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.

Something About Rose

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I spent the past few days thinking about Rose. This past March, Rose became one of our Malaysian subscribers to Management Skills Blog and wrote to ask for help.

“A very good day to you Mr. Tom. I am looking to join a new corporation as a Business Unit Manager here in my country of Malaysia. Prior to this, I’ve had ten years of working experience, both in sales and production. Currently, I’m studying for my MBA.

“I was approached by the Unit Manager of a company to take over her post when she opts for retirement at the end of this year. She has actually done a good job in establishing the brand name of the company in its niche market. My job is to bring the business to a new level, through differentiation into new market segments, and find leading franchise opportunities to expand our reach. At the same time, I’ll oversee operations as well. I’m already feeling nervous now. My experience was in industrial sales, and now, I find myself taking up something really new to me—a management job, building a franchise for this business. I’m scared that I may not deliver although I never promised miracles during my interviews.”

Over the next few posts, I will tell you the story of Rose and the decisions she made. By the way, she took the job.
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Publishing note: Beginning today, we will publish three times per week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Wild Turkey

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Well, we have reached to the two year mark here at Management Skills Blog. I believe I will have a beer.

Over the past 24 months, we have created 517 short posts about management with all its glory and splinters. All of those are indexed by category on the website www.managementblog.org.

We are going to take a short time off over the Thanksgiving week holiday. When we return on November 27, we will resume publishing three days per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you need your fix, go tackle the website. It’s open 24 hours a day.

Until then. Have fun, don’t eat too much and stay away from that “wild” turkey. -TF

Hollow Rah-Rah

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I am a new manager. I hold a weekly meeting that goes pretty well. We say the things that need to be said and make our plans, but the meetings seem to bomb at the end. They just stop. The energy in the room is flat. I tried to give a motivational rah-rah speech at last week’s meeting but it fell flat on its face. I wish I had kept my mouth shut. The meeting is missing something at the end. How can we finish on a high note?

Response:

Follow your own advice and keep your mouth shut. Unless you are one of the rare charismatic managers, your attempts to raise the energy level will feel contrived and pointless.

Why?

Because the energy is all coming from you. You need some help. Try the following exercise.

At the end of the meeting, distribute 3×5 index cards. Have everyone write down one action item they plan to do based on the meeting. Then make your way around the table, asking each team member, in turn, to publicly state their commitment to action. You will be amazed at the rise in energy as you adjourn the meeting.

This is no hollow rah-rah. The reason this works is because it is real and every person participates. -TF

Public Accountability

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I am at wits end. I have a weekly management meeting, but it seems I do all the talking, especially when it comes to accountability. And when it comes to accountability, all the ears in the room go deaf. Whenever there is underperformance, it is like the team cowers under the table until the shouting is over. I am tired of shouting. Besides, it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Response:

Most Managers are not aware of and do not leverage team accountability. Managers assume the role of the bad guy and essentially let the team off the hook when it comes to holding each other accountable for performance.

Turn the tables. In your next meeting, when a team member reports non-performance or underperformance, stop the agenda. Ask each team member to take a piece of paper and write down how this underperformance is impacting their part of the project. Go around the table and ask each person to make a statement. Then ask the team to create an expectation of how the underperformance should be corrected. Go around the table again. Finally, ask the underperformer to respond to the team and make a public commitment to action.

Team accountability is a very powerful dynamic. -TF

Grand Intentions

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“So, we can put this plan to bed?” said Ross. His team had worked hard and done a pretty good job.

“Ross, let’s say you think this plan is the perfect plan. How will you know this is the perfect plan?”

“Since this is the plan for 2007, I guess we won’t know until the end of 2007.”

“So, you are going to wait until the end of 2007 to make sure you know you are still on the right track?” I asked.

“Well, of course not. That would be stupid,” said Ross. We will be looking at the plan all through the year.”

“When will you look at the plan again?” I asked. “Ross, every company has grand intentions to look at their plan through the year, but quite frankly, most companies don’t do it.”

“Well, I am sure we will look at it again,” Ross stated firmly.

“Well, I am sure that you won’t,” I replied. “Unless.” I stopped.

“Unless what?” Ross asked.

“Unless, at the end of each calendar quarter, you schedule a full day with your management team, fully focused, perhaps off-site, to revisit your plan from top to bottom.”

Ross was a quick study. He was already reaching for his calendar. -TF

What’s Next

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“Nice plan, well-thought out. Conceptually, it makes a lot of sense. What’s next?”

I spend a lot of time at this point in the year, helping companies develop their 2007 business plan. There is no magic to the process. I use a simple model that we teach in our management program.

“What’s next?” I ask again. Ross was thinking. “In what way could you make this plan more effective?”

