Category Archives: Accountability

Making the Connection

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“The point is to change the behavior,” I said. “The skill is easy to teach, it’s the behavior that’s difficult to change.” Erwin and I had been talking about how you go about teaching a manager the skill of accountability.

“So, how do you do it?” Erwin insisted.

“There are four steps to the process.

  • Making the connection.
  • Creating a model.
  • Practicing the model.
  • Coaching the model.

“Let’s start with making the connection. Before a manager considers any change in behavior, they have to make two connections. First, they have to understand why the behavior is valuable. And not just valuable in general, but valuable to them in their situation. For example, managers know they should hold their team members accountable, but they never sit down and think about the benefits when they do that. They never think about the impact to themselves or the impact on the team member.”

Erwin was nodding and listening.

“But worse, managers never sit down and think about what happens when they don’t hold their team accountable. This connection may be even more important. Managers don’t think about the impact to the team member when there are no consequences for their underperformance.

“So, we talk a lot about this, making it vivid and personal. That’s the first step.” -TF

Next Monday is the kickoff for our Working Management classroom series in Fort Lauderdale. Please follow this link to find out more.

Tour de France Update

Monday was a rest day. Tuesday brings the first of three mountain stages in the Alps. It will be a day of challenges. While Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) is in the best position among the top riders, his team may not be strong enough to protect him. Tuesday, look for a serious challenge from Mickael Rasmussen (DEN-RAB), last year’s King of the Mountain champion, in support of his teammate Denis Menchov (RUS-RAB).

Overall Standings after Stage 14

1-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI -64hrs 05min 4sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min 29sec

3-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+1min 37sec

4-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 30sec

5-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+2min 46sec

6-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+3min 21sec

7-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+3min 58sec

8-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+4min 51sec

9-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+5min 2sec

10-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 13sec

11-POPOVYCH, Yaroslav -UKR-DSC –+5min 44sec

12-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+5min 46sec

13-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+5min 55sec

14-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+7min 7sec

15-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+7min 8sec

16-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+7min 23sec

17-TOTSCHNIG, Georg -AUT-GST –+8min 16sec

18-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+8min 36sec

19-AZEVEDO, José -POR-DSC –+9min 11sec

20-SCHLECK, Frank -LUX-CSC –+10min 6sec

Core Skills of Project Management

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What do you consider the three most important parts of Project Management?

Response:

Project Management is a classic Strata II role. From a macro level, it involves the coordination of people, materials, equipment and project sequence. The three core management skills drive the project forward.

1. Project Planning (creating a comprehensive project plan including milestones and accountabilities).

2. Creating and monitoring a schedule (prioritizing and sequencing time frames associated with changing elements of a project).

3. Creating and monitoring a checklist (documenting and tracking all the details for completion and quality).

The value adds for Project Management are project control, accuracy to project specifications, timliness and completeness. -TF

Next Steps and Follow-up

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“That was the missing link,” said Jeremy. He was explaining his meeting with Sylvia. As suggested he had gone back to outline the list of next steps for the project he had assigned to her.

“Even Sylvia was relieved,” Jeremy explained. “She agreed. The reason she had not started the project was that she was never clear on what to do first, so she always procrastinated. This simple process to clarify the next steps made all the difference.”

“And how many steps in this project?” I asked.

“Five simple little steps. But until we laid them out, the project was going to sit until it was too late.”

“When will you follow-up on the five steps?”

“Friday, at 3:00pm. At least I learned that lesson, to calendar my follow-up meetings. We will see how she does.”

All in all, it was a good week. -TF

As Simple as Scheduling

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Jeremy was already standing when I got to the courtyard. “I think I got it figured out,” he said. “You were right. I can tell you exactly when that unfinished report will hit my desk. Next Tuesday, because it is due next Wednesday.”

“And so, sometime on Tuesday, your teammate will realize it can’t get done, go ask your boss what he should do and your boss will say what?” I smiled.

“My boss will say, give it back to Jeremy and he will get it done.” Now, it was Jeremy’s turn to smile.

“Why are smiling? You were pretty upset last week when it happened to you.”

