Category Archives: Leadership

Importance of the MOR Conversation

Leave a reply

July 16 kicks off our summer Leadership program here in Fort Lauderdale. For registration information, please visit www.workingleadership.com.
__
“So, the relationship between the supervisor and the line worker or the manager and the supervisor is all about the work. And that relationship is an accountability relationship,” I explained.

Sylvia nodded, so I continued, “What is the appropriate relationship between the manager and the line worker? What is the nature of the relationship for the Manager Once Removed?”

“It can’t also be an accountability relationship, because the line worker would then have two bosses. That’s a little schizophrenic.” Sylvia’s head turned. “But the conversation I was having with Muriel, our line worker, wasn’t about the work. I was interested in how she was doing as a person. I was interested in how she was adjusting, how she was finding things with the company.”

It was my turn to nod. Sylvia continued.

“As the Manager Once Removed, I think it is important to have those kinds of conversations. Her supervisor will talk with her about the work, making sure the work gets done. My role, as a Manager, is to create the system, monitor the system. It’s important for me to find out the condition of the system.”

“Is it also your responsibility to be grooming your next wave of supervisors?” I asked.

“Yes, and my next supervisors are going to come from my best team leaders. As the Manager Once Removed, I need to be having conversations about career paths and opportunities within the company.”

“And, as a Manager, do you also have an accountability relationship with the supervisor who reports to you?”

“Yes, and I can find out a lot about Vince’s performance as a supervisor by having a Manager Once Removed conversation with Muriel.”

Complain to Upper Management?

2 Replies

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

How do you handle Managers who take credit for your work (my immediate manager and his boss)? My immediate manager does not know the job well and depends on everyone for support. The operation has downfalls due to his shortcomings. Only a few immediate individuals know the truth and feel uncomfortable going to upper management.

Response:

The Manager and the Manager-Once-Removed are both absolutely responsible for the output of their teams. I hold them both accountable for the team’s successes and the team’s failure. So, they DO get the credit when times are good and they shoulder the blame when things go bad.

And often, it is not necessary that a Manager have in-depth technical knowledge. That’s what the team is for. I often lead teams where I have zero knowledge of their internal processes or technology.

So, my concern is for the downfalls in operations. Why are they happening? And how can we get better in the future? I use the following questions to debrief. You might be able to share these with your boss so your team can make some progress.

  • What did we expect?
  • What did we do well?
  • What went wrong?
  • What can we do next time, to prevent that from going wrong?
  • When will we meet again?

When the team focuses on these questions, things begin to change. Complaining to upper management accomplishes little. -TF

Not Your Job

3 Replies

“What kind of questions?” asked Ted.

“Look, in your position, as Manager, you often don’t have the technical details necessary to make a decision. As a Manager, that’s not your job. Your job is to bring value to the thinking and work of your team.” I waited for Ted to catch up.

“By asking questions?”

“Most Managers think their team will see them weak if they have difficulty making a decision, even if the Manager doesn’t have the technical details. So, sometimes Managers make a decision because they think it’s their job.

“If you have two engineers, each with a different method of solving a problem, you may not know which method is technically the best way.”

“So, how do you make the decision?”

“You don’t bring value by making a decision and telling them what to do. You bring value by asking questions.

  • What were the top three criteria on which you based your recommendation?
  • What impact will your recommendation hav on the time frame of the project?
  • What two things could go wrong with your recommendation?

“Your job, as Manager, is not telling people what to do. Your job is to bring value to their thinking and their work.” -TF

Bringing Value

Leave a reply

Greetings from St. Louis, MO.
__
Our next Leadership program begins Wednesday, April 30, 2008. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.
__
“I’m not sure I know what you mean, bring value to a person’s thinking and their work. I know what it means, I guess, I am not sure how a Manager does that,” asked Ted.

“Do you bring value by telling a person what to do?” I replied.

“Well, I could make suggestions,” Ted answered. “But you are right. Technically, these guys run circles around me. I don’t know the technology and I don’t have their experience.”

“So, even if you did make suggestions, there is a high likelihood that you would be suggesting the wrong thing?”

Ted nodded his head.

“So, if these guys can technically run circles around you and have much more experience, then how can you, as their Manager, bring value to their thinking and their work?”

Ted was stumped.

“As their Manager, Ted, you don’t bring value by telling. You bring value by asking questions.” -TF

Manager’s Commitment

1 Reply

Greetings from St. Louis, MO.

I would like to welcome our new subscribers from Toronto. I was there last week in a series of workshops on Time Span and the research of Elliott Jaques.
__
Our next Leadership program begins Wednesday, April 30, 2008. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.
__
“Yes, but shouldn’t these people be reporting to me?” asked Ted.

“That depends. Functionally, their roles produce results you are interested in, but are you prepared to be their Manager?” I replied.

“I think so. I think they can report to me. I think I can hold them accountable for producing those results. I think I can check up on them to make sure they are working,” Ted proposed.

“That’s only the surface part of being a Manager.” I stopped to draw a picture. “Here you are, and these people, you believe, should report to you. But are you prepared to be their Manager?

“Your most important role, in the Manager relationship with these guys, is for you to bring value to their thinking and their work.” Ted stared at the simple picture of circles and lines.

