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.

Time Span of Intention

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

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?

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

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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The option of learning online at my convenience is a great benefit. The course was excellent – I learned many things that I can apply as a manager. -Arlene Breitkreuz

Working Leadership Online. Register Now.

  • Feb 16 – Decision Making – Using Facts and Intuition
  • Mar 2 – Planning – Creating the Future
  • Mar 16 – Delegation – Ultimate Leverage
  • Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops
  • Apr 13 – Managing Time – Managing Yourself
  • Apr 27 – Team Problem Solving – Power of Team
  • May 11 – Coaching – Two Powerful Models
  • May 25 – Coaching – Underperformance and Misbehavior

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No Unimportant Goal

“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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This program is anti-matter to today’s barage of costly management solutions. The program covered a great deal of critical leadership material that managers can immediately benefit from. -Cathy Darby

Working Leadership Online. Register Now.
Feb 2 – Goal Setting and Time Span (2 weeks)
Feb 16 – Delegation (2 weeks)
Mar 2 – Planning (2 weeks)
Mar 16 – Decision Making (2 weeks)
Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops (2 weeks)
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We have 8 week subscriptions and annual subscriptions.

Some Goals Are Noble

I want to step outside the stories for a couple of days and talk about a few things we are doing here. Management Skills Blog is in its fifth year with more than 1000 posts talking about issues faced by managers.

Over the years we have been working on an interactive platform that kicks off today. Those of you from my workshops know about the research of Elliott Jaques. His concepts of Requisite Organization will be the cornerstone of this new platform. Today, a group jumps in with both feet.

We start with Goals. Everything we do, as a person, is goal directed behavior. Our daily lives are filled with “what by whens.” Sometimes we are aware of our goals, sometimes our goals are so routine that we don’t even notice. Yet our days are full of goals.

Some goals are noble, some not so noble. Some goals are driven by needs, some driven by desire, some driven by avoidance.

And there are times, plenty of times, when we are most definitely aware of our goals. We think about them, share them with others, change them, write them down and achieve them. Everything we do starts with a goal.
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Working Leadership Online kicks off today. Register Now.
Feb 2 – Goal Setting and Time Span (2 weeks)
Feb 16 – Delegation (2 weeks)
Mar 2 – Planning (2 weeks)
Mar 16 – Decision Making (2 weeks)
Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops (2 weeks)
We have 8 week subscriptions and annual subscriptions.

Uncertainty of Events

Torrey took a long breath. “So, I am responsible for the output of my team members?”

“That is what I will hold you accountable for,” I replied.

“Even if they get sick, or a machine breaks down, or materials are late,” Torrey was looking for a way out.

I nodded my head. “Torrey, the reason we selected you for this project, is that you have been successful on other projects, six months in length. I expect you to manage the uncertainty of events that could happen and will happen during a project of this Time Span. I expect you to make contingency plans, schedule redundancy where it’s appropriate, inspect for quality, anticipate schedule changes, vacations and prevent accidents. I don’t expect you to make excuses. I expect you to anticipate, modify, readjust and meet the deadline.” -TF
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Working Leadership Online kicks off next Monday. Register Now.
Feb 2 – Goal Setting and Time Span (2 weeks)
Feb 16 – Delegation (2 weeks)
Mar 2 – Planning (2 weeks)
Mar 16 – Decision Making (2 weeks)
Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops (2 weeks)
We have 8 week subscriptions and annual subscriptions.

Heading Off Excuses

“Don’t you think you are being a little hard on me?” Torrey floated.

“Not at all. I am just heading off the excuses I expect to hear when your team doesn’t meet your goal,” I replied.

“My goal. But it’s not really my goal,” Torrey protested. “It’s the team’s goal.”

“No, the project goal is your goal. It is you, the Manager, that I hold accountable for the project goal. Regarding your team, I only expect them to do their best.”

“But, but,” Torrey sputtered.

“But, what? You signed off on the project budget, based on the resources and the schedule. You signed off on the Goal, the What by When. I will judge your effectiveness, to manage the project resources and the schedule along the Time Span of this project.”
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Working Leadership Online kicks off next Monday. Register Now.
Feb 2 – Goal Setting and Time Span (2 weeks)
Feb 16 – Delegation (2 weeks)
Mar 2 – Planning (2 weeks)
Mar 16 – Decision Making (2 weeks)
Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops (2 weeks)
We have 8 week subscriptions and annual subscriptions.

Replacing a Manager’s Judgment

“But what if I consider all those things, materials, conditions and the competence of my team, and I set the deadline, and we still miss it. Maybe the team didn’t work hard enough?” Torrey floated.

“That may be possible, but I rarely find that is the case,” I replied. “Let me ask you this question. Is your team doing their best?”

Torrey sat back. “Well, I guess so.”

“What do you mean, you guess? It is your responsibility to know precisely whether your team is doing their best.”

“Yes, I know. That’s why we put in a bonus program, so that if the project meets the deadline, then the team gets a bonus.”

“So, you are still telling me that you, as the Manager are not able to judge whether your team is doing their best. You have replaced yourself with a phony bonus program, withholding compensation because you cannot make that judgment.”
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Working Leadership Online kicks off next Monday. Register Now.
Feb 2 – Goal Setting and Time Span (2 weeks)
Feb 16 – Delegation (2 weeks)
Mar 2 – Planning (2 weeks)
Mar 16 – Decision Making (2 weeks)
Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops (2 weeks)
We have 8 week subscriptions and annual subscriptions.

Judgment of the Manager

“So, I get to set the deadline?” Torrey continued.

“Yes, that is one of the judgments a Manager has to make,” I replied. “As the Manager, you have the inside track on the context of the project, the importance of its schedule, the resources that have been budgeted, the quality of the raw materials, the facts of the working conditions, and the competence of the team. Only you have all these elements to consider.

“And that is why I hold you accountable for the progress of the project. I rely on your independent discretionary judgment to make that decision. Yes, you get to set the deadline.”
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Working Leadership Online kicks off next Monday. Register Now.
Feb 2 – Goal Setting and Time Span (2 weeks)
Feb 16 – Delegation (2 weeks)
Mar 2 – Planning (2 weeks)
Mar 16 – Decision Making (2 weeks)
Mar 30 – Control Systems and Feedback Loops (2 weeks)
We have 8 week subscriptions and annual subscriptions.