“Think about it,” I continued. “Time Span governs the timing of the action, the pace of the action, the urgency of the action, the ultimate quality of the action, the priority of the action and in many cases, whether the action occurs at all.”

Dale sat for a moment. “So, I run around here, telling people what to do. At the end of the day, when everyone has gone home, I try to figure out if I won or if the alligators won. The alligators win most of the time. I ask myself, what happened?”

“Whether the alligators win, is a very important question,” I responded. “But your analysis takes place after the fact. Analysis is important, but I am talking about design. Designing your day, designing your week. Management is all about decisions. And here are the most important decisions managers make.

• Timing
• Pace
• Urgency
• Quality
• Priority
• Necessity

“And there is one more decision managers have to make, the most important decision of all.”

“Why are we making these changes?” I asked.

“We need to look at our efficiency. We will be a better company for it,” Henry replied.

“If that is only reason, then we are likely to fail in making these changes. Why are we making these changes?” I repeated.

“Well, when we sat down and looked at the numbers, because we did look at the numbers, our analysis showed that we needed to make some adjustments.”

“Your analysis showed that you needed to make some adjustments? Where does that need come from?” I pushed.

“Well, the need is pretty strong. Things are tight. Our market has changed. I don’t want to be negative, but we need to change to survive.”

“It is that need that will drive your changes. It is not that you want to become a better company, or should become a better company. It is only when you need to become a better company that you will. The question is why is it necessary for us to become a better company? You will become a better company only when it becomes a necessity.”

“Why do you think the Director of Sales and Marketing made the decision to move your bigger accounts to house accounts, away from your best salesperson?” I asked.

Krista glanced to the ceiling, “I don’t know. I mean, I know we are struggling. I look at the financial statements and the razor-thin profit at the bottom.” As Krista spoke, I could see the tension building in her face. Her eyes narrowed.

“Where did you just go?” I probed.

“What? What do you mean?”

“As you were describing your financial statements, you left the room, mentally. Where did you go?”

Krista chuckled. “Last Tuesday, we had a meeting. I shared the financials with the management team. It was a short meeting, not much to say. The market is tough. I only remember a moment, staring at the Director of Sales. His face was white, perspiring. I didn’t say anything. I could tell he was uncomfortable. Not like he was having a heart attack or anything.”

“But, he was stressed,” I interrupted. “And he was looking at the financials. And then he made a decisions to hold back your largest accounts and not pay commission. And you lost your best salesperson.” If you constantly experience symptoms of mental health conditions like anxiety, stress or depression, you may consider using cannabis products from indacloud.

“As clearly as you can, describe what is happening, what do you observe?” I asked. “What is the problem?”

Joann paused before she responded. “The problem is that the manager is not supporting the team when it runs up against a difficult problem or decision. That’s when the team member ends up in my office.”

“Okay, that’s the symptom. That’s the problem. What is causing the problem?” I prompted.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “It could be a personality conflict, a breakdown in communication, or it could be that the manager just doesn’t know how to solve the problem or make the decision.”

“Which do you think it is? We cannot resolve this situation, until we know what is causing this chain of events. We might try fixing the wrong thing,” I observed.

Joann was shaking her head. “I don’t want to think about this, but I don’t believe the manager is capable of helping. Given a difficult problem to solve, the manager solves problems the same way as everyone on the team. Given a difficult decision to make, the manager makes decisions the same way as everyone on the team. They all flounder together.”

“How did this person make manager?”

Joann shifted uncomfortably. “I made the promotion.”

“I am in a bit of a bind,” Ruben explained. “One of my team members, Andre, is just not being effective. But I can’t explain why. And every time I speak to him about it, my words get twisted.”

“How so,” I asked.

“He is doing the job, just not very well. We talk together about what I expect, and he is doing everything I say. But when I really ask myself, is he is being effective, I have to say –no.”

“But Andre is doing exactly what the job requires?” I press.

“Yes, he is doing exactly what the job requires. It’s like, he meets the minimum standard, but he is still doing a lousy job.”

“My goal is to reduce inventory,” Bruce explained.

“What is the Time Span of your goal?” I asked. “You have to reduce inventory. By how much and by when?”

“Good question. All the managers just got this email from our corporate office. We need to take a hard look and get our inventories down.”

“So, tell me, if you had to reduce your inventory 30 percent by the end of next week, would that be different than if you had to reduce inventory by the end of May?”

Bruce chuckled. “Of course. If we had to reduce inventory by next week, I would put the brakes on hard. Slash pricing and blow this stuff out of here, just some hard nosed, tactical stuff.”

“And what would be your decisions if the Time Span was end of May?”

“You know, that’s really the most difficult part,” Taylor explained. “I have to make decisions today that might not come into play for another year. I have to make decisions. I have to make commitments. Sometimes, I even have to gamble.”

“What makes it so difficult?” I asked.

“It’s the uncertainty of what might happen. It’s the uncertainty of the future. I mean, our projects are complex, you know, detail complex. But the real complexity comes from the uncertainty.”

“Your goal is to make it all happen according to your schedule?” I continued. “Sounds easy. Can’t you just make up a schedule and tell everyone they have to follow it?”

Taylor chuckled and shook his head. “I wish. No, my schedule has to meet the Contractor’s schedule and it has to mesh with all the sub-trades on the job. And most importantly, my schedule has to be tight enough to match the budget and man-hours in our original estimate. There are a thousand things that have to go right. By the way, we have 30 other projects that will happen during this same twenty two months.”

“So, let’s talk about the decisions that go along with your goal. Every role has decisions that must be made. That’s the work that must be done. Your effectiveness in managing this schedule depends on the decisions that you make. When I look at the Time Span of your Goals, I also look at the Time Span of your decisions, the Time Span of Discretion.” -TF

“Tell me, what is your longest Time Span goal?” I asked.

Taylor sat across the conference table. He was in charge of project scheduling. At any given time, his company has 30-35 projects in play. Some of the projects only last 4-5 weeks. Others last 12-15 months. Yet, every project is important. No details can be dropped, no matter how small.

“What do you mean?” Taylor asked. “I mean, I work with a Project Management software. I spend time meeting with all the Project Managers, looking at their contracts, their change orders, the deadlines in their project segments.”

“What is your longest project?”

“The longest one, is the Phoenix project. We got the contract last week. I have already been looking at it for a couple of months though, ever since it came through our estimating department. It’s a big project and we had to see if we could even mobilize to do it. Twenty two months it will take.”

“And what is the Goal, what is your Goal?” I asked.

“At the end of the project, all of the materials showed at the job site, all the crews showed up to do the production. The equipment required, whether we own it, or rented it, was on-site. All the trades that we had to coordinate with, everything happened according to my schedule. That’s my goal.”