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.

Manager’s Commitment

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Greetings from St. Louis, MO.

I would like to welcome our new subscribers from Toronto. I was there last week in a series of workshops on Time Span and the research of Elliott Jaques.
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Our next Leadership program begins Wednesday, April 30, 2008. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.
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“Yes, but shouldn’t these people be reporting to me?” asked Ted.

“That depends. Functionally, their roles produce results you are interested in, but are you prepared to be their Manager?” I replied.

“I think so. I think they can report to me. I think I can hold them accountable for producing those results. I think I can check up on them to make sure they are working,” Ted proposed.

“That’s only the surface part of being a Manager.” I stopped to draw a picture. “Here you are, and these people, you believe, should report to you. But are you prepared to be their Manager?

“Your most important role, in the Manager relationship with these guys, is for you to bring value to their thinking and their work.” Ted stared at the simple picture of circles and lines.

“Are you bringing value to their thinking and their work by telling them that their reports are due on Friday and then reminding them Monday morning that their reports are late?”

Ted was still staring, but putting the pieces together. “Well, no, not when you put it that way.”

“Then, how, as their Manager, do you bring that value? And are you committed to bring that value? Are you willing to commit the time to bring that value?

“The answers to these questions will determine whether these people should report to you.” -TF

Up Front

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“As a participant in any meeting, Sheila, have you ever walked out at the end saying, Darn, I wish we had done this at the meeting.”

“Well, yeah. Almost every meeting I go to, is like that. Sometimes, it wouldn’t take much to make a meeting more meaningful,” she replied. “Almost every time, it misses the mark.”

“So, you think a meeting would have been better if it had just included some unspoken element?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Then, up front at the beginning of the meeting, does it make sense to get those unspoken elements out on the table?”

Sheila tilted her head. “How would you do that?”

“If you are the leader of the meeting, early on, after establishing the purpose for the meeting, simply ask, What is your condition of satisfaction for today’s meeting. What has to happen, by the end of the day, for you to say, this meeting was worthwhile, to say, you are glad you came, you are glad you contributed?

“As the leader of the meeting,” I continued. “You might as well know that up front.” -TF

Before the Meeting

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“They could have done two things up front that would have made the meeting worth attending,” Sheila started. “First they could have published the goals for the meeting. It’s like it’s a big secret. Why not just tell us what they are trying to accomplish with the meeting?”

“And what else?” I asked.

“You know, I said they could have put it all in an email. They could have published all the INFORMATION stuff up front so we could look at it before the meeting.”

“You really read that stuff?”

Sheila smiled. “No, well, yes, I would have at least skimmed it beforehand to get a basic idea of the details.”

“So, what else? What else could have guaranteed the meeting would get you engaged?” -TF

Waste of Meeting

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Our mail server is back up. Actually it’s a new mail server. If you missed any posts over the past couple of days, they are all available on our website www.managementblog.org.
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Our next Management program begins April 30, in Fort Lauderdale. If you would like to register someone, please visit www.workingleadership.com.
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“It was a waste of time,” Sheila complained. “Some of us had to travel to get here, we lost two days of productivity back at the office. All for this BIG meeting. They’re rolling out this new program, but for my time, they could have told us all about it in an email.”

“What did you learn?” I asked.

“Well, I learned how not to run a meeting,” she replied.

“So, when you run your own meetings, with your department, you now know what NOT to do?”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t need two lost days to learn a lesson like that.”

“Is it possible, that after all the expenses, all the planning and all the effort that went into the meeting, that your company failed to accomplish what it set out to accomplish?”

Sheila started to chuckle. “You’re right, they probably didn’t intend to have a bad meeting. I am sure they had some goals for the two days, they just didn’t share that with us.”

“Tell me, Sheila. What could they have done differently, to have the impact they were looking for?” -TF

My Fault

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

My last meeting was a one day-seminar working a live case with creative breakout sessions. A warm-up on the beach, 3 coffee breaks and a large lunch break. Instead of 15 minute breaks, the team takes 30 minutes. Instead of 30 minutes for lunch, the team takes 45 minutes. So they found creative techniques to mess with the timetable, and the content of their solutions was not that great.

With this particular group, this happens a lot. I asked for their expectations up front, but that doesn’t work. Normally when I make agreements for a session like this, with other groups, we have no problems.

Response:

So, what is different about this team? The answer to your predicament is not some technique on how to handle a group in a meeting. The answer is in what’s different about this group.

I work with groups all over North America. While I have very consistent program material, I have learned that every group I work with is different. And my first job, as a facilitator, or your job, as a manager, is to discover that difference.

If I fail to discover that difference, the level of engagement suffers. When the group is not engaged, they will do something else to fill the time. It appears as misbehavior, taking long breaks, falling asleep or playing with Blackberries under the tablecloth.

Is it the group’s fault? Or is it my fault?

It’s my fault. I failed to engage. I was too impatient, I didn’t listen, I rushed into the content without drawing in the group.

