Category Archives: Accountability

Calm

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“But, there were reasons that the team didn’t hit their output target. Materials were late, a machine broke down, and Fred didn’t show up for work,” Dalton explained. “Ever since I got promoted from supervisor to manager, it seems like everything lands on me.”

“Indeed it does. How does that feel?” I asked.

“I fell overwhelmed. There are so many more moving parts. And, my manager expects me to anticipate and prevent things going wrong.”

“So, what do you think is causing your distress?” I prodded.

“It’s my manager, all the stuff that is going on around me,” Dalton commiserated.

“And, how do you feel about that?” I continued.

“Frozen. I don’t know what to do next. When I was a supervisor, I just had to react and fix. But, now, fixing doesn’t happen fast enough. There is too much going on,” Dalton breathed.

“How do you find calm?”

Dalton stopped. “Calm?”

“Sometimes you have to slow down, so you can go fast. How do you find calm?”

Act of Creation

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From the Ask Tom mailbag –

Question:
I see the guidelines for creating a vision, but it seems a little far-fetched. Actually, I think most vision statements are far-fetched. They are too vague, or too warm and fuzzy. They describe a world that doesn’t exist.

Response:
Exactly, a world that doesn’t exist. Planning is about creating the future. And you are right, most vision statements are too vague. A vision statement should describe a specific point in time and should be detailed, rather than vague. Whenever I write a plan, my vision statement is often the longest part of the whole plan. It is detailed in its description of how things look and how things work. The more descriptive the vision, the easier the rest of planning steps flow.

What’s the Level of Work?

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“But, we need to ramp up quickly,” Bruce explained. “We have a lot riding on this project.”

“What’s the rush,” I asked.

“We didn’t know if we were going to get the project, it was a very competitive bid process. But we pulled it off, at least the contract. It’s fast track, four months to complete with liquidated damages on the back end if we miss the deadline.”

“When you say ramp up, what do you mean?” I wanted to know.

“We have the production crew to do the work, they’re coming off of another project. But, the project manager is moving to Seattle to start another job. He was good, and a great opportunity for him. Unfortunately, that leaves us in the lurch. I need a project manager and I need one, now!”

“What’s the level of work on this project?”

Bruce stopped to think. “It’s only a four month project, so that’s S-II. I am hoping there will be a decent candidate pool. Sometimes, we post for a job and no one shows up.”

“How does risk play into understanding the level of work in this project?” I pressed.

“There are lots of moving parts, lots of detail, and if we miss the deadline, our profit could be wiped out pretty quick,” he replied.

“But, we have computer software to handle the detail,” I nodded. “What about the risk embedded in the uncertainty of the project?”

“What do you mean?” Bruce furrowed his brow.

“Will you need to trust your suppliers to deliver on time? Hold their pricing? Are the materials in the spec even available? What’s the lead time on materials? Will you depend on your client for approvals? What could hold up the permits for approval? I know you will have subs on the job. Are they dependable and available in each phase schedule? What if there are change orders? How quickly can you identify something out of scope and its impact on the contract? Is the client litigious? To keep the project on track, how will you schedule quality inspections to make sure each phase meets spec before you can move to the next phase?”

I saw the blood begin to drain from Bruce’s face. I continued. “I think this project has more to it than the 4 months timespan after mobilization. The relationships and synchronicity required have to be developed way before mobilization. The trust in your subcontractors needs to already be in place now. This is more likely an S-III project that started before you even got the contract. The biggest mistake most companies make is underestimating the level of work in the project.”

Uncertainty in the Project

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“Let’s look at some of the specific decisions that you have to make today that will have impact later in the project?” I said.

Taylor sat back. “Okay. Let’s just look at the buy out,” he started. “In the buy out, I have to purchase some large pieces of equipment that will be installed. I have to work with our project managers and also with our purchasing guy. Here are some of my decisions that I have to make today, but it may be months before we find out if it was the right decision.

“Will the price of this equipment (to be installed) go up or go down. If I make a commitment now and the price goes up, I am a hero. If I wait to make the purchase and the price goes up, I am a goat.

“Will the vendor that supplies the equipment still be in business a year from now. I may have to put down some deposit money. But even if we lose the deposit money, the real risk is trying to scramble at the last minute to find an alternate supplier. The costs may have changed and some of this stuff has lead times. If the project gets delayed because we don’t have the equipment on-site to be installed, we may be liable for a delay claim.”

Taylor stopped.

The Best of Intentions

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“But everyone understood that we had to land the project for the team to get their bonus,” Lindsey protested.

“No, you understood that. The team understood something different. If they gave it their best and worked really hard, the team would get the bonus. So, they worked really hard and gave it their best. The only person who was in position to make decisions was the manager. The team didn’t get their bonus because of their manager.”