Jeremy almost cracked up. “I know. It’s weird. When you know it is going to happen, it’s funny, like watching America’s Funniest Home Videos. You know the guy is going to smash into the wall and it’s funny.”

“So, what are you going to do differently, because next Tuesday, this will not be so funny?” I asked.

“Well, first I am going to set up two follow-up meetings this week to make sure the project is kicked off and underway. Then next Monday, I will have a final follow-up meeting to get the last revision so I can review it on Tuesday. If we have a final touch-up, that will be okay. I guess it’s all in getting ahead of the curve.”

“You have learned a valuable lesson about follow-up. It is the one place that most managers drop the ball and it is as simple as scheduling on your calendar.” -TF

The Next Unfinished Project

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Jeremy pulled me aside as I walked down the hall. “I have the same situation,” he said.

“What situation?” I asked.

“My boss hands all the stuff to me to make sure it gets done, but he has never made it clear that I will be dishing out most of the work to the other team members. Worse still, he doesn’t support me when I get pushback on some of the assignments. He lets these people off the hook as soon as there is a whimper. I was here until 10:00p last night working on a project that I assigned to Sylvia two weeks ago. I found it on the corner of my desk yesterday with a note.

I didn’t have time to get this done. It is due tomorrow. I talked to the boss and he said just give it back to you. He said you would take care of it.

“I am not the manager, but the boss expects me to make sure everything gets done.” Jeremy was clear eyed, but you could tell he felt pretty beat up.

“Sounds to me like the boss expects you to take care of it. Tell me, how do you like working until 10:00?”

“I don’t. I was so mad, I could have strangled Sylvia.” Jeremy was fidgeting.

“So, what are you going to do differently next time?” I asked. “Because this will happen again unless you do something different.”

“What else could I do?” Jeremy sat straight in his chair. “I saw the package at 4:30 and there was five hours of work that had to get done. I had to stay.”

“That wasn’t the question. The question is how are you going to prevent that from happening next time?” Jeremy was stymied. “Let’s take a break,” I continued. “Let’s get some fresh air. I will meet you out in the company courtyard in about ten minutes. I have to check on something. Then we can talk some more. Until then, here is a clue about where I want to focus. What day next week is the next unfinished report going to land on your desk?” -TF

A copy of Creating Competitive Advantage by Jaynie Smith goes to Karen D’Abate for her follow-up comment on yesterday’s post. Many thanks to all who contributed. Some good thinking going on out there.

Biggest Change is You

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From the Ask Tom mailbag.

Question

I’m in a situation where I manage three different groups; however, I am not really the manager but actually in the same job category as the people I “supposedly” manage. The problem is my boss has given me the responsibility of all of these jobs, however, I do not have the authority to delegate to any of the people I manage. They all go crying to my boss. My tendency then is to try to “do it all”. I’ve spoken to my boss about the way I feel, “responsibility but no authority” and he does not know what I mean. He says just give it to him and he’ll find someone to do it. I feel unrespected, overworked and my self-respect is rapidly diminishing. What approach would be my effective for me to take?

Response

There are a number of dynamics going on here that are working against you. First there is the resistance from your co-workers to “assignments” for which they feel no accountability. Second is your boss, who wants to get things done, but is not willing to spend the time you need to work through this resistance. The third dynamic is you.

We could spend all kinds of time working on some technique or trick to subtly coerce your fellow team members into compliance or we could beat our head against the wall whining about how your boss just doesn’t understand. Or…

Or we can start with you. The biggest change that has to occur is not an approach. The biggest change that has to occur is with you.

I am going to throw this open to our readers for response. Here is the question.

What has to change in the mindset and the self-talk that will begin the slow development process of what being a manager is all about?

I have a fresh out-of-the-box copy of Jaynie Smith’s new book, Creating Competitive Advantage for the most insightful comment. -TF

Sharp and Crisp

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“What’s the major benefit of a huddle meeting first thing in the morning?” I asked. The team looked around at each other to see who might jump in first.

“To share the plan for the day,” said Shirley.

“To make certain assignments,” chimed in Fernando.

“To schedule lunch,” smiled Paul. Everybody stifled a brief laugh.

