Category Archives: Organization Structure

Over His Head?

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Joyce was thinking about her team. Things were not a disaster, but not running too smoothly. There was a perceptible friction that was beginning to take a life of its own.

“I have been watching Phillip,” she started. “It seems he is struggling with his job as a supervisor, but it’s hard to tell. He has his good days, but not too often.”

“How would you rate his performance?” I asked.

“Well, that’s pretty easy to see. He is always late with stuff and it’s never completely done the way it should be. And then, when I go to talk to him about it, I can’t find him.”

“Is he in the building?”

“Oh, yeah, he will turn up, but it’s like, he was two hours down in receiving, he said he was organizing the place. Now, I know the place needs to be organized, but he was doing it all alone, and not out here on the floor where he really needed to be. The receiving guy could have taken care of organizing.”

“What do you think the problem is?”

“Well, even though he is a supervisor, it seems he would rather be doing lower level stuff. Some of his team members even accuse him of micro-managing.”

“So, what do you think the problem is?” I repeated.

“It’s like he is in a role that he doesn’t even like, and probably in over his head,” Joyce concluded.

“And who put him in that spot?”

Joyce turned her head and looked back at me, sideways. A bit of a grimace.

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It’s a Skill Set

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Timo Söderlund, from Ebit Management, in Sweden, captured an important point in his comment posted last week. It was in response to our series about Cheryl, a technical troubleshooter who was recruited to improve throughput for a manufacturing company.

This is what you see quite often. An excellent salesman is promoted to become sales manager. It may work, but it may also fail. If you, at a certain age, have developed your skills and love the things you are doing – as a specialist or expert, and then start doing something else – like becoming a manager – I question if it can be “trained” into that person to become as successful a manager as he or she was before, in their field of expertise. A manager – in my view – is more concerned in people, their interaction, and the performance of the “team” – and this is quite far away from being an expert in a certain technical or administrative field.

In our classroom program, I have seen a number of technical and engineering people thrust into the role of management. Though they are extremely bright, this new management role requires a completely different skill set.

And it is a skill set of behaviors that can be learned. Interesting, I find that once learned, these skills have a transforming effect on the manager, as a person.

Beginning tomorrow, I will spend a few days exploring the role of positive reinforcement. “What gets measured gets done, but what gets reinforced, gets repeated.” -TF

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It’s a Different Skill Set

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As Phillip simmered, he finally blurted out, “But they should know how to schedule. How hard is that?”

“I don’t know, Phillip. How complicated are your scheduling logistics?” I asked. We had been talking about his Project Managers. Though technically proficient, they seemed to have difficulty creating and maintaining current schedules.

“It’s just getting the materials and the people scheduled. It’s not that difficult.” Phillip was firm.

“What is the biggest problem they face in scheduling?”

Phillip thought for a minute, hoping to tell me there were never problems, but he knew better. “I guess the biggest problem is coordinating with the other subs on the job, to make sure their work is finished and the project is ready for the work we do. Since the subs don’t work for us, coordinating with them is sometimes difficult.”

“So, how do you train your PMs to deal with that?”

“Train ’em. They’re just supposed to know that they have to go check.” It was not a good answer and Phillip was beginning to backpedal.

I pressed. “On the job, do materials ever get backordered? Does a crew member ever call in sick or a whole crew get reassigned to an emergency? Does the contractor ever change something without a change order? Does a piece of heavy equipment get delayed on another project and not show up? Does a dumpster load sometimes not get switched out in time. Does a code inspector sometimes not show up?

“Tell me, Phillip. How do you train your Project Managers to create and maintain schedules?”

Phillip hesitated. He knew any response would just sound like an excuse.

“Phillip, here is the critical factor. Actually doing the work is completely different from making sure the work gets done. It’s a different role in the company. It has its own skill set. You don’t hire for it, you don’t train for it, but right now, it’s killing you.” -TF

The End Around

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Frieda was frustrated. “I sit in a department managers meeting and get called on the carpet for an assignment that I knew nothing about. One of the other managers pulled an end-around and took a project directly to one of my staff members. I am not a mind-reader, how am I supposed to follow-up on a project I know nothing about. I told everyone in the staff meeting that if they want work done in my department, they have to work through me.” Frieda stopped. Calmed a bit. “That didn’t go over real well. Now everyone thinks I am a prima donna.”

“Do you think the other department managers are being malicious?” I asked.

“No, things are just busy. I think they just wanted to get the project done.”

“So, in busy companies, this kind of thing happens. We simply need to get work done and sometimes you may be out of pocket and one of your team members becomes convenient for the project. Don’t take it personally. The question for you is -How can you, as the manager, find out about these projects so you can schedule them appropriately?

“Do you have a weekly staff meeting in your department?”

“Of course, that is when we sit down and take a look at all the projects in-house, get a status and talk about production issues.” Frieda was firm in her response.

“So, I want you to add an agenda item. -What are the projects that have been assigned that we don’t know about? This is actually pretty easy. These would be projects that your team is working on that are not on the project list. The purpose is to capture the project information so your team can respond appropriately. You get back in control and your fellow department managers see you as cooperative and helpful.” -TF

Vegetables and Power

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Question:

We have a new person in our department. As the project manager, I request many work elements from her each day, however, she reports to another manager in the department. I feel there is a lack of accountability and attention to detail in much of her work, which requires me to follow-up and complete many of these work elements. Her manager seems too busy to notice how low the productivity is from our new team member. I think it would have been better to have this person report to me, but that is not the way she was assigned. Any suggestions?

