Category Archives: Accountability

Without the Load

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Ernesto and Emily were locked in deep discussion. Emily was learning as much about herself as she was about the problem she brought to class.

“I’m the problem?” she asked.

Ernesto shook his head. “Yes, and that’s the good news,” he replied. “The one thing you have the most control of is you.”

Emily’s team had been consistently short on daily unit production. But to protect morale, she had never delivered the bad news. She had never delivered the truth, at least not the straight truth.

“What do I do?” she asked.

“Tell them the truth,” Ernesto replied. “If they don’t know what the problem is, how can they fix it?”

“What if I tell them and they quit or get mad at me?”

“People are not that fragile, people can handle the truth. It’s the load that usually comes with the truth that people have trouble with. Look, Emily, all they need to know on Tuesday are two things. What is Tuesday’s target and as the day progresses, how are they doing toward the target?”

“So, how do I tell them, without the load?” Emily asked.

Ernesto was quick to respond. “Get a white board and in the morning, write down the target number for the day. When they finish a unit, have them put a tick mark on the board. Assign someone to add them up at 10, 2 and 4. They will figure it out.”

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Our next Management Program begins Monday, October 30. Registration at www.workingmanagement.com.

Co-Dependents

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Ernesto was on a roll. Emily was now seated in a chair at the front of the class.

“Emily, you think there is a morale problem on the line, but that’s not the problem. You know they are not meeting their daily quota, but you haven’t shared the numbers with them. Bottom line, you are not telling the truth because you are afraid to hurt someone’s feelings. By not telling the truth, you have made them incapable of improvement.”

Emily’s body language was retreating. Ernesto continued.

“And you have created co-dependents out of them. They are just fine not knowing what their quota is. As long as they don’t know, they don’t have to perform to it.

“When you tell them they are short, they think it’s your problem not theirs. They are perfectly willing to continue this non-accountable relationship. No skin off their nose.”

The color in Emily’s face began to pale. I called a time out. The room was very still and quiet.

“The problem we name is the problem we solve. That is why it is so important to name the problem correctly,” I said. “How will we name this problem?” -TF

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Our next Management Series begins on October 30 in Fort Lauderdale. Registration at www.workingmanagement.com.

New Manager?

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I am currently a sales representative with a prospective position as a sales manager over the next few months. I would be managing a sales force of approximately 10 people with 2-3 products using a fairly new selling process. It is tailored to think about WHY a customer makes a buying decision versus delivering a scripted message. This sales model incorporates detail aids (printed material) along with the use of television ads in the future. I have to begin to think about WHY I am ready for a district sales management position. What do you feel are truly the most effective skills that I need to think about as a new sales manager?

Response:

Being a Sales Manager requires a totally different skill set than being an effective sales rep. Many good sales reps have ruined their sales careers by being promoted to Sales Manager. Let me run my short list by you and then we will open it up for suggestions.

  • Hiring
  • Firing
  • Establishing accountabilities (targets)
  • Training
  • Evaluating performance
  • Coaching performance
  • Building a team
  • Running effective meetings
  • Reviewing and adjusting the sales model

We will spend the next couple of days looking at these skills in more detail. Meanwhile, I know several readers have made that transition and will have some helpful recommendations. Please leave comments. -TF

It’s a Simple Question

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“So, how did it go?” I asked. Phyllis had her conversation with Ben late yesterday about the cycle count mess.

“It was a little strange,” Phyllis started. “At first he was headed toward being defensive, but my question was not what he expected. He thought I was going to ask him how it happened, but I didn’t. Instead, I asked him how he was going to fix it.”

“And?” My brow furrowed in anticipation.

“And he just sat there. So, I waited. You said I would have to outlast the silence, and I did,” smiled Phyllis.

“And?”

“And, then, it all came gushing out, all the problems, difficulties and excuses,” Phyllis was still smiling. “So, I just asked him again, how was he going to fix the problem?

“It was great,” she continued. “This afternoon, he is supposed to have a one page written timeline to get inventory back under control. Now, I know it will be an awful plan, and that I will have to work with him, but the accountability will still be in his court.”

Phyllis continued to beam as she made her way down the hall, waving a quick salute. -TF

On the Hook or Off the Hook?

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Phyllis was not stunned, but the approach with Ben surprised her.

“You want me to ask his advice on how to deal with the mess that he created?” she asked, wanting to make sure she heard correctly.

“Absolutely,” I replied. “You know you will be very involved in the cleanup, but Ben needs to know this is his responsibility. Most managers would immediately jump in and take over the cycle counts themselves until everything was straight.”

“That’s exactly what I was about to do,” said Phyllis.

“And if you take over the cycle counts, what message does that send to Ben?”

Phyllis had to think for a moment, but she was smart. The consequences slowly washed over her face. “If I jump in, the message to Ben is that I will straighten out any problem he has. If I jump in, it lets him off the hook for these cycle counts.”

Phyllis was quiet for another moment.

“Okay,” she said. “Now, I am ready to talk to him.”

Ask Ben

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I could tell Phyllis was tense. The color in her face was grim, her posture perfect.

“Hey, Phyllis, what’s up?” I asked. She took a deep breath. I sat down across the table from her. She stared straight ahead.

“I have to talk to Ben. I know what I need to communicate, but I don’t know what to say. I just found all the inventory reports for the cycle counts in a desk drawer in his cubicle. They’re all blank. It looks like we haven’t had a count for two months. Ben has been telling us that everything was fine and in line with our book inventory.

“Our controller called me in this morning. Something is off on our cost of raw materials and a couple of spot checks showed the inventory isn’t even close. It’s a mess.” Phyllis slumped a little now that she had explained it to me.

