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.

It’s a Trap

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It’s a trap that can cripple your effectiveness as a Manager.

On Friday, I was talking about Kenneth and identifying things that need to be delegated. I introduced three criteria.

  • Tasks that are done on a repetitive basis.
  • Tasks which are important to the company (aligned with a goal or solving a problem).
  • Tasks that you like to do.

David posted a question in response to last Friday’s blog.

So, if it’s a task that you don’t like to do then you shouldn’t delegate it? Am I just confused or does that make no sense? I’d rather have people doing the things that I don’t want to do. That way I can enjoy my job more.

It is not a matter of delegating what you like or don’t like. It’s a trap. Most managers fail because they continue to do the things they like to do rather than do the things connected with management. When I look at your list of things you like to do, often 80 percent will be inappropriate work that should be done by someone else.

Why don’t you delegate it? Because you like to do it. And if you continue doing it, you will become less and less effective as a Manager. -TF

Tasks You Like to Do

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Delegation skills were a hot topic for Kenneth. Intellectually he knew he needed to do it. Intellectually he even thought he was doing it.

Most of the time, Kenneth wasn’t delegating, he was dumping. As we sat down, I wanted to see his list. “Kenneth, let me see the list of the stuff you are not delegating.”

“Not delegating?” he replied. “I thought we were going to talk about what I was delegating?”

“Oh, the not delegating list will be a lot more fun,” I replied. As we slogged through the list, we looked for three elements:
1. Tasks that are done on a repetitive basis.
2. Tasks which are important to the company (aligned with a goal or solving a problem).
3. Tasks that Kenneth liked to do.

Those items that met all three criteria became candidates for delegation. Take a look at your list. What are you not delegating? Which of those tasks meets the three criteria? -TF

Breathe on the Idea

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Janet was not satisfied. For the past two weeks, we had been working to get her team to participate more in problem solving meetings. Janet was warming up to the idea that the difficulty wasn’t with her team. Improvement was in Janet’s court. “Why can’t I get more participation?” she asked.

“Some say that it is the fear of disagreeing with the boss, but I find it is a more universal fear. It is the fear of floating an idea that carries the possibility of rejection.”

I let that sink in a moment. “As a Manager, if you want to promote deeper, richer, more truthful conversations in your team, try this. As ideas are contributed, create a follow-up comment that expands the idea, creates an insight to that idea or connects the idea to a higher purpose, goal or solution. Breathe life into every contribution.”

Two weeks later, I overheard one of Janet’s team members talking at the water cooler. “Our meetings have really gotten better. Janet makes all of our ideas sound so smart.”

Ideas really are smart when you can connect them to a purpose, a goal or a solution. -TF

P.S. We are beginning to receive a number of comments posted to the blog. I know many of you are get the blog via email or by a forwarded email. If you would like to read some of the comments, you can follow the link to Blog Home. Management Skills Blog is actually a website where you can respond to any posting that jams your jelly.

No Whining

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Last week, I posed a question. “What are the elements of a high performing team?” Reader John D. posted a comment that got him a copy of Attitude by Mac Anderson. John suggested that the critical element is approaching problems with solutions rather than whining or complaining. It’s a noble idea, but few teams can pull it off.

As the Manager, you can promote this critical element by providing a structure in your meetings that not only promotes, but requires solutions. As the problem is discussed, stop the conversation and ask team members to write down one or two solutions. When you resume the conversation (one minute later) allow only one idea per person until you have made the entire round at the table.

This accomplishes two things:
1. It points everyone in the direction of a solution before the conversation has a chance to get derailed.
2. It communicates that it is the responsibility of every team member to contribute in the solving of a problem.

Congratulations again to John D. -TF

Market Dominance

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In spite of the fact that I told my staff that I would lay off cycling for a bit, now that the tour is over, we did receive a comment this past weekend from a reader whose support of Armstrong may not be entirely enthusiastic.

“Do you have any idea on what Armstrong said to Candel Evans after he sneaked in front of him and taking the 11th place on the last Tuesday stage? “Why have you done that?” It is known that Armstrong intimidates the other riders and that anyone who does not obey, as Candel did, is punished? Years for now, after each tentative escape from the peleton, Candel will be followed by the Discovery team, which will lead the peleton into Evans’ annihilation. Now, that’s the “team spirit”, and Armstrong kicked T-Mobile asses because they dared to walk outside the leadership of the Great Lance. ”

It is my intent to link this discussion to relevant management issues, and as I read the posted comment, I remembered a conversation I had with a South African fellow named Gideon Malherbe. We were talking about those companies who maintained a strategy of Market Dominance. Seven tour wins reminds me of market dominance, though we were talking about Wal-Mart and Microsoft. Gideon’s parting thought to me was, “If you are the 800 pound gorilla in a market and not stepping on some toes, then you are missing the point.”