Response:
You are in a classic dilemma, where you are dependent on the production and work of another person yet have no authority to hold this person accountable for performance. There are two things to consider, both of which land you in the same place. We will talk about one angle today and another tomorrow.

Organizations often have reporting alignment mismatched. You depend on this person, yet have no authority to hold this person accountable. Even in this misalignment, you may need to understand the difference between authority and power. Even if you did have the authority to hold this person accountable, this person still has the power to decide whether the work will be completed and to determine its quality.

It is like a parent who has the authority to issue a policy about vegetables that will be served for dinner, however the child has the power to determine whether broccoli will indeed be eaten.

So, even if you did have the authority, this person still has the power. More tomorrow. -TF

Calm in the Control Center

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Day Five after Hurricane Wilma.

Infrastructure. Things are moving forward because of infrastructure. Look at the systems created by each organization in this cleanup and watch them work. A dispatcher sits at a counter with a permanent line to emergency officials. He rolls out trucks and reassigns crews as work is completed.

There is calm in this control center. It is calm because its systems are working. The planning may be hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute, but it is supported by an infrastructure created a long time ago.

I was talking with Bernard Paul-Hus, president of Hypower Inc. His role at this point is to stand back and let his systems and people work. His type-A personality pushes him to find something active and essential to do in the moment, but his real work in response to Hurricane Wilma was done months ago.

Think about your organization. What kind of infrastructure do you have? Have you built it to be responsive to changing conditions? It doesn’t have to be a natural disaster. You are faced with changing market conditions, new competitors and shifting technologies.

Management lessons become visible from time to time. What can you learn from Wilma that will help your company face its trials in the future? -TF

HR’s Budget

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“How important is the role of HR in a growing company?” Last Friday, I conducted our Hiring Talent workshop, which generated a number of thoughtful questions.

How big is your company’s payroll? In dollars? That’s how important HR is. The HR person is in charge of your company’s acquisition, training, development and human productivity. HR’s budget isn’t your training budget, or the salaries of your HR personnel. HR’s budget is your entire payroll cost.

So, if you have a company of 80 employees and an annual payroll of $2M, then HR’s budget is $2M. I look to your HR person to actively be involved with your managers, constantly asking how this person or that person is performing. This is what I want to hear from your HR person.

Does this person need training? Is that person ready for a new assignment, more responsibility? Does this person need to be replaced? Because I have two candidates in the wings you should take a look at.

That’s how important HR is in a growing company. -TF

Elements of the Design

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We had a thoughtful response from Adrian to yesterday’s post about the design of the people system. Here is an excerpt.

I’m not convinced you can “design” the interactions between people. That smacks of the old authoritarian ideal of being able to control the people who report to you. The interactions themselves depend on individual values, thoughts, emotions and levels of understanding. We can try to affect reality through our actions (and interactions) but we can’t predict or control it.

Are some individual values, thoughts, emotions and levels of understanding important to a person’s success in a role on your team?

As the Manager, these are of great concern in designing the people system. For example, in the design of a customer service department, I am interested in team members who value helping other people, and emotionally can empathize with the customer. When I think about the hiring process, I am certainly going to interview for these exact qualities.

As the Manager, the more I can identify the qualities I want in my team members, the more likely I am able to recruit those folks to be on my team. As the Manager, the people system is the most important system you work on. -TF

Working as Designed

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I was just about to leave when Lawrence stuck his hand in the air. “What about the people?” he asked. We had been laboring over the role of the Manager for some time.

“The role of the Manager is to create the system and make the system better. The most important system is the people system. How people work in your organization is top priority for the Manager. Look, here is the bad news. Right now, your people system is working exactly as it was designed to work.”

“How can that be?” retorted Lawrence. “Our people system sucks.”

“You designed it that way, or by choice, you decided to leave it to chance. Either way, you designed it to suck.”

“But, it’s not my fault. I have only been a Manager here for two months.” Lawrence was backpedaling big time.

“And so, for the past two months, you have supported a system by doing nothing about it.” I replied. Lawrence was looking for a better excuse, but I stopped him. “Look, in the short time you have been a Manager, have you drawn up a little diagram about how people work around here, how they relate to each other, how they depend on each other? Have you written job profiles to document the specific responsibilities of each person on the floor?

“Lawrence, you are in charge of the most important system in your company, the design of how people work together as a team.” -TF

Value-Add

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“So, what does all this mean to the organization?” I asked, finishing my conversation with Lawrence about structure. “What contribution comes from each strata?” The wheels were turning inside Lawrence’s head. He struggled.

“Take it strata by strata,” I said. “What is the role of Strata I?”

“They are the people who do the work,” replied Lawrence.

“And their contribution is quality. All of your quality initiatives must be driven down to Strata I. They alone, have the power to instill quality into your product or service.” Lawrence nodded.

“What is the role for Strata II?” I continued.

“Strata II makes sure the work gets done.” Lawrence snapped back.

“The value-add for Strata II is completeness, thoroughness, accuracy, timeliness. They make sure there are no gaps in service and that things happen on time.” I paused. “And the role at Strata III?”

Lawrence was ready, “Strata III works on the system, creates the system, makes the system better.”

“And the value-add for Strata III is predictability and consistency. Ever had a McDonald’s hamburger in Memphis? Ever had a McDonald’s hamburger in Seattle? How do they taste?”

Lawrence nodded. “They taste the same, because they have a system.”

“Lawrence, does your company have a price list for its goods?”

“Yes.”

“Your company has a price list because it can predict its costs. A price list is evidence of a predictable system. The value add of the manager is to maintain that predictability.” -TF