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.

Performance Improvement

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Working Leadership Online Schedule
January 26 – Orientation
February 2 – Goal Setting and Time
February 16 – Decision Making
March 2 – Planning
March 16 – Delegation

To find out more about this program and to pre-register, visit www.workingleadership.com.
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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
How can you help someone improve on their writing skills? We use form letters most often in correspondence and there are not a lot of opportunities to write a letter/memo. Do you have any tips on how I as a manager could assist my direct report? (Aside from taking courses, etc.)

Response:
My best recommendation is practice. I would assign short exercises (3-4 sentences in length) on a periodic basis (1-2x per week) and then spend short coaching sessions (10 minutes) reviewing the exercise. My assignments would be verbal expecting a 3-4 sentence written response.

Before you get started, you will need to sit with this person and define the purpose for the weekly exercise. “We need to work on improving your writing skills so you can be more effective in your role. We are not going to beat a dead horse, but we are going to work on short improvement exercises, where there is no risk. As time goes by, we will shift from exercises to the real writing that our customers (or others) read.”

Using exercises in the beginning allows you to establish a performance improvement program without judging “bad work.” Understand, in the exercises, you are definitely judging, as a manager, the writing performance, but it moves the focus from “bad work” to “improvement” in a non-lethal environment.

It does make some sense, early on in the coaching, to ask “How is what we talked about today, influencing your real written communication with customers?”

Let me know how it goes. -TF

The Risk in Uncertainty

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“I truly think we could multiply this business five times over,” Synthia described. “If someone bought our company, now, with the right investment, things would take off.”

“In this economy?” I asked.

“Yes, in this economy. Some sectors are taking it on the chin, but we made a decision to stick in this part of the market,” she replied.

“If that is what you think, why don’t you do it?”

“Well, we don’t, I mean, there is risk, after all,” Synthia backed off.

“When I ask, why don’t you do it? it’s not a dare. I am really looking for the reasons. Let’s say there are six reasons why you don’t want to take the risk. I will bet a dollar, three of the reasons are real and three of the reasons are head trash. I am here to help you identify the head trash, so we can get down to the real reasons to go forward or hold back. When we get the head trash out of the way, we can begin to make progress on stuff that is real.” -TF
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Working Leadership Online Schedule
January 26 – Orientation
February 2 – Goal Setting and Time
February 16 – Decision Making
March 2 – Planning
March 16 – Delegation
To find out more about this program and to pre-register, visit www.workingleadership.com.

All Those Things Abundent Work Denied You

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In response to Monday’s Letter from China, Joe Barnes writes:

Having lived through several deep recessions in the U.S. I found that there are still rewards to be obtained even when you have to redefine your traditional concept of productivity:

Spend your free time wisely. Focus on EDUCATION–learn a useful skill; learn a new language; read things that you previously ignored; reach higher than you thought possible when you were busy with the work that has now fallen by the wayside.

Be PATIENT. Think long term. This situation did not happen suddenly and it will not be cured suddenly. Focus your energies on WELLNESS. Depression and anxiety sicken and kill. Adopt a new regimen of exercise, fitness and healthy food. Grow your own; you have the time.

Focus on SPIRITUAL enrichment. Spend time being involved with and reaching out to those whose lot in life is worse than yours. All the things that abundant work denied you, due to too busy a schedule, will now be possible. REINVENT YOURSELF so that when global circumstances improve you will be ready to prosper.
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Pre-registration continues for Working Leadership Online. This program kicks off with Orientation on Jan 26. For more information, follow this link.

Describe a Manager’s Role

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I’m a production guy who was given a shot at management but was replaced after a year-and-a-half. You had some keen insight and encouragement for me and I really appreciate you offering your valuable time. I’m hoping you’ll be able to help me again.

I’m ready to pursue another management opportunity but I’ve never crafted a resume specifically for a management position. I’ve read that a resume is usually only skimmed over by the person reading it and you only have about 20 seconds to make an impression. So I have two quick questions for you sir:

1. Do you agree with that 20 second rule?
2. Are there any suggestions you could offer to help me craft the best resume possible?

Response:
Congratulations on your freedom and decision to continue to pursue a management position.

No, I do not agree with the twenty second rule. I think it takes at least thirty seconds to make a good decision about a person 🙂

Seriously, first impressions are important, but not the inflection point for a positive decision, though a negative first impression could be difficult to overcome.

So, for first impressions, I would focus on the non-verbal parts of the contact.
1. Show up on time (thirty minutes early is better than one minute late).
2. Dress one or two levels above the standard dress for the company.
3. Be cordial and smile.

Now, on to the resume.

As you write short descriptions of your work history, focus on those things that relate to the role of a supervisor and the role of a manager.

Supervisory roles – make sure production (product assembly or service delivery) gets done. This is NOT doing production. This is making sure production happens, using schedules, checklists and meetings. The number of people involved and the time span of the production process are important.

Management roles – create, monitor and improve systems. This is NOT doing production, but determining the sequence in which production is done. If there is a problem, the question the manager asks is not “why was there a problem?” but “why didn’t our system detect the problem?” This would include work flow, material procurement, order flow, inventory management, service dispatch, the list goes on. Think system, using work schematics, flow charts, org charts and planning. The number of people involved and the time span of the system cycle are important.

So, take your work history and describe those aspects that align with both supervisory and management roles.