I am curious, what do you think? -TF

The Finish

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As the Tour de France wound down, there was little left to be decided. Jan Ullrich (TMO) pounded an incredible time trial on Saturday that moved him into third place overall. Mickael Rasmussen (RAB), dropped from third place to seventh place as his wheels came off (literally). He crashed twice and by some counts was on his fourth bike by the time he crossed the finish. Lance Armstrong (DSC) swept by Ullrich’s time trial pace by 23 seconds capturing an unprecedented 7th Tour victory. Sunday was Lance’s day on the Champs-Elysees. Protocol dictated that he go unchallenged in the final stage.

Tuesday, Managementblog will be back in its form, with the race behind. We will continue to talk about teams and leadership, building organizations that are stronger and more productive. Teams that can sustain an extended competitive effort and grow stronger. Teams that can be challenged and put at risk. Teams that have to regroup and come back with a different strategy. Teams that, in the end, can bring home the Yellow Jersey. We will talk about your teams. -TF

Don’t Know How to Run the Press

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Cindy’s assignment was simple. As a successful supervisor in another division, she had been transferred to a line unit that was having trouble keeping up. After her first meeting, she wasn’t so sure she was up to the task.

From the back of the room, “So, tell us about your background. Have you ever run one of these presses before?”

She admitted that she had not. “So, how do you expect to be our supervisor when you don’t know the first thing about how we do the job?” She had never been challenged so directly. Worse, it was a perfectly valid question.

Now Cindy was in my office. “Here is the central issue,” I asked. “How can you bring value to their thinking and their work?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know how to run the press, but does that really matter? How do you bring value to their thinking and their work? How do they know when they are doing a good job? How do they know when they are doing a poor job?”

“Funny, I know the ops manager was complaining that they did not meet the production quota last month. But those numbers were never broken down on a daily basis so the line never had a clue whether they were ahead or behind. The last two days of the month, somebody came out and yelled at them to pick up the pace, but it was too little, too late.”

“So, you can bring value to the work by giving the floor feedback on daily production runs, perhaps accelerating things a bit, but avoiding a hysterical crunch at the end of the month.”

One month later, Cindy’s crew was ahead by 150 units, yet had worked no overtime, even taken the press down for a half day of preventive maintenance. Every morning, Cindy had a two minute huddle meeting and posted the day’s production goal. At ten and two she posted updates with a final count at 3:30 when the line shut down. Though she had never touched the press, she was bringing value to the thinking and work of her production crew. The skills to be a successful supervisor are quite different than the technical skills of the crew. -TF

It Takes a Team to Win

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This year’s Tour de France never looked easy. Lance Armstrong (DSC) always considered Jan Ullrich (TMO) from Team T-Mobile to be his fiercest competition. While America cheered for Lance, there was no slack in the energy to unseat him. Ullrich publicly stated that the Tour de France was not worth winning unless Lance Armstrong was competing. Indeed, T-Mobile put together a dangerous team. The treacherous trio of Jan Ullrich, Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Kloden came to bury Lance, no love lost.

I said it would take a team to win.

Last Saturday, T-Mobile launched a new strategy. Break up Discovery and isolate Lance from his team. It almost worked, except for one thing. T-Mobile, themselves, could not work together as a team. Though Ullrich has been the legacy chieftain, both Vinokourov and Kloden carried an agenda to contest his leadership. They did not work together and Lance survived (well, more than survived, he kicked their ass).

Wednesday was the day the wheels came off. Kloden abandoned the race (after suffering an injury on Tuesday) and Vinokourov announced he was leaving T-Mobile at the end of the Tour. Ullrich, now by himself, remains the leader. Their tactics might have worked, but for the lack of a team.

Team Discovery took another Stage win on Wednesday (Stage 17) when Paolo Savoldelli (DSC) escaped with the first breakaway group. George Hincapie (DSC) captured Stage 15 on Sunday and Yaroslav Popovych (DSC) is ahead in the Young Rider competition. Lance Armstrong (DSC) maintains a 2 minute 46 second lead over Ivan Basso (CSC).

