Category Archives: Accountability

Abdicating Responsibility

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All eyes settled on Alicia. “Alicia, tell me again, what you believe your role is as Division Manager on the Phoenix Project?”

I had asked this question before and I could tell Alicia had practiced the answer. “My role is to put the team together, assign the leadership, make sure there is consensus and that the project stays on track.”

“And what is the name of this meeting?” I continued.

“Well, this is the Project Team meeting,” she replied.

“And do you attend these meetings?”

“Yes, at the end of the day, I am responsible for the Phoenix Project.”

“And, as the Division Manager, have you abdicated your responsibility, as a manager, to a watered down decision making protocol called consensus, in an effort to appease everyone and get everyone to play nice?”

I think I detected a bit more shifting in the chairs as this meeting was getting closer to the truth.

Who Should Make the Decision?

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Paula, one of the team members from administration, raised her hand. “It seems to me that no one can make a decision around here. Russ has his engineering agenda, and it’s important, but if we don’t get the project done on time, that’s a problem, too.”

“Paula, do you think Russ should fight less hard for project specifications that he believes in?” I asked.

Paula shook her head, “No.”

“And do you think Russ should fight less hard to keep the project on track?”

Paula continued to move her head from side to side.

“So, who should make the decision?” I watched each team member look down and then look at Alicia, the Division Manager.

Not a Personality Conflict

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Russ made his point, that the contract called for certain technical specifications, and also declared his bias, that his bonus was based on the absence of litigation related to project specifications. So I turned to Corey.

“Corey, the team gets confused when they get conflicting direction from both you and Russ. Russ stated a good case that we have to stick to the specs. How do you respond?”

Corey’s face was terse. “It is my responsibility to make sure this project stays on track and on schedule. Sometimes we have to make a change to prevent delays. If we don’t make our schedule, we take it on the chin with a delay claim. By the way, I get a bonus at the end of the year when we have zero delay claims against us.”

I looked at both Russ and Corey, then at Alicia, then at the team.

“So, we have conflict here. This conflict was first described to me as a personality conflict,” I began. “But, this does not look like a personality conflict to me.” I looked straight at the team, one by one. “So, what is the problem, here?”

Taking It on the Chin

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Joe explained it well. The contract with his crew was to do their best. If goals weren’t met, the accountability for the shortfall must go to their leaders. It is only the leader who is in a position to make the decisions that determine success or failure.

So, I turned back to Alicia, the Division Manager, and to both Russ and Corey, the project leaders.

“So, Russ, you represent the engineering department, how do you respond?”

Russ had been quietly turning a brighter shade of red, and it wasn’t from embarrassment. “Look, it is my job to make sure that the technical requirements of the customer are met. If we make any material changes to the specifications and there is a component failure, we will take it on the chin in a lawsuit. By the way, I get a bonus at the end of every year that we are not involved in litigation.”

Accountability for Results

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“Tell me more, Joe. When you are given conflicting direction from Russ and Corey, how does that impact your driver crew?” I asked.

“First of all, I have a great crew, dedicated and very serious when the going gets tough. They know, at the end of this project, based on delays, there is going to be hell to pay. They know the excuses will fly and part of the blame will land on logistics.

“They also know,” Joe continued, “that, during the project, they have no control over priorities and sequence. They make recommendations, but they are not in a position to know the overall impact or changes in scope or changes in schedule. They are only in a position to move our heavy equipment as instructed.

“I keep it pretty simple. My only contract with them is that they do their best. And if, at the end of the day, the goals aren’t met, then the accountability for the shortfall must be with the leadership. It is leadership that determines the schedule, sets the pace, allocates the resources and makes the decisions that determine the outcome.”

Crippling the Team

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“I cannot believe the way people are responding to this situation,” Lydia explained. “They know the right thing to do, but they are all wimps, now that they have to stand up for it.”

“What is your position?” I asked.

“To do the right thing. I laid out the steps we need to take, who we need to contact and how we need to present the facts. I know it’s unpopular, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“How are you going to persuade the team to take the right action?”

“I’m the leader, so I could just force the issue, take the steps on my own,” she replied.

“And what kind of leadership is that?”

Lydia thought, grinned, then slowly nodded. “That would be tyrannical leadership, I suppose.”

“And if you are a tyrant and force it, then you let the team off the hook. They are no longer responsible for taking action. You cripple them from being responsible in the future.” -TF

Perfectly Plausible

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Brett was somewhat disturbed with my observations about his dilemma.

“I don’t think you are being fair,” he said. “You know the market is tight and you know we are out there doing our best to drum up sales.”