So, over the next few days, we will explore how to do that. -TF

Enough is Now

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In response to yesterday’s Ask Tom, if a new team member is still struggling after five months, it’s time for graduation. Excellent comments were posted by Michelle Malay Carter, Varun Malhotra and Chris Young. Read the comments here.

My turn.

You have two things working against. Both need to be fixed, though it’s too late for this person.

First, you have difficulty making the termination decision because the performance standards for the role have not been set. Everyone knows this person is underperforming, but without a standard, we are all left with only our opinions. Tough to terminate someone based on an opinion without a standard.

So, take this opportunity to create a standard. Heck, create a certification process. Get your team involved to create a performance protocol. All new hires should be considered to be on probation until they meet the standard. Set a time limit and move on.

Second, you don’t have anyone waiting in the wings. If you had too many people vying for that chair, the decision would be much easier to make. For this position, you need to be trading up. -TF

When is Enough, Enough?

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Greetings from Toronto.
From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I was recently promoted to supervisor. It’s been a challenge, but I definitely think I can grow into the role and learn to handle it successfully.

Before I was promoted, a new technician was hired. It has been almost 5 months since, yet he is still in training. That’s 5 times longer than any other new hire we’ve had. Other technicians who are working with and “shadowing” him in training continue to report that they do not trust his ability to proficiently handle his duties. With my own firsthand observation, I feel the same way. Had I been promoted earlier, I would have strongly objected to his hiring.

It’s always the same story: the job required a stronger technical background than he thought so it’ll take him longer, and he will continue to do his best to learn the ropes and gain the trust of the other employees. He cannot provide a timeframe when he thinks he would be ready.

If it were strictly up to me, I’d get rid of him. Keeping him diverts technicians and resources from other projects, costs the company his hourly wage, and most likely lowers our customer satisfaction ratings as many of our callers quickly pick up on the fact that he is “new” and unsure of himself. My manager, however, would prefer not to take that route, for fear of the consequences that can follow termination. Yet, I feel like he’s pressuring me when he says things like “He STILL isn’t ready yet? He’s been here for 5 months! Why is it taking so long?”

What should I do? Would I be justified in setting a deadline by which he must become proficient? When should I say “enough is enough?”

Response:

Actually, I am curious about how others see this. Please add a comment below. -TF

Over Your Head

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Greetings from Toronto.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What happens when you realize you were given a promotion and not able to live up to the capabilities? Do you admit it to your superiors? Do you keep it to yourself and risk failure?

Response:

There are many ways to survive in a position that’s over your head, but in the end, it’s only survival. Not a way to live.

I often ask managers, “How do you know, what behavior do you observe when a person is in over their head? Where the Time Span for the position is longer than the Time Span of the person?”

The descriptions come back.

  • They feel overwhelmed.
  • They cover things up.
  • They cut off communication.
  • Their projects are always late.
  • I can’t ever find them.
  • They always blame someone else.
  • They have all the excuses.
  • They never accept responsibility.

So, the short answer is yes. When you realize you are in over your head, go back to your boss. Explain the difficulties you are having. Ask for help. If it is a matter of capability (Time Span), no amount of training, no amount of hand holding will help. It is possible that you may grow into the position, but it’s more likely a matter of years, not weeks that allows for the required maturity (increase in Time Span).

This doesn’t make you a bad person, it just means you were placed in a position where you cannot be effective. Yet! -TF

One Purpose Serves the Other

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

This question from Jan was in response to a post about Delegation from March 30, 2007 (seems a lot of people are reading the archives.)

Question:

Hi! I’m a bit puzzled with delegation as the most powerful time management tool. It could well be the most powerful learning and development tool, but the former I need some thoughts on this.

Response:

Delegation serves both purposes. As a Time Management tool, anytime someone else is performing tasks on our behalf, it frees our time up to do something else. And if that is our purpose, then we can free up a couple of hours every day.

But the real power for Time Management only comes when your purpose for Delegation is People Development. When you develop someone, you may be able to move significant tasks (that take a lot of time) off your plate. Instead of freeing up one or two hours, you may free up 50 or 100 hours.

Working with managers, I always ask, “How can you work for one hour and gain two hours productivity?”

But the real question is, “How can you work for one hour and gain 50 hours of productivity?” Only when your purpose for Delegation is People Development. -TF

Leverage

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This continues our conversation with Dr. Lisa Lang on Theory of Constraints.

TF: If we do a good job of placing our constraint in our highest cost, most scarce resource, what is the next most difficult thing to do?

Dr. Lisa: Leverage it. Leverage is a great word but we are not taught how to do this or what we are taught is simply wrong.

The book The Goal describes leverage as exploiting the constraint and subordinating everything else based on the point where you have placed the constraint.

Exploit means not wasting any of what you have. Subordinating is often the harder one because it requires the non-constraint silos to fall in line by supporting the exploitation of the constraint. This is difficult because each silo is usually measured and rewarded on its individual results.
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Dr. Lisa Lang has many resources on her website www.scienceofbusiness.com. She has made this offer to our readers. If you would like to receive her three hour audio and workbook (usually $199) for $99, please drop her an email at drlisa@scienceofbusiness.com.