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.

Survivors can register “I’m OK”

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Special Edition of Management Blog

Survivors can register “I’m OK”

The site is now up and operational. It’s scalable and should do the job.

Family and friends continue to search for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Our new web registry will allow someone to search for a specific person instead of combing message boards organized by city.

Survivors can register “I’m OK” or have someone else register for them that “I’m OK.” Aid stations and relief centers can use this registry to assist people in making their whereabouts visible to their family and friends.

The search side of the site allows for a specific pinpoint search for a person by household rather than generic searches by city. All the search requires is the person’s telephone number from before the disaster. Family and friends searching for the same person can communicate with each other through the message board tied to that phone number.

We need your help to make this registry known ASAP. Please forward this link to people you know who may be searching for people affected by the disaster.

www.im-ok.org

Your help is sincerely appreciated.

-Tom Foster

Elements of the Design

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We had a thoughtful response from Adrian to yesterday’s post about the design of the people system. Here is an excerpt.

I’m not convinced you can “design” the interactions between people. That smacks of the old authoritarian ideal of being able to control the people who report to you. The interactions themselves depend on individual values, thoughts, emotions and levels of understanding. We can try to affect reality through our actions (and interactions) but we can’t predict or control it.

Are some individual values, thoughts, emotions and levels of understanding important to a person’s success in a role on your team?

As the Manager, these are of great concern in designing the people system. For example, in the design of a customer service department, I am interested in team members who value helping other people, and emotionally can empathize with the customer. When I think about the hiring process, I am certainly going to interview for these exact qualities.

As the Manager, the more I can identify the qualities I want in my team members, the more likely I am able to recruit those folks to be on my team. As the Manager, the people system is the most important system you work on. -TF

Designing the People System

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“So, you want me to really take a step back and look at the interactions between people?” quizzed Lawrence.

“More than just look, I want you to design the interactions between people.” I stopped to watch Lawrence’s face. There was a question behind his eyes.

Since I had his attention, I continued. “Think about these kinds of questions.

  • How are team members given work assignments?
  • How often are they given work assignments?
  • Do team members depend on work product from other team members?
  • How do team members hand off work to other team members?
  • When a team member completes a work assignment, how does their supervisor know?
  • When they complete a work assignment, how do they know what to work on next?
  • Does anyone review or inspect their work?
  • How often is their work reviewed or inspected?
  • Are they permitted to continue on additional work before their current work has been reviewed?
  • Do they work on multiple assignments simultaneously?

“The people system is the most important system you work on. This is just the start.” -TF

Working as Designed

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I was just about to leave when Lawrence stuck his hand in the air. “What about the people?” he asked. We had been laboring over the role of the Manager for some time.

“The role of the Manager is to create the system and make the system better. The most important system is the people system. How people work in your organization is top priority for the Manager. Look, here is the bad news. Right now, your people system is working exactly as it was designed to work.”

“How can that be?” retorted Lawrence. “Our people system sucks.”

“You designed it that way, or by choice, you decided to leave it to chance. Either way, you designed it to suck.”

“But, it’s not my fault. I have only been a Manager here for two months.” Lawrence was backpedaling big time.

“And so, for the past two months, you have supported a system by doing nothing about it.” I replied. Lawrence was looking for a better excuse, but I stopped him. “Look, in the short time you have been a Manager, have you drawn up a little diagram about how people work around here, how they relate to each other, how they depend on each other? Have you written job profiles to document the specific responsibilities of each person on the floor?

“Lawrence, you are in charge of the most important system in your company, the design of how people work together as a team.” -TF

Value-Add

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“So, what does all this mean to the organization?” I asked, finishing my conversation with Lawrence about structure. “What contribution comes from each strata?” The wheels were turning inside Lawrence’s head. He struggled.

“Take it strata by strata,” I said. “What is the role of Strata I?”

“They are the people who do the work,” replied Lawrence.

“And their contribution is quality. All of your quality initiatives must be driven down to Strata I. They alone, have the power to instill quality into your product or service.” Lawrence nodded.

“What is the role for Strata II?” I continued.

“Strata II makes sure the work gets done.” Lawrence snapped back.

“The value-add for Strata II is completeness, thoroughness, accuracy, timeliness. They make sure there are no gaps in service and that things happen on time.” I paused. “And the role at Strata III?”

Lawrence was ready, “Strata III works on the system, creates the system, makes the system better.”

“And the value-add for Strata III is predictability and consistency. Ever had a McDonald’s hamburger in Memphis? Ever had a McDonald’s hamburger in Seattle? How do they taste?”

