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.

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?”

What Should Be Rejected?

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As of right now, the Big 3 bailout bill is stalled. It appeared for a moment yesterday that it might make it. World markets are reacting to this delay.

As we work our way through this recession, will some fundamentals about the auto industry be significantly different in another 18 months? Here is the biggest question. Will there be some fundamental changes in your industry, in your market during the next 18 months?

Your biggest challenge is not to get small and hunker down. Your biggest challenge will be to understand how your company will be significantly different. The decisions you make, will be different.

The world is looking at itself. It is looking at its largest industries and asking this question. Is the way these companies are organized to do business, something that should be preserved or something that should be rejected, to make way for something new?

How will you make those decisions for yourself? How is your company organized to do business? What should be preserved? What should be rejected to make way for something new?

Working Leadership Online is not another old, tired leadership program. Working Leadership Online is about you, leading in this new world. It starts in January with our first project assignment on February 2, 2009. To find out more, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Your Market Won’t Allow It

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In the past few months, you made decisions you never thought you would make. And, you will have more problems to solve and more decisions to make. We are closer to the beginning of this recession than we are to the end.

This will be the test for management. Yet, I am calm about the decisions you will make. The market will not allow you to make bad decisions. There will be quick and irreversible punishment for bad decisions. Those who make bad decisions will not be around to tell their story.

But, the worst of your decisions are not made when times are bad. The worst of your decisions are made when times are good. It’s just that now, you may have to pay for those bad decisions.

Yesterday, we announced a new online program specifically designed to help management get through the next two years, to create a foundation to take advantage of the recovery (summer of 2010). This program will help managers solve problems and make decisions about your organization. The first project field work will be assigned February 2. If you want more information about this program, or how it works, you can follow this link, www.workingleadership.com, or email me directly.

Keep Your Wits About You

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I want to step out from behind the story for a couple of days here.

We have been preparing for this recession for the past two years. You knew this in your head, but now the pain is real. This pain can turn a room full of reasonably intelligent people into a group of blithering idiots, watching television, shaking their heads, and wondering what to do next.

We can react, like pulling away from a hot stove. Or we can imagine a sequence of cause and effect. Some right moves are completely counter-intuitive.

If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you. . . . The world will be yours and everything in it. –Kipling.

We have been working hard to create a learning platform to help managers keep their wits about them. This online program begins in earnest February 2, 2009.

We will explain more over the next couple of days. If you want to know more now, or if you would like to pre-register, you can visit www.workingleadership.com.

Trial and Error?

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“I don’t like to think about it,” Roselle explained, “but I keep thinking that maybe I’m the next one to get a pink slip.”

“I know, in these times, it is tempting for a company to save overhead costs, to lop off heavier management salaries. And some companies have no other choice,” I replied. “But in times like these, we will see more volatile change than normal, and there will be more management decisions to make in response to that change. Management decisions cannot be made without a manager.”

“I don’t know about that. I have seen some boneheaded people making decisions in my day.”

“Of course you have. Sometimes we leave the wrong decisions to the wrong people. Some people make decisions through trial and error (in front of the customer). Some people are able to tap into their experience, or the experience of other people to see if we have ever solved that problem before. But I have to tell you, some problems you see today, have NOT been solved before. Those problems will require analysis, to get to the root cause before a decision can be made. It is those problems and those decisions which require a competent manager.”

Depending on You

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“Changes?”

“Yes, changes,” I replied. “Have a meeting and simply ask, what has changed?”

Roselle started to speak, then stopped.

“Why is it important to talk about Change?” I asked.

Roselle laughed. “Because without change, they could come to work and do the same thing they did yesterday.”

“And without change,” I continued her sentence, “if they could come to work and do the same thing they did yesterday, they would not need a manager.”

That hit close to home. Roselle got quiet again.

“Look, Roselle, now more than ever, your company depends on its managers to get through this thing. Your company is depending on you. Your company is depending on you being effective.”

Time Span Appropriate

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Ruben was stumped. “You are right. Just because we give Edmund a new title, doesn’t mean he is going to change his ways.”

“Edmund will always be Edmund, and we have to redefine his role. It’s not a matter of giving him new rules not to do this or not to do that. You have already tried that in his role as supervisor. As Lead Technician, what will be his new goals? How will you re-direct him?”

“It sounds obvious,” Ruben replied. “It starts with his job description.”

I nodded affirmative. “This is critical fundamental stuff. It’s the stuff you ignore because it sounds so simple. It’s the stuff you ignore that gets you in trouble. Stuff like setting goals, performance standards and holding people accountable for performance.”

“I think I have a job description around here that might work,” Ruben hoped.

“Why don’t you start from scratch. As the manager, you have time span goals of approximately one year. Your annual plan has stuff in it that you are held accountable to deliver this year, and next year. If you had a supervisor, which Edmund isn’t, you would drive some of those goals down to that level, in time span appropriate chunks. For the time being, you are going to have to step into that role, review those supervisor outputs and determine the time span appropriate goals for your new Lead Technician.”

Ruben was quiet.

“Look, do you want to lose Edmund?” I asked.

“No way,” Ruben replied. “He’s a great technician.”

“Then you have some management work to do.”

Just Because He Has a New Title?

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“Our system creates predictability,” Ruben explained. “It creates predictability without stress. It allows us to do our maintenance at the best times, allows us to properly inspect our raw materials, test our setups accurately. Everything runs.”

“What are you going to do with Edmund?” I asked.

“He should never have been promoted to supervisor. He is a great technician, a great operator, our go-to guy. We don’t want to lose Edmund, but he cannot continue as supervisor.”

“What are you going to do with Edmund?” I repeated.

“I am going to assign him to a new role called Lead Technician. He won’t like it, but right now, he won’t quit. The job market is too thin.”

“How are you going to keep him from screwing things up, just because he has a new title?”