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.

Not Under Pressure

3 Replies

“I’m not sure what happened,” Byron explained. “Our company was voted the number one employer two years ago. We have the best employee benefits, we have the best equipment, we have roomy workspaces, our sales people get trip incentives. All of a sudden, to stay profitable, we have to lay some people off. The mood around here turned south very quickly.”

“Times have been good?” I asked.

“Up ’till now.”

“What happened?”

“Sales have been off. Suddenly all these great things about our company are costing us out of business.”

“When were the decisions made that put you upside-down on your cost structure?”

Byron had to think back. “Three or four years ago, I guess. Those were the best of times.”

“It’s in the Best of Times that we make our biggest mistakes.” -TF

Decision Tree

Leave a reply

Gregory St. Germain sits in Broward County jail because of a Decision Tree. At the city commission meeting, last night, in addition to an official commendation, my wife received more than one stern warning about citizens confronting criminals. (Link to story at the bottom of this post).

People ask me what my wife was thinking? She used a Decision Tree. In a split second, she reviewed these questions.

  • How large is the intruder? Is he bigger than me?
  • Is he moving toward me or away from me?
  • What is his mental state? Aggression? Or fear?
  • Does he show any signs of a weapon?

In a split second, the answer to all those questions was NO. The Decision Tree gave my wife the confidence (and poise) to give chase, pull the intruder off the fence and put his face in the dirt.

If the answer to any of those questions had been different, it would have changed her response.

Decision Trees can be valuable in making quick decisions, but only if you plan them in advance and train to them. Police officers and EMTs use Decision Trees all the time to govern their behavior. Managers can do the same.

Most management circumstances can be anticipated. Decision Trees can be explored in advance. Given a situation in your company, you and your team can be trained in the discipline of a Decision Tree.

How will your team respond? -TF
—
If you missed the story, here is the CNN link.

Training to Respond

2 Replies

It has been a lively discussion. If you missed the story on Fox News or CNN, you can follow the link at the bottom of today’s post.

So, let’s talk about training. After all, this blog is about management. What Gregory St. Germain didn’t understand was training. My wife trained three years in kick-boxing, with five years in a martial arts blend of kenpo and muay-thai, earning her black belt, and three years of kung-fu weapons training. That’s why St. Germain sits in Broward County jail.

I was not surprised.

Why is management training so important? Over the last 13 years, more than 1,000 managers have participated in my management program. It’s training. While I like to think it has a great curriculum (I compiled and wrote the book), it’s not the book that makes it work. It is the repetitive behavior drills.

In the end, I don’t care one whit what participants know about management. What I care about is, given a situation, can they do? Can they perform? Can they respond effectively? That’s why management training is so important.

Our local police chief, a former graduate of my management program, is quick to caution people about confronting criminals (my wife got a stern warning). So, tomorrow, we will talk about Decision Trees. –TF
—
If you missed the story, here’s the CNN link.

Split Decision

4 Replies

Twenty-four year old Gregory St Germain must have missed the photos on top of the television, photos taken at Margo’s Black Belt graduation. And he certainly missed the display of Kung Fu weapons in another bedroom. For several minutes, he organized what he considered to be loot, working room to room. Donning a backpack of valuables, ready for his exit, he heard the front door slam shut.

My wife noticed the frantic commotion in the hallway, a shadowy figure trying to release a deadbolt on a side door.

“I am not a victim,” she told herself.

CNN Link

I want to thank you all for the emails and phone calls. There are times in our lives when we are called upon to respond. For the next couple of days, we will talk about training, discipline, fitness and decision trees. -TF

What Helps, What Hampers?

2 Replies

“It’s people that are difficult,” Marion began. “Keeping a machine productive is easy. I can calculate its capacity and then stack work in front of it accordingly. But people aren’t machines. How can I calculate capacity and then stack work in front of people?”

“Machines are easier,” I replied. “Machines work the same way, day in, day out. People don’t. People are subject to daily changes and long term changes. As a Manager, you have to stay in front of that growth curve.

“When you look at the role of each of your team members, let’s start with these three questions.

  • What is the work that is necessary in each team member’s role?
  • What is it that you do, as a Manager, that is helpful in their work?
  • What is it that you do, as a Manager, that hampers their work?