Lindsey was quiet. “So, we set up a system that, in the end, created a divide between the manager and the team.”

But, the Team Missed the Deadline

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Lindsey had a puzzled look on her face. “I don’t understand. The team missed the deadline. We lost the project. If not the team, who do we hold accountable for the result? And believe me, this was a big deal. There was a big team bonus riding on this project.”

I started, slowly. “Who knew about the project first? Who had knowledge about the context of the project among all the other projects in the company? Who had the ability to allocate additional personnel to the project team to meet the deadline? Who had the authority to bump other project schedules to meet this deadline? Who was in a position to authorize overtime for this project?”

“Well, the Memphis team Manager,” she replied.

Who Do You Hold to Account

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“I don’t see it,” Lindsey grimaced. “As a company, it is certainly not our intention to pit management against team members.”

“Yet, you feel a growing divide, and you are blaming the uncertainty in the economy,” I replied.

“Well, yes, if it weren’t for the economy, I don’t think this would happen.”

“Let’s take a look at managerial accountability. Who do you hold accountable for the output of any of your teams? They have a goal, the goal is not reached. Who do you hold accountable?”

“You’re right. Just last week, our Memphis project team missed a deadline that cost us the opportunity to land a project. It wasn’t my team, but anyone could see from a couple of weeks before, that they weren’t going to meet the time constraints.”

“Who did you hold accountable for missing the deadline?” I asked.

“Well, it was the Memphis project team.”

“Wrong, it’s not the team we should hold accountable for the result.”

The Third Part of the Story

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“I don’t understand,” Roger shook his head. “If Brad would just start earlier on these longer projects, things would be under control, and he wouldn’t be cutting unnecessary corners which compromise project quality.”

“Why do you think he procrastinates until the end?” I asked.

Roger shook his head.

“Because,” I continued, “he cannot see the end until he is two months away. On a project with a nine month deadline, Brad cannot see the end. It is too far away. There is so much uncertainty between now and nine months from now, that he cannot see it.

“So he takes no action.

“Of course, the pressure of the project builds, because now things are getting late, but even that is not what finally kicks Brad into action. With sixty days to go, Brad can now see the end. And when Brad can see the end, he starts to act. It is frustrating for us, because we saw this nine months ago.

“Everyone has a story. And every story has a beginning, middle and an end. When you listen to someone’s story, you will hear the Time Span of their story. They cannot take action in their story until they see the end of their story.”

Overtime and Weekends

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I managed to get two steps up the food chain, talking with the boss of Olivia’s boss, a senior vice president in the company.

“So, how did the audit project get delayed for your ISO re-certification?” I asked.

“I don’t know. You spoke with Olivia, one of our supervisors. Her manager, Brad, is really in charge of that project, it’s a Stratum III role, and we have had more troubles than just the audit with Brad.”

“Procrastination?” I suggested.

His eyes grew wide and his head began to nod in agreement. Eyebrows furrowed. “Yes. And I have talked to him about getting a jump on these longer term projects. Brad is okay with projects of about 60 days, but anything longer than that and he really gets in the weeds. In the end, you start to see him power through, working overtime and weekends. When he started working here, he looked really dedicated, but as time goes on, I don’t see that as effective manager behavior.”

“What length project is Brad good at?”

“Two months.”

“And how much time is left before the audit?”

“Two months.”

“What connection can you make from that?”

Time Compression?

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“We have an ISO process audit coming up in two months and we have to get all the documentation updated before it starts. So, that makes it a two month Time Span goal,” Olivia described. “I am not sure I understand. This is a very complex project. The documentation is very detailed and technical. It will require someone at my level to supervise, to make sure it is correct. If we fail this audit, it puts several contracts in jeopardy. But a two month Time Span looks like Stratum I work.”

“There are two kinds of complexity. One type is created by the amount of technical detail. The other type of complexity is created by uncertainty,” I replied.

“Okay, I understand that if something has a lot of technical detail, it will take a long time just to parse through it. That might make a project’s Time Span longer. But I cannot get over the fact that this project has to be complete in two months, but the level of work is definitely higher than Stratum I.”

“Don’t be fooled. Because you only have two months, a great deal of uncertainty is gone. While you may think this is a tough project (detailed complexity), the limited Time Span forces this to be a simpler project.

“In two months,” I continued, “you don’t have time to start your documentation over from scratch. You don’t have time for massive overhaul, no in-depth analysis. You only have time to perform a quick review, observe a limited number of examples and make some relatively minor changes. Here’s the rub.

“The real Time Span of this project started the moment you finished version one of your current documentation. The true Time Span of the project is closer to one year than two months. Unfortunately, no manager took this assignment. No work was done. Procrastination killed its true purpose, and likely, the quality of the end product.”