“Do you have a competitor that is already out of business?” I asked.

“Not one, we lost three competitors almost nine months ago. The market wasn’t even nearly as tight as it is now. They just couldn’t sustain it.”

“If you ran into one of them in the grocery store and asked them why they went out, what would they say?”

“Well, they would blame it on the market,” Brett replied.

“Yes. And everyone would believe them and feel some empathy for them. It is a perfectly plausible excuse. Your former competitors chose to live with the problem, and whine and complain about it, rather than make the changes necessary to get a different result.” -TF

Easier to Live With the Problem

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“Things are getting tight,” Brett explained. “This market is a lot different from a year ago.”

“Yes,” I replied.

“The phone doesn’t ring anymore. We only prepare two or three bids a week, now instead of two or three a day. So, it’s no wonder that our sales are down, backlog dwindling.”

“It’s quite a problem. I am glad you are happy with it.”

Brett shifted in his chair. “Happy, I’m not happy about it.”

I smiled. “Sure you are. You know, it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Brett shifted again. “What do you mean? I just told you that our market has changed. Getting sales is tougher.”

“What would you have to do to maintain your sales volume, even if the phone doesn’t ring?” I asked.

Brett looked puzzled. “Well, we would have to get out of the office, go out and look for new customers, but we are already doing some of that. It’s just hard to do.”

“So, you are happy to have this problem. It’s a lot easier to live with the problem of lagging sales than it is to make the necessary changes that create sales in spite of the market.” -TF

Systematic Profit

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Derrick was still puzzled, but scrambled through some papers on his credenza. Finally, he produced an org chart, at least a version of it, with several scribbled notations.

“Will this do?” he asked.

I shook my head. “It’s a start.”

“So, what are you looking for?”

“Derrick, you offer a price to your customers for your services?”

“Well, they tell us what they want, or need, then we have to take it through our estimating department. It’s not that simple, takes a day or so to produce a price based on a set of specifications.”

“And in that estimate, have you marked up or included some specific amount that should be profit on the job? Either gross profit or net profit?”

“Of course. We want to build in 10 percent for overhead and 10 percent for profit in addition to the direct costs. At least that’s the theory,” he stated flatly, rolling his eyes.

“No, it’s not just theory. Your livelihood, your business success is tied to those numbers. This is not a game.” -TF

Question to think about. Where in your system, do you specifically determine how much profit (gross or net) should be made, either on a project or within a time frame?

The Misbehavior Conversation

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My thanks to Larry and CSA for their responses to yesterday’s question about undermining authority.
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Here’s my take.

Undermining authority comes in many flavors. It could be naive behavior, thinking that it is helpful. It could be meddling behavior, a supervisor with nothing more interesting to do. It could be something to prove, disagreement with vision or disagreement with methods. It could be malicious, absolutely intentional as retribution for a past oversight from authority.

Your question leaves out detail, but your next move is the same no matter how unintentional or down-right mean and nasty the motive.

Your next move is a conversation and the sooner, the better. This is the Misbehavior Conversation.

If you want to fire the guy, you don’t need my help, so I assume you want the behavior to improve. You will need a quiet place. Here are the elements and the time frames for each step.

Observation. Describe specifically, without judgment, what you have observed. Be a reporter, no emotion, no opinion, just the facts. (10 seconds).

Impact. Describe the impact this is having on the team, the department, the company, the customer. (10 seconds).

Your contribution to the problem. (Yes, you have to assume some responsibility in this problem). As his manager, it is likely you were not clear when you created the roles and responsibilities. You likely have seen this behavior for some time, but you haven’t said anything, hoping that the behavior would go away. If you’ve kept quiet, then you have given permission. (10 seconds).

What’s at stake. There are many stakeholders who have some skin in this game. It is not just this supervisor and one or two people. Your customer is the biggest stakeholder. (10 seconds).

Consequences if no change. Do not forget this step. If there are no consequences, then I don’t know why you are having this conversation. (10 seconds).

Your wish to resolve. Tell this supervisor that your intention is for things to improve. (5 seconds).

Ask for a plan to correct the behavior. (5 seconds). Don’t fall for the trap of telling this supervisor what must be done. The plan for improvement must come from his lips. So shut up and listen. (10 minutes).

Agreement on follow-up. This is an appointment to check on progress. Get your calendar and set a specific time, within seven days of this conversation.

This is not a long conversation. You will notice that you only get to talk for one minute compared to ten minutes for the other person. Note the solution to the problem must come from the other person. The most important skill is listening and asking questions. -TF