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.

Bone Headed Promotion

Leave a reply

“So, Phillip can handle tasks with a one month Time Span, but falls short on tasks with longer Time Spans,” Joyce confirmed.

“So, what does that tell you about his role? You told me that you promoted him to Warehouse Manager. Based on Time Span, is that appropriate for Phillip?” I asked.

Joyce knew the answer, so her hesitation was from reluctance. “No. Now it begins to make sense. What we expect from a Manager, even the Warehouse Manager requires a Time Span of twelve months. Phillip is not even close.”

“So, if you had determined his Time Span before the promotion, you might have done something differently?” I prompted.

“Absolutely. When I look at Time Span, it becomes so obvious that his promotion was a bone-headed decision.”

“And who was responsible for that bone-headed decision?”

“That would be me,” Joyce replied.

___
Our next Leadership program in Fort Lauderdale begins July 16. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.
___
Our next Leadership program Online begins in September. Watch for details. –TF

Performance Becomes Predictable

Leave a reply

“So, he does well on tasks that require a one month look-ahead, but he fails on tasks that require a three month look-ahead,” explained Joyce. We were discussing Phillip, her warehouse manager. Joyce was disappointed in his failure to complete longer term projects.

“So, if you ask your Manager to look at this same data, what would she say?” I asked.

“Oh, I have already discussed Phillip with her and we are on the same page.”

“So, making this assessment of a person’s Time Span is pretty evident.”

Joyce nodded, “When you put it like that, it sticks out like a sore thumb.”

“Knowing this about Phillip, how does that help you as his Manager?”

“If I look at all of his tasks in terms of Time Span, I can predict which ones he will do well, which ones he will struggle with, and which ones he will fail at.” A calm look came over Joyce’s face. “The pattern of his performance becomes predictable. I can almost plan around that. It’s beginning to make sense.”

___
Our next Leadership program in Fort Lauderdale kicks off next Monday, July 16. Visit www.workingleadership.com for registration information.

___
We have completed testing for the online version of our Leadership program, scheduled for September 2007. If you have an interest in this program, please reply to this email so we can make our plans. -TF

Measuring Tasks

Leave a reply

“Then, how are we going to measure that capability?” I repeated. Joyce and I were discussing Phillip. Though he had been made manager, he was having difficulty with some of his responsibilities.

“So, you are suggesting that we look at all the tasks on Phillip’s plate and assign a Time Span to them?” Joyce asked.

I nodded.

She began to brainstorm out loud, “If I look at his Key Result Areas, as Warehouse Manager, Phillip is responsible for:

  • Personnel
  • Receiving
  • Picking
  • Shipping
  • Warehouse Layout and Work Flow
  • Security
  • Equipment
  • And Safety.”

“And which of those has the longest Time Span Tasks?” I asked.

Joyce pulled out a sheet of paper to make some notes. “Receiving, picking and shipping are fairly short term things. The look ahead is probably no more than a couple of weeks.

“Warehouse Layout and Work Flow, though, really has a much longer Time Span. We have a lot of seasonality to our product lines and we have to make decisions about inventory bin placement four or five months in advance. Some of it is a feedback loop to sales and purchasing about inventory turns, raw materials in stock, finished goods in stock. There is a lot to control, but it’s easy if you think out far enough into the future and plan.

“That’s where Phillip messes up. He just doesn’t plan out far enough, so it’s always chaos.”

“So, if we were to measure Phillip’s capability in Layout and Work Flow, he does not live up to four months?” I confirmed.

It was Joyce’s turn to nod.

“So, let’s look at his other tasks, assign some Time Spans and see if we come up with a pattern of his capability.” -TF

They Don’t Get a Promotion

Leave a reply

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

When is a team member ready (capable) for the next step? How do we measure capability so we can create and fill in opportunities? Which methods do you use to measure capability for the next step?

Response:

Evaluating is team member is much simpler and more precise than making a judgment about an outside candidate for a position.

Checking readiness is a matter of testing. Testing for skill and testing for Time Span.

Step One is to examine the current tasks and determine the Time Span required for each task.

Step Two is to gather three people (the Team Member, the Team Member’s Manager and the Manager Once Removed) to discuss the following question. “Is this person performing below, at or above the Time Span required in the current position? It is a very simple question. You will be amazed at how quickly the three will agree.

If the three agree that the Team Member is performing above the Time Span required, the next step is to test the Team Member. Again, the test is simple. Give the Team Member tasks typical of what they would encounter at the next level, with the difficulty of those tasks measured in Time Span.

This testing process is a totally different mindset for a Manager. You no longer give an individual a promotion to see if they can handle it. You now test them with typical tasks. They don’t get a promotion, they earn it. -TF

Not a Matter of Skill

1 Reply

Joyce had her thinking cap on. Her dissatisfaction with Phillip was not from a lack of performance, but from a lack of capability.

“I want you to begin to think about capability in terms of Time Span,” I prompted.

“You’re right,” she replied. “Phillip seems to stay away from, or procrastinate on all the projects that take time to plan out and work on. And then, it’s like he jams on the accelerator. He even told me that he works better under pressure, that last minute deadlines focus him better. I am beginning to think that he waits until the last minutes because that is the only time frame he thinks about.”

“Give me an example,” I asked.