“Are you bringing value to their thinking and their work by telling them that their reports are due on Friday and then reminding them Monday morning that their reports are late?”

Ted was still staring, but putting the pieces together. “Well, no, not when you put it that way.”

“Then, how, as their Manager, do you bring that value? And are you committed to bring that value? Are you willing to commit the time to bring that value?

“The answers to these questions will determine whether these people should report to you.” -TF

A New Leader

1 Reply

The group had been working for ninety minutes. They were working in a simulation to complete a complex task. Once the task sequence and its steps were decided and practiced, the test was to complete the entire sequence in a twenty minute time frame.

I stopped the simulation to ask a simple question. “Which of you has become the leader?” There had been no formal selection, but the group immediately looked at Sam.

“What is it about Sam, that has made him the leader?” I continued.

The team members began to exchange glances, wondering if they were all thinking the same thing. “Well, Sam seemed to know how to organize this thing together,” Marvin volunteered.

“How did he do that? You have not worked together as a team before.”

There was a brief moment, then Kyle piped up. “Sam pulled us all together, asking questions about what each of us thought. Within three minutes, he had formulated a plan, assigned some individual responsibilities and we started working.”

So I am thinking to myself. Sam was chosen as the leader because he had understood the complexity of the situation better (at least faster) than the others.

At that moment, Emma stood up. She had been sitting on the sidelines, in fact, I wondered if she had been paying attention.

“I think we can complete this task in five minutes, instead of twenty,” she said.

All eyes turned. In an instant, a new leader emerged. -TF

Who Should Be the Leader?

2 Replies

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I read the post on Race Day, and I am very curious about how the crew selected the crew leader for Race Day? Did they just elect someone?

Response:

This is a very interesting question. In some of my workshops, I often assign a small group to complete a complex task. While the exercise is to the complete the task, the purpose of the exercise is to put the group in a position where a leader emerges.

So, who becomes the leader? It is seldom put to a vote, but the group always has an intuitive sense who the best person should be.

At first, I thought the decision might be related to technical skills, but that is often not the case. Most often, it is the person who has the time span most suited for the assigned task.

It is the person who understands not only each of the individual steps of the task, but the most appropriate sequence, the relationships of those steps, and most importantly, the people who will be performing each of the steps.

The fascinating part in the selection of this person, is that the members of the group have an intuitive sense of who the leader should be. -TF

Where Do You Spend Your Time

2 Replies

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What is the incentive to the person who performs at a higher level than the status quo, if they are rewarded the same?

Response:

While this sounds like a simple question, it is actually quite complicated. While I am not a fan of performance bonuses, I am a fan of differential pay bands for those who are more effective than others. Simply put, people should not be rewarded the same.

There should be different consequences. But the most powerful consequence may not be compensation.

A study was conducted with a group of factory workers. One group produced a high level of product each day (avg 94), the other group produced a lower level (avg 76). The manager was instructed to change two things.

First, each day, post the personal productivity of individual team members. Second, any team member who improved one day to the next, received a complimentary remark from the manager. No pizza, no bonus, no extra time off, just a complimentary remark.

At the conclusion of the study, the low performing group had improved from (avg 76) to (avg 84). Everyone was quite pleased.

The high performing group improved from (avg 94) to (avg 146).

Most managers end up spending time with their poorest performers. Where is the real payoff? -TF

Bringing Out the Best in People

Leave a reply

For the past two weeks, we have been talking about bonus and incentive systems, how they work, how they don’t work, issues of accountability. I have had more questions, emails and posted comments than any other time since we started this blog.

But we’re done. Change the subject. Because all these histrionics about bonus and incentive systems all scream at the following question. When all is said and all is done,

How do we bring out the best in people?

Next week, we will re-focus the discussion on that central question. Meanwhile, how do you bring out the best in your people? -TF

We still have three seats left in our Leadership program that begins next Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale. If you are thinking about putting someone into that program, please reply to this email or visit www.workingleadership.com. -TF

As Things Grow More Complicated

Leave a reply

“And where do you want accountability, solely on your shoulders, as the manager, or do you want the entire group accountable for their own performance?” I repeated.

“I want my whole team accountable,” Reggie replied.

“You see, Reggie, in the beginning, as a manager of a small team, you can take the brunt of the responsibility, because the responsibility is small. As time goes by, if you want to step up to larger responsibility, you will find that strategy will fail you. You, as the manager, can no longer solve all the problems, catch every package that falls off a forklift, fix every little discrepancy that comes roaring at you. If you try to do it all, by yourself, you will fail.

“So, you have managers who know they have to get their teams involved, to get their teams to hold themselves accountable. But they don’t know how. So, some consultant recommends a bonus program to get buy in. And you have seen, first hand, what that does to accountability.”

Reggie took a deep breath. “So, it was okay when things were small and times were good. But now that we are growing, more and more people are trying to game the bonus system.”

“And, lord help you, when times go bad, and they will. A bonus system during bad times is a sure-fire morale killer.”

“I think, the biggest lesson, for me,” Reggie replied, “is that, as things grow bigger and more complicated, I have to learn how to hold my people accountable to the performance standards that we set. And a bonus system doesn’t substitute for that skill.”