“It sounds to me like you know what to say.” I replied.

“Yes, but Ben has a tendency to go off on people. He gets defensive really easy. I am going to need his help, not his anger to get to the bottom of this. The first couple of sentences will be the most difficult and I don’t want to set him off.”

“So, why don’t you ask Ben?”

“What?” Phyllis looked almost startled.

“Sure, ask Ben. Call him into your office. It sounds like this.

Ben, I just found out we have a problem with our cycle counts on our inventory. This is your responsibility, so I thought it would be best if you would tell me how we might go about figuring out what happened.

“Now, Phyllis, you and I both know things will come unraveled at that point, but the responsibility will be in his court to help fix it.” -TF

Time Span and Responsibility

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

My boss feels I am very good at my work, but that I don’t take responsibility. I tried to ask him what he means by that. He said that I have to be told every time what I must do. So, I tried to do things on my own initiative, but then he questions me “who told you to do this?” Most of the time when I ask about something I think I should do, he says “no” and asks me to do something else. How do I impress my boss that I am a person who takes responsibility or is at least willing to take responsibility?

Response:

Your attitude and willingness are in the right place, so let’s make one small change. I want you to ask your boss to meet with you to plan out your work for an entire day. I want you to create a checklist on paper and then work the checklist. The problem is not responsibility. You appear to be a responsible person.

The problem is time span. You appear to work on a single task at a time and then return to your boss for more direction. I want you to lengthen the time span by creating a checklist with a sequence of tasks for the entire day.

At the end of the day, you will be able to show him the checklist and what items you have completed. That will be evidence that you are, indeed, a responsible person.

The key is time span.

Over Promising

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“It was strange and yet so simple,” said Karyn. We were debriefing a conversation she had, to patch up a shouting match the previous Saturday.

“I just asked her questions,” she continued. “At first, all I got was silence, but it finally came down to this. The reason she was leaving early on Saturday was that her babysitter couldn’t watch her kid all the way to 5:00 o’clock. When she was told to come to work on Saturday, she was afraid to tell the weekday supervisor, and she just hoped no one noticed. Rather than say, no, she planned to just sneak out early.

“So, how did you solve her problem?” I baited.

“You know, I know better than that. I can’t solve her problem. I just asked her questions.

“I asked how many days in advance she needed to know when she had to work a Saturday. She said one week.

“I asked her how she was going to communicate that to her weekday supervisor. She said she would work up the courage and tell her. (I did offer to set up a meeting with her supervisor so she couldn’t back out.)

“I asked her what would happen if her supervisor asked her to work Saturday with less than one week’s notice. She said she would have to muster up the courage to say -no- unless she could make arrangements.

“You know, it’s funny. She suffers from the same thing I do. She over promises. Then gets in trouble when she can’t deliver. We both promised each other that we stop over promising.”

“Sounds like quite an agreement. Keep me updated on how this works out.” -TF

Shut Up and Listen

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Karyn was in the conference room when I arrived. We only had ten minutes so, right to the point.

“What have you decided that you would say?” I asked. Last Saturday, there was a shouting match that ended poorly. Karyn did not want a repeat performance. At the same time, she wanted the team member to live up to her schedule and complete the work assigned. I had suggested that Karyn prepare a conversation that was both sensitive and straight.

“First, the conversation will be early in the shift. I will ask to see her in the conference room, because it is both private and neutral. I am going to start with a twenty second speech and then I plan to listen and ask questions.” Karyn stopped.

“So, what does it sound like?” I prompted.

“First I will apologize.

I am sorry the conversation got out of hand last Saturday. We are both adults and I know better. When I got angry, I should have just called a time-out so we could talk with clearer heads.

It’s obvious to me that something is going on outside of work that is very important to you. It is important enough for you to break the schedule even if your work is not completed. If we could talk about this priority, perhaps we could arrive at some solution. I might be able to help if you could talk me through it.

“Then, I plan to shut up and listen,” Karyn explained.

“So, after you listen, are you going to solve her problem?” I was curious.

“Absolutely not, if there is one thing I have learned, is that I can listen, but she will have to solve her own problem. In fact, she will have to do the hard work of thinking it through. All I can do is give her a platform to solve the problem rather than fight it.”

“Good. I will be most anxious to hear of your progress. Keep me updated.” -TF

Sensitive and Straight

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“I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but I guess things just escalated.” Karyn was describing this latest blowup with one of her team members. “I am only her supervisor on the weekend, so I feel a little helpless. Her weekday supervisor lets her get away with leaving early. I talked to Rick about it. He just doesn’t want to confront her.”

“And when you stopped her from leaving early, the conversation turned grisly and she left anyway?”

Karyn nodded her head slowly. “And next Saturday, I don’t know what to do or say. I can’t just pretend nothing happened?”

“Oh, you could. Hope is a strategy. You could hope she doesn’t blow up again. You could hope she doesn’t leave early again. You could hope she gets all of her work done. But if hope doesn’t work, what are you going to say and when are you going to say it?”

Karyn scrunched her face, “I don’t want to wait until she tries to walk out the door again. Then it will be Groundhog Day all over again.”

“So, when would be a better time to talk to her?”

“I think early in the day, perhaps at the very beginning.”

“Good, then there won’t be the drama of her trying to leave at that moment. Now, what are you going to say?” Karyn struggled with this question. No response.

“Karyn, I want you think about this. You cannot stumble into this conversation. You have to be prepared. Think about this and we will talk again. Think along these lines. I want you to be both sensitive and straight. What will you say?” -TF