“Remember, I found him hidden away in the warehouse, rearranging all the shelves himself. It’s really a bigger project than that. We are trying to move the high turning items to bins up front and slower moving items to bins in the back. But it’s going to take some time to review, which items need to be moved, how to retag them, how to planagram the whole thing. We started talking about this three months ago with a deadline coming due next week. So, only now, Phillip gets stuck in the warehouse doing things himself. And the result is likely to be more of a mess than a help.”

“Is it a matter of skill, planning skills?” I ventured.

“No, I don’t think so. It is a matter of capability,” Joyce said with some certainty.

“Then how are we going to measure that capability?” -TF

___
Our next Leadership class in Fort Lauderdale begins July 16. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com. We have only four available seats left.

___
Management Skills Blog will take a short vacation over July 4th, returning July 5th. See you on Thursday.

But, I Already Know

Leave a reply

“If you had to describe the reason for Phillip’s termination, what would it be?” I asked.

Joyce shifted with the uncomfortable question. I had asked her to make a judgment about a team member’s underperformance. And I was looking for objective and measurable evidence.

“I think I would have to go back to his job description and start there,” she replied.

“And if you went back to the job description, what would you find?”

Joyce got up from her chair and paced to the side of the room. “First of all, I would have to find the job description, but I already know it is just a bunch of gobbledygook.”

“So, if I really put you to the test, as a manager, you are holding Phillip to a performance standard that you describe as gobbledygook?”

“Yes, but, I can still tell that he is not doing his job. He doesn’t have the capability. I know that, even without the job description.”

“So, how are we going to capture what you already know in measurable terms to help us? To help us know what to do with Phillip?” -TF

___
Our next Leadership class in Fort Lauderdale begins July 16. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com. We have only four available seats left.

The Real Reason

Leave a reply

“So, let’s look at your description of Phillip,” I prompted. “You said he is probably in over his head. What exactly does that mean?”

Joyce’s brow furrowed. “You know. He is having trouble cutting it. Can’t deliver. Doesn’t know whether to scream or eat a banana.”

I smiled. Nodded. “I know. I know exactly what you mean. But how do we characterize this behavior so we can improve the situation?”

Joyce looked a little sheepish. “I don’t mean to poke fun. But I really don’t know how else to put it.”

“So, let’s say you fire Phillip and your boss comes to you and wants to know the reason. Are you going to say the Phillip was terminated because he didn’t know whether to scream or eat a banana?”

“Of course not. I would have to think of something more tactful,” Joyce replied.

“Instead of something more tactful, I want you to think of something closer to the truth, something you can be objective about and measure.”

“I don’t know,” said Joyce, backpedaling.

“Yes, but if you did know, what would the reason be?” -TF

___
Our next Leadership program in Fort Lauderdale begins July 16. For more information and registration, go to www.workingleadership.com.

Over His Head?

Leave a reply

Joyce was thinking about her team. Things were not a disaster, but not running too smoothly. There was a perceptible friction that was beginning to take a life of its own.

“I have been watching Phillip,” she started. “It seems he is struggling with his job as a supervisor, but it’s hard to tell. He has his good days, but not too often.”

“How would you rate his performance?” I asked.

“Well, that’s pretty easy to see. He is always late with stuff and it’s never completely done the way it should be. And then, when I go to talk to him about it, I can’t find him.”

“Is he in the building?”

“Oh, yeah, he will turn up, but it’s like, he was two hours down in receiving, he said he was organizing the place. Now, I know the place needs to be organized, but he was doing it all alone, and not out here on the floor where he really needed to be. The receiving guy could have taken care of organizing.”

“What do you think the problem is?”

“Well, even though he is a supervisor, it seems he would rather be doing lower level stuff. Some of his team members even accuse him of micro-managing.”

“So, what do you think the problem is?” I repeated.

“It’s like he is in a role that he doesn’t even like, and probably in over his head,” Joyce concluded.

“And who put him in that spot?”

Joyce turned her head and looked back at me, sideways. A bit of a grimace.

___
Our next Leadership program in Fort Lauderdale begins July 16. For more information and registration, go to www.workingleadership.com.

Goal Directed Behavior

2 Replies

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

You have been talking about the four elements of success. How does a goal figure in to success?

Response:

All behavior is goal directed behavior. If, as a Manager, you want to understand the behavior, find the goal that’s driving the behavior.

But the impact of the goal on the intensity of the behavior still has to do with interest (passion). We have interest only in those things that we value, which is why values are so important.

The reason why the values discussion is so important is to determine what will light up the interest (passion) of an individual and is that interest aligned with the goals of the organization.

If you have alignment of interest and goals, you will not have issues related to motivation. Without that alignment, the goal is meaningless and will not drive behavior. -TF

Middle Aged Crazy

Leave a reply

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
In a recent Post, you described the push-back behavior of Byron, a manager. In a comment on that post, you described Byron as a Stratum III “newbie.” What did you mean?

Response:

As a person grows and matures through their life, people move from one Stratum to the next, each according to their own life schedule. Each Stratum is connected to its own way of thinking, connected to its own skills. As a person grows into their next Stratum, they leave a level of high competence and grow into the next level at low competence.

Example, a great team leader (Stratum I) becomes a newbie supervisor (Stratum II). It takes a while to develop the competencies at this new level.

A great supervisor (Stratum II) becomes a newbie manager (Stratum III). It take a while to develop the competencies at this new level.

Elliott Jaques chronicled this phenomenon, this crossing of Stratum in mid-life as the Mid-Life Crisis. We all saw the movie “Middle Aged Crazy” without knowing we had Elliott to thank for the scientific explanation. -TF