And I have talked to him about getting a jump on these longer term projects. Brad is okay with projects of about 60 days, but anything longer than that and he really gets in the weeds. In the end, you start to see him power through, working overtime and weekends. When he started working here, he looked really dedicated, but as time goes on, I don’t see that as effective manager behavior.”

“What length project is Brad good at?”

“Two months.”

“And how much time is left before the audit?”

“Two months.”

“What connection can you make from that?” -TF

Procrastination Killed It

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“We have an ISO process audit coming up in two months and we have to get all the documentation updated before it starts. So, that makes it a two month Time Span goal,” Olivia described. “I am not sure I understand. This is a very complex project. The documentation is very detailed and technical. It will require someone at my level to supervise, to make sure it is correct. If we fail this audit, it puts several contracts in jeopardy. But a two month Time Span looks like Stratum I work.”

“There are two kinds of complexity. One type is created by the amount of technical detail. The other type of complexity is created by uncertainty,” I replied.

“Okay, I understand that if something has a lot of technical detail, it will take a long time just to parse through it. That might make a project’s Time Span longer. But I cannot get over the fact that this project has to be complete in two months, but the level of work is definitely higher than Stratum I.”

“Don’t be fooled. Because you only have two months, a great deal of uncertainty is gone. While you may think this is a tough project (detailed complexity), the limited Time Span forces this to be a simpler project.

“In two months,” I continued, “you don’t have time to start your documentation over from scratch. You don’t have time for massive overhaul, no in-depth analysis. You only have time to perform a quick review, observe a limited number of examples and make some relatively minor changes. Here’s the rub.

“The real Time Span of this project started the moment you finished version one of your current documentation. The true Time Span of the project is closer to one year than two months. Unfortunately, no manager took this assignment. No work was done. Procrastination killed its true purpose, and likely, the quality of the end product.” -TF

Time Span of Intention

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From Working Leadership Online on Setting Goals and Time Span

Question:
In reading the posts so far, it seems that long term goals are hard to articulate. In setting long term goals, would you agree that they are by nature more ambiguous? Should we worry less about being precise?

Response:
A long term goal, by its nature?

Five years ago, a one year goal was a five year goal. What has changed in the four years between?

The goal has taken shape, become clearer, better defined, more concrete. It has also taken turns and twists, met with contingency and unexpected, yes unintended consequences. It is now more certain, less left to chance.

It is the Time Span of intention, the most important judgment for a Manager, to determine those things necessary in the future.

Ambiguous?

Precise? -TF

Join us at Working Leadership Online. Our next Subject Area is Decision Making – Facts and Intuition.

The Loss of a Game

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From Working Leadership Online on Goal Setting and Time Span

Howard Schnellenberger is doing the most important work of his life as a football coach at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton Florida. His earlier achievements are impressive.

Schnellenberger served as offensive coordinator under his college coach Bear Bryant at Alabama, helping Alabama to win three national championships in 1961, 1964 and 1965 before leaving in 1966 to take a job in the NFL as offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams under George Allen, then being hired by Don Shula in 1970 to become the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and parlaying the success of Miami’s 1972 perfect season into becoming the new head coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1973. -Wikipedia

So, what is he doing now, some thirty five years later, coaching at a small university in Florida?

What are his goals?

On the face of it, the job of a football coach is to win games, one at a time, throughout the season, hoping to post a winning record. Noble goals.

Then why did Schnellenberger schedule to play the University of Texas Longhorns for the 2008 season opener? “Those boys are big!” stated an FAU player after the 52-10 sacking.

Schnellenberger has some long term goals, and he may have to lose some games (short term goals) along the way. But his FAU Owls got to play the University of Texas on television. The loss was a game, but the game attracted attention to the football program (long term goal). Schnellenberger demonstrated to talented high school players that if they come to FAU, he will challenge them to play against the best.

Time Span. I am always looking for the longest Time Span goals, for they define the role.

Goals Without Deadlines?

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From our Working Leadership Online program:

Question:
I need help with my field work. I met with my manager to discuss my goals. I can list several specific goals that are interrelated but my issue is that they are mostly on-going. It is difficult to nail down the Time Span.

For example, my biggest goal is to manage the backlog so that we maintain 100% Due Date Performance. This goal, like most of mine, will never be complete. My goals are measured daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. However, they are dynamic and I am struggling to put them in QQTR (Quantity, Quality, Time, Resources) terms.

Response:
In many environments, your work may not be project oriented with specific due dates. In some cases, the Time Span connection has more to do with evaluation periods. In your case, you describe daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual Time Spans.

I am most interested in the longest Time Span goals, or those goals which are judged in longer Time Spans. I am certain you look at metrics on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to capture data so you can make adjustments. Those short term metrics measure production performance. And production performance is important.

But, for you, as a Manager, I am looking for those longer Time Span goals, not measuring Production units, but measuring your system that drives Production. I am looking for metrics about your system and the way it manages efficiency, throughput, scrap, waste, safety, slowdown and acceleration to meet order flow.

Let me take a stab in my imagination.

Prior to the end of each year (Time Span), the Due Date Performance of our backlog will be measured for the previous 12 month period. During that time, the average on-time delivery will deviate no more than 5% from the specified Due Dates.

As time goes by, that 5% goal might be reduced to 4%, then 3%, then 2%, then 1%, then 0%.

Or, if due dates are always consistent and more accurately described as lead times, your goal for a twelve month period might be to reduce the lead time delivery for every order from 40(?) days to 30(?) days. or even shorter.

In your position, as manager, I am not looking for production goals with one or two day Time Spans, but performance measured in longer Time Spans that would indicate production systems maintenance, or production systems improvement.

Let me know if this helps. By the way, thinking about goals, in this way, is different than you may have ever thought about. But, then, that’s the point. To think about your role in a new way. -TF

Goals Don’t Stay the Same

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Krista had a sheepish look on her face when I asked to see her list of goals for the next three months.

“I don’t really have a list,” she said. “I mean, I know what I am supposed to do. I keep it in my head.”

“Then how do you organize your list, if you don’t have it written down? How do you share your goals with other people? How do you change and update them? Most importantly, how do you make decisions about goals?”

“Well, when I started this job, my manager explained things to me. I had a job description and I signed off on it. Is that what you mean?”

“How long ago was that?” I asked.

“About two and half years ago,” she replied.

“Your customers have changed, your market has changed, technology has changed, regulations in your industry have changed, your team has changed. Do mean that your goals have NOT changed in two and half years?”
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No Unimportant Goal

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“I think I need some tips on Time Management,” explained Krista. “I mean, I know I have to set priorities and stuff, but sometimes the day just gets out of hand. I keep my team busy, but you know what they say. The harder we work the behinder we get.”

“How do you make decisions on what to do next, or what to leave behind, what to make faster and what to double-check?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It seems like any ball we drop comes back to haunt us.”

“Indeed,” I replied. “In the grand scheme, it all has to get done. No goal can be cast aside.

“So, how do you decide?” Krista insisted.

“Let me see your list of goals for the next three months. You are a manager. You certainly have a list?” -TF
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