Finally, Ross spoke up. “Well, we have done a pretty good job of talking about what we want to accomplish, but we haven’t said much about how we are going to do it.”

“So, what might you add to this plan?”

“Action steps?”

“Exactly, it’s all well and good to establish your goals, but you also have to have an action plan. A plan without action just sits on the shelf gathering dust. In fact, that’s what happens with most strategic plans, they just sit there.”

“So, where do we start?” asked Ross.

“At the beginning, of course. That’s why I asked, –what’s next-? Whenever I look at a strategic plan, I always want to know what the next steps are. Next steps convert the plan into action.” -TF

Winning the Race Depends On It

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“Hey, you! They didn’t care who I was.” Peter explained. I was talking with Peter Schutz, former CEO of Porsche (1980-1988) about car racing. But Peter’s stories always have a point.

Standing in the pit, as the car would come in for fuel and tires, there was no pleasant conversation. All energy was focused on the flawless execution of the fundamentals. They had mere seconds to get the racecar out of the pit and back on to the track.

“Can you imagine,” Peter explained, “what would have happened if the guy working on the left rear tire had pulled the wheel, set it on the ground and then started a conversation. -You know guys, I have been thinking about a few things that I would like to bring up to the group.-”

Peter continued to explain that winning the race depended on the dynamics of a rather stern dictatorship. “How is that possible?” Peter asked. The answer was simple. They could operate like a dictatorship in the pit, in the heat of the moment, because they had spent months planning very democratically.

Execute like a dictatorship, plan democratically.

“The problem in business,” Peter said, “is that most managers get this exactly backward.” -TF

You can get Peter’s book Driving Force on Amazon.com.

Democracy or Dictatorship?

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I had dinner with Peter Schutz the other night. Peter was the CEO of Porsche from 1980-1988. He helped me kick off one of my executive groups in 1996. I hadn’t worked with Peter since 2001, but Peter is the kind of person, you immediately feel like he has been your best friend all your life.

He was talking about the difference between the democratic process and a dictatorship. Funny, even as CEO of Porsche, when he was in the pit at a race like Le Mans, if he got in the way or his assistance was needed to grab a tire or a wrench, the orders were barked and by golly, he complied. He didn’t just comply. He enthusiastically grabbed the tire and delivered it portside to the car, and just in time, because there wasn’t any time to waste.

Was the action in the pit a democracy or a dictatorship?

The answer, tomorrow. What do you think? -TF

Vivid Budgeting

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Rory sat at his desk, an adding machine with paper tape streaming down to the floor.

“What’s up?” I said, trying to break his concentration.

“Oh, man. I have to put a budget together. I’ve never had to do this before. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Where does any plan start?” I asked.

“In class, you said we should always start with vision, painting a vivid picture of the future, but this is a budget. This is all numbers.” Rory was bordering on whining.

“You still start at the same place,” I said. “The first step is visualization. You have to imagine all the colorful detail, the smell of the room, the focus of light, the heat of the moment. It is only when you have a very clear picture of the future that you will remember all of the detail for all the things that need to go into the budget.”

The wheels were already turning. I was losing Rory in his own imagination. His eyes were tracing images of this picture inside his mind.

“The more detail in your vision, the more likely you will imagine the resources required to create that picture.” I backed out of the room. Rory was on his way.

Your Decision

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Marion put the final touches on her plan for 2007. Impressive, detailed, some 10 pages in length.

“Brilliant!” I exclaimed, with all the enthusiasm of a Guinness commercial. “Very articulate. How long did it take for your team to put this together?”

Marion sat up with pride, “Why, thank you, but I have to take most of the credit. I worked over the weekend. I mean, I am sure that some of the ideas came from my team, I mean, if I had asked them, I am sure they would agree with most of the plan.”

“So, has your team seen this plan, yet?” I asked.

“No, we’re under a pretty tight deadline. I didn’t want to bother them.”

“So, exactly when do you want to take the time for your team to talk about it?”

“Well, you know my team, once they start talking about it, they will spend all day.”

“So, exactly when do you want to take the day for your team to talk about it?”

“Well, we really don’t have that kind of time, just talking about it, you know?”

I nodded in agreement. “I know you don’t have the time to spend, but you will spend it nonetheless. My question is when do you want to spend it?”

“What do you mean?” Marion asked.

“I mean, do you want to spend time talking about the plan when you are planning or when you are in the middle of a crunch-tight deadline for your customer?

“Here’s the story, Marion. Your team will participate in the thinking that goes into this plan. They decide that. All you get to decide is when. You can decide for them to participate on the front end, or they will decide to participate on the back end.” -TF