Thursday is 189km with two category 3 and two category 2 climbs. Small skirmishes may erupt as this may be the last opportunity for a shakeup before the time trial on Saturday. Outside of the time trials, if Lance is to make a run for a Stage win, this might be it. -TF

Overall Standings after Stage 17

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 72:55:50.000 00:00:00.000

2 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 72:58:36.000 00:02:46.000

3 057 RASMUSSEN, Mickael DEN RAB 72:58:59.000 00:03:09.000

4 011 ULLRICH, Jan GER TMO 73:01:48.000 00:05:58.000

5 031 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA 73:02:21.000 00:06:31.000

6 164 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 73:03:25.000 00:07:35.000

7 019 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ TMO 73:05:28.000 00:09:38.000

8 044 EVANS, Cadel AUS DVL 73:05:39.000 00:09:49.000

9 066 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 73:05:43.000 00:09:53.000

10 101 MOREAU, Christophe FRA C.A 73:07:57.000 00:12:07.000

Back on Your Desk

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Nicole was exasperated, “I try to delegate, but I always seem to end up with the project back in my lap.”

I was curious, “Tell me what kinds of things do you try to delegate?”

“Some small stuff, but I really try to delegate projects or phases of projects. These are significant responsibilities, not just petty stuff I am trying to dump off.”

“Nicole, when you delegate a project, how does the conversation sound?”

“I don’t know, I get with the person and hand them the file, or whatever and give them a deadline. I always give them the deadline.”

“So, where do you think the breakdown is?”

“Even though they know the deadline, I don’t think they start fast enough. Or they need help, but don’t even know they need help because they didn’t start the project early enough to find out. Then it ends up on my desk, half finished or half assed, one of the two.”

I pressed for a different approach. “Nicole, what one thing should you change to get a different result?”

“Maybe I should frontload an extra meeting within 24 hours of the delegation to make sure they started the project and to find out what problems they have.”

“Indeed.” -TF

Tour de France Update

Turns out many readers are depending on this blog to get their Tour updates.

Tuesday’s race saw the leaders content to hold their own while small skirmishes broke out for standings in the lower part of the top ten. Cadel Evans led a breakaway group that succeeded to the end. That moved him into 7th place overall. The closest person to Lance Armstrong (DSC) is Ivan Basso (CSC) marking 2 minutes 45 seconds behind. After almost 67 hours of racing, two minutes doesn’t seem like much, but it is likely to be impenetrable. Lance just has to stay healthy and not fall off of his bike.

Once out of the mountains, the flat stages will see attacks off of the front, but if any of the leaders have that in mind, Lance will be right there to cover. There is still one time trial to go. We might see Lance go all out as he begins to make his exit from the Tour.

Standings after Stage 16

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 66:52:03.000 00:00:00.000

2 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 66:54:49.000 00:02:46.000

3 057 RASMUSSEN, Mickael DEN RAB 66:55:12.000 00:03:09.000

4 011 ULLRICH, Jan GER TMO 66:58:01.000 00:05:58.000

5 031 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA 66:58:34.000 00:06:31.000

6 164 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 66:59:38.000 00:07:35.000

7 044 EVANS, Cadel AUS DVL 67:01:32.000 00:09:29.000

8 066 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 67:01:36.000 00:09:33.000

9 019 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ TMO 67:01:41.000 00:09:38.000

10 101 MOREAU, Christophe FRA C.A 67:03:50.000 00:11:47.000

Out of the Pyrenees

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Tuesday is the last day in the Pyrenees, with a Category One (more difficult) and an Out of Category (HC) climb (most difficult). After today, the Tour de France says goodbye to the peaks that border between France and Spain. It is now that we see the physiological differences between the riders. After 17 days, the weak riders are cracking and peeling off. The field of 189 now stands at 158. Even Monday’s rest day cannot help 31 riders who have blown out.

Yet, the strong riders are getting stronger. Their lungs are fuller, muscles grown larger, their hearts are pumping more blood than the first day down the ramp at the opening time trial.

And I thought about teams, teams at work, your teams at work. Here is what I see. Most teams, under pressure, prolonged pressure, begin to crack and peel away, burnt out. Yet, a few teams get stronger.

And I began to ponder, “What’s the difference?” What are the elements of a team that doesn’t get burnt out, that goes the distance and emerges stronger than when they started? Think about teams you are a member of. What is the critical element that makes that team strong?

I have a book, The Power of Attitude, autographed by the author, Mac Anderson, for the best post. See you tomorrow after Stage 16. -TF