Marion smiled, “Well, I already know that.”

“Perhaps, but you might compare notes with your team members.” -TF

The Idle Machine

Leave a reply

Luis was not having fun. He remembered how difficult it was for the company to make payments on the third machine.

“Management is about making resources productive. This third machine is not productive. The floor space it sits on is not productive,” I said.

“But we paid a lot of money for that machine, and our company cannot get out of its lease for this space. And what are we going to do if we need the machine?” Luis objected.

“Anyone can manage an idle machine. What are you going to do?” -TF

Current Capacity

3 Replies

Luis began an aggressive calling plan to get his money collected, put holds on new orders for customers who were past due and began requiring deposits on large orders. Nothing happened at first. Luis stayed off kilter for the better part of two weeks. Slowly, he calmed. Payments began to come in, not enough to have a party, but enough to breathe.

“Management is about making resources productive,” I repeated. The first thing to manage is capital. Next are your physical assets.

“Our building, our equipment?” Luis confirmed.

“The first decision is to decide what is necessary. You haven’t thought about that since this company was a start up. Back then, you thought about it a lot. You outsourced some production until you could afford your own machine. Then you bought a second machine. You moved into a new building so you could bring in a third machine.

“Now, you can’t keep the second machine busy. You tell me, what is necessary?” -TF

Show Me the Money

Leave a reply

“Where’s the money?” I asked.

Luis looked at me and squinted. “What do you mean, where’s the money?”

“Look, you asked me to come here and help you straighten out this mess. Where’s the money?” I repeated.

“That’s the problem, there isn’t any money,” Luis replied.

“Yes, there is, there always is. Luis, the first resource a manager has to manage is capital. But before you can manage it, you have to find out where it is. Sometimes you think you know where it should be, but if that’s not where it is, you can’t manage it.

Sometimes your capital is tied up in a machine. Sometimes your capital is tied up in unbilled work in process. Sometimes your capital is tied up in Accounts Receivable. Once you find out where your capital is, only then can you manage it. So, where’s the money?”

A raw nerve had been struck. Luis shuffled some papers on his desk. “It’s here,” he said, pointing to the third column in his AR aging report. “It’s over 60.”

“Well, now we know where it is, we can manage it.” -TF

Making Resources Productive

Leave a reply

“The forecast was a bit optimistic,” Miguel observed. “We went back and looked at our sales activity. Not our sales results, because those were dismal. I gotta tell you, my guys were pounding the shoe leather. It’s funny. The same salespeople with the same customers, but not closing sales like they did three quarters ago.”

“Working harder isn’t working anymore?” I asked.

“No, I think my guys are going to have to work differently, not harder,” Miguel replied.

“And who will decide what they do differently?”

“What do you mean?”

“Whose job is it, to decide what is necessary? How to go to market? To make the efforts of your salespeople more productive?”

Miguel’s face slowly revealed a mild panic. He stared straight ahead. “It’s me.”

“It’s time,” I nodded. “It is the job of the manager to take the resources of the company and make them productive. It is only managers who make those resources productive. As a manager in this company, you are the only one who can make your sales team productive. The job of management is more important than ever. The decisions you make in the next twelve months will determine whether your company will survive.” -TF

Trouble at Ridgemont High

2 Replies

My friends, as we look forward to 2008, understand that January 2009 will be a very different landscape. And we have twelve months to prepare. While Investor’s Business Daily proclaims we are teetering on a recession, that teetering point is still some months away. This is not a time for panic, but a time for preparation.

Lee Thayer, (Leadership 2004), speaks about necessity and its importance in the workplace. The entrepreneur, who starts a business, only puts in place that which is necessary. Only necessary equipment is purchased. Only necessary people are hired.

As time advances, and the business becomes more complex, necessity becomes more complex. And management decisions are made to bring on more infrastructure to support that complexity. Sometimes those decisions are accurate; sometimes those decisions miss the mark.

During this next year of preparation, look around. Re-think your work-flow. Re-think your personnel structure. Carefully examine what your customer wants, to make sure what you deliver is necessary.

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you economic insights to help you prepare. Those of you connected to residential housing are already working hard to survive in a recessionary climate. For those, thankfully, outside that environment, who think you have dodged a bullet, pay attention. January 2009 will be a very different landscape. -TF