“Lunch is important,” I said. “Now, most of you are too young to remember Woody Allen, but he said that 80 per cent of success is just showing up. One of the major benefits of a huddle meeting first thing in the morning is to firmly establish the starting point for the team.

“Lots of time can get wasted as people trickle in, fritter around, sharpen pencils (who uses pencils anymore?). But, if you have eight people on your team and you lose fifteen minutes, that’s two hours of production.

“A huddle meeting can start the day. Sharp and crisp. Five minutes. Let’s go. Hit it hard.” -TF

It’s New, It’s Wierd

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“I was one of the guys, now I am their manager,” said Jeremy. “I mean, I know what to do, it just feels weird.”

“Tell me about it.” I ask.

“Well, on Friday, we used to always go out for happy hour. Now, I am holding back. Maybe I will show up once a month after work, but I will usually only stay for one beer, then I beg off and hit the road.”

“What’s changed about the relationships?”

Jeremy took his time to respond. “I guess, instead of a friend, the relationship is one of accountability. I mean, it’s okay to be friendly, but sometimes you have to hold the line, sometimes you have to confront, sometimes the conversation is difficult.” He stopped. “And sometimes you feel by yourself.”

“So, who can you hang out with now?”

“Well, now, it’s the other managers in the company. They have all been supportive. It is a different perspective. I’m the new kid on the block.”

“And what about your old team, from when you were a supervisor?”

“They are still under me, but now I work through their new supervisor. That relationship, it’s not accountability anymore, not with me. Now, it’s more like a mentor relationship. It’s a longer view. Instead of me, telling them what to do, I do more observing. Their new supervisor is more concerned with their day to day productivity. I am actually looking for the one that will emerge as the next supervisor in another year.”

“Why do you think all this feels weird?” I ask.

“It’s new,” said Jeremy. “My role is different. I never thought there was this much difference between being a supervisor and being a manager.” -TF

Value of Accountability

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“If you are not a psychologist, how do you interview a person for values?” I asked. This conversation started with a post a couple of days ago, but now, I am sitting with Norman, who is working on precisely this issue.

“We have used those profile things before, but I find as soon as I get someone to take the test, the entire hiring decision gets based on it. The hiring manager is always scared to go against the test. I would love to know how to interview someone for their value system,” said Norman.

“First, you have to play to your strength as a manager, someone who knows the difference between positive behavior and negative behavior. What value would you like to interview for?”

“How about, taking responsibility for your own performance, owning up to your mistakes. I guess the value is accountability,” replied Norman.

“You have already completed the first step,” I said. “When you described the value of accountability, you gave an example of a behavior, owning up to your own mistakes. That is the first step in interviewing for a value, translating it into a behavior. Once it is a behavior we can interview for it. Here is how it sounds.

“Tell me about a time, in your position, working on a project, where a mistake was made. How was the mistake discovered? What impact did the mistake have on the project? How was the mistake explained to the customer (or the manager)? How was the mistake rectified? What was learned from the mistake?

“All of the questions will lead you directly to the value of accountability, yet they are asked from a management perspective (rather than a psychological perspective). Play to your strength as a manager.” -TF

Enthusiasm and Discretionary Effort

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From the Ask Tom Mailbox

Question:

How can I, as a co-worker, get more attention to detail and productive effort from this new person in my department. She doesn’t report to me, but I request a number of projects from her each day.

Response:

This is a follow-up to the last couple of days. Tuesday, we talked about authority and power. Yesterday, we talked about authority and its inability to influence things like energy, enthusiasm and discretionary effort.

Repeated desired behavior only comes from positive reinforcement. You have the power (notice I said power, not authority) to create those conditions of positive reinforcement. However, here is the important insight. This positive reinforcement must be meaningful. My guess is, no manager has taken the time to find out what is important to this new team member. No manager has ever sat down to discover her interests, hobbies, passions or pursuits. It is only when those connections get made, that progress toward discretionary efforts will occur.

So, what to do? If you want to see productive effort, you have to discover these things. I suggest a Mineral Rights conversation . Take this person to lunch and find out what makes her tick. It is only with this information that you will be able to create a meaningful environment to gain that discretionary effort. -TF