Lawrence nodded. “They taste the same, because they have a system.”

“Lawrence, does your company have a price list for its goods?”

“Yes.”

“Your company has a price list because it can predict its costs. A price list is evidence of a predictable system. The value add of the manager is to maintain that predictability.” -TF

Gaps in the Structure

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Thanks to all those who helped Florida weather this Hurricane. All eyes and prayers now on the people of New Orleans.

Last week we spent time talking about the distinct differences between the role of the supervisor and the role of the manager. We had a couple of thought provoking posts from Karen about the subject. First was a distinct analogy about doing the work efficiently vs. doing the work effectively. Her second post characterized the nature of the work of a manager.

It is important to understand the three distinct strata that make up this internally focused basic business unit. Strata I does the work. Strata II makes sure the work gets done. Strata III creates the system and makes the system better.

Each Strata is of vital importance. Where there are gaps in Strata I, it pulls the Strata II Supervisor into doing the work. When that happens, no one is checking to make sure that all the work gets done.

Where there are gaps in Strata II, it pulls the Strata III Manager into making sure the work gets done. When that happens, no one is checking the system, which ultimately begins to crumble.

Getting this structure straight and strong is the fundamental building block for a productive organization. -TF

Hurricane Katrina

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As of right now (7:00pm Thursday), the eye of Katrina is passing over my house. We have had power flickers as the worst of the feeder bands are over us. We will see you all back here on Monday.

Batten down the hatches. Make sure we have beer in the fridge. -TF

Tools of the Manager

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“They just told me that, now I am the Manager. They didn’t tell me that I was supposed to do anything different than what I was doing before,” explained Lawrence.

We were talking about the role of the Manager, and the differences from the role of the Supervisor.

“That’s because most companies don’t truly understand the role of the Manager, nor the tools they use to do their job. For the people who do the work (Strata I) the tools are real tools, machinery and equipment, that’s easy to see. But what are the tools of the Supervisor?” Lawrence looked quickly to the left to see if the answer was written over my shoulder.

“The role of the Supervisor (Strata II) is to make sure the work gets done, so the tools of the Supervisor are schedules and checklists. The Supervisor uses those tools to make sure the right people are at the right place using the right materials on the right (well-maintained) equipment.”

“So what are the tools of the Manager?” asked Lawrence.

“The role of the Manager (Strata III) is to create the system, and make the system better. The tools of the Manager are flowcharts, time and motion, cause and effect sequence, role definitions and analysis.”

The role of the Manager is different than that of the Supervisor and requires different tools. -TF

Stop and Think, Connect the Dots

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In response to Tuesday’s post about Beating Back the Alligators, Sherry writes:

“I would love to get more information on how to beat back those Alligators! What happens when the Alligators are taking over?”

This is where the role of the Manager becomes truly important. The people who do the work (Strata I) can only work harder. The people who make sure the work gets done (Supervisor, Strata II) can only organize the chaos (also known as straightening the deck chairs on the Titanic).

The role of the Manager (Strata III) is to analyze what is causing things to be overwhelming and out of control.

Stop and think. What is the cause?

The most useful tool I know of is a long roll of butcher paper (available at any restaurant supply store). Roll it out and tape it on the wall. Create a flow chart of the essential steps necessary to do the work that is required. We are talking circles, boxes and triangles connected by arrows, cause and effect. Step One, Two, Three and Four. Then, for each step, ask why we are doing that? Is that in line with our senior purpose?

This exercise will expose unnecessary steps or activity that simply does not add value to the process. Get back to the fundamentals, do only those things that are truly essential.

What other ideas do you have? -TF

Beat Back the Alligators

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Lawrence had been a manager for only a couple of months and was having trouble letting go of the supervisor responsibilities from his previous position. His resistance is captured by David in response to Monday’s post.

But how do you get out of the weeds? So much stuff hits my desk it takes me hours to sift through it all to determine what really needs to be done. By then, the day is over and I have not done anything. The next day, it starts all over.

Dig a little, beat back the alligators, dig a little more. Understand that this is not a time- management problem. You cannot organize your way to greatness.

This is the secret, the keys to the kingdom. Your only hope (and hope is a strategy) is to improve your delegation skills. Delegation and training. The only thing that will keep a manager out of the weeds is to build a team to support the position. When a company gets big enough, it is called infrastructure. Without that support, there is no hope.

As a manager, I look for two strata (levels) of support for the manager. Strata I does the work. Strata II (supervisor) makes sure the work gets done. Strata III (manager) creates the system and makes the system better. -TF