Best of luck in your search. -TF

Letter from China

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I’m from China and manager of our sales department. The global financial crisis is hitting everyone in the world and China is not an exception. Among my staff, some people fear being laid off with little enthusiasm to work while others are even more negative about the future.

My question is how we can motivate people and how to relieve them from their worries, and rebuild hope for the future, though no one can predict what will happen.

Response:
The value most often cited for effective leadership is honesty. We seek leaders with integrity. These should be your guiding lights.

Unfortunately, you may not know what the honest answer is, so your response may sound hollow. When, in fact, you may not know what the future holds for your team or for your company.

What do we know? We know that this economic crisis will pass and that the world will get along. Life, goes on. In this case, not quickly. My advisors (Ecotrends.org) tell us not to look for relief until the summer of 2010, and even then, we may only see the first signs of spring.

That means things are going to be tough and uncertain.

In all of this however, there will still be opportunity. And that opportunity will only come to those organizations that are aggressive in finding and capitalizing on those opportunities. Even if the world’s economy is reduced by 40 percent, there is still 60 percent left. The question, for your team, is which group they want to be in, the 40 percent or the 60 percent. It is really a choice.

Time for Family and Friends

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Today caught up with me. Running hard, just like you.

It has been a wild year, but then we knew it would turn out this way. Maybe we didn’t believe it, in our hearts until the past couple of months, but we knew it would turn out this way. We worked hard to prepare, get our balance sheets in order, wean off debt, and say goodbye to some of our favorite people. It was those last goodbyes that were the most difficult, those we hoped we could keep, but couldn’t after all.

And some companies are still growing, traditionally counter cyclical to economic circumstances. This will still be a time of change.

Some of what we know will no longer be valid. Some solutions will no longer fit the new problems. It will require our brightest mind and sharpest execution. And it will always come down to this.

Find a market need big enough.
Build a product or service to meet it.
Then produce it faster, better and cheaper than your competitor.

To help, we have created a new management program called Working Leadership Online. It will start at the end of January. You can find out more about by following this link.

But, now it is time to rest and enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Management Skills Blog will return on January 5, 2009. And now this story, first published here in 2005.
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As Matthew looked across the manufacturing floor, the machines stood silent, the shipping dock was clear. Outside, the service vans were neatly parked in a row. Though he was the solitary figure, Matthew shouted across the empty space.

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.”

He reached for the switch and the mercury vapors went dark. He slid out the door and locked it behind.

Work Expands

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“The point of the vacation exercise is not to pretend that every week is the week before vacation, but to look at the difference between that week and any other week,” I explained.

“That’s good news, because if I worked as hard every week as I do the week before vacation, I would go nuts. It’s bad enough the way it is. Almost makes going on vacation not worth the all the trouble,” Marissa replied.

“So, what is different about that week from any other week,” I asked.

“Well, I have to get more stuff done, so I just do whatever it takes. Some days I work longer, but mostly I prioritize and delegate. And you are right, some things simply become unimportant, so they don’t get done at all.”

“So, you have just learned about Parkinson’s Law. Work expands (or contracts) to the time allotted.”
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Working Leadership Online kicks off with Open Registration on January 26. Pre-register now to receive a $50 credit. www.workingleadership.com

Some Things Don’t Get Done

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“Have you ever noticed that the week before you go on vacation is the week from hell?” I asked.

Marissa nodded.

“Why is it the week from hell?”

“There is always so much to do that I can never get it all done.”

“Think about what else is different about that week,” I prodded.

Marissa smiled, “That’s the one week that I actually sit down and plan everything out. I delegate all kinds of things that I never delegate, and there are some things that I know that just won’t get done. That’s the hardest part.”

“Do those things ever get done, like when you come back?”

“Now, that I think about, no. Those things never get done. The only things that get done are the really important things,” she replied.

“Those things that are necessary.”

Only Necessary

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“To figure out what to eliminate, you have to figure out what is necessary,” I continued.

“That’s going to be tough. Just because our headcount is lower doesn’t mean that we can relax our standards. Everything still has to get done,” Marissa resisted.

“Everything?” I nudged.

It had not occurred to Marissa to examine the things in a typical workday to determine what is truly necessary.

“I suppose, we could,” Marissa stopped. Deciding necessity was more difficult than she thought. She was used to the routine, and eliminating unnecessary steps was throwing her off-balance.

“Marissa, I want you to try this. The project we talked about at the Monday meeting, you said, would take a week to complete. I want that project completed and emailed to me by this Wednesday instead.”

“No way,” she protested. “Impossible.”

“Yes, possible. And what’s more, if you are forced to complete the project by Wednesday, I guarantee, you will drop out everything that is not necessary. This is more than just an exercise, this a new way of looking at productivity.”

Work Harder, Not Smarter

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“My team is now down to three people,” Marissa explained. ” I hope that was my last reduction in force. I don’t know how we are going to get everything done.”

“How are you going to get everything done?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I guess we will just have to work harder.”

“Work harder, not smarter, that’s the ticket,” I replied.

Marissa smiled and nodded. “You are right, our work volume is down. But when you lose people, there are some things you still have to do.”

“Do you? How are you going to get everything done?”

“I guess there are some things we are NOT going to do.”

“The first step to higher productivity is to eliminate things that are not necessary. How are you going to make that decision?”