I heard back from Michelle Malay Carter last week about a post we highlighted last week on Time Span. In her response, she posed this dilemma.

“We find that managers, even when they believe the concept is credible, struggle to articulate tasks in Time Span.”

I find the biggest difficulty in understanding Time Span is over-thinking it. Most managers make it way too difficult.

Time Span is simple. It is the Time part of every goal. A goal is a “What, By When?” That’s it. Time Span is the “By When” part. Michelle was correct. Most managers focus on the “What” part of the goal. The “By When” part is often an afterthought. But it is the “By When” that we need to pay attention to. It establishes accountability and calibrates the complexity of the goal.

When you think of the Time Span of any task assignment, just think about the goal, the “What, By When?” and you will have it.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
When you talked about Time Span in the workshop I attended, you described a person’s maximum capability and how it was important to match their capability with the Time Span of their task assignments. I have a person on my team that, I believe, is not working to their maximum. How can I motivate them to push harder?

Response:
It’s a fair question, but you may be looking for the answer in the wrong place. I am not certain that we, as managers, can motivate anyone to do anything. Elliott Jaques, in his research (Requisite Organization), describes several elements necessary for a person to reach that maximum.

One element, Elliott describes, is interest. Your team member may, indeed, possess the capability, the necessary skills to perform to your expectations, but if they lack the interest, you may be disappointed, as a manager.

What is it that we are interested in? What is it that we have passion for? It is those things in which we place a high value. And yes, we can place high value on the work that we do. If work that we value matches the work that we are doing, then magic happens. It captures our interest, our passion, and we will apply our maximum capability to the task at hand.

As a manager, you cannot motivate a team member, but you can ask questions to find out what work is valued to see how it matches the work they are doing. If it does, watch the magic.

Critical Elements for Success – Elliott Jaques, Requisite Organization
1. Capability (measured in Time Span)
2. Skill (technical knowledge and practiced performance)
3. Interest (work that is valued)
4. Reasonable behaviors required by the role

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question
Identifying Time Span seems to be difficult. How do you make that assessment? How do I know my Time Span?

Response
Everyone has this curiosity. “What’s my Time Span?”

I usually avoid the question, skirt the conversation, redirect, distract, change the subject. But let’s take a stab.

I always start with purpose. What would be the purpose for you to know your own Time Span (capability)? Here is a quick list.

• Am I working to my potential, as a person?
• Am I paying attention to tasks appropriate for my role?
• Am I allowing myself to get trapped in events and circumstances that play against my effectiveness?
• Am I approaching problems and decisions with an eye to long term impact vs. short term comfort?
• When I look to solve a problem, is the quality of the solution improved by thinking further into the future?

These are important questions. How can Time Span help us more clearly understand the answers to these questions? First, answer the questions.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question
Based on your Time Span workshop, I can now clearly see that one of our Vice-Presidents is not capable in his role. Actually, I knew it all along, everyone knew it all along, but no one would talk about it. Blood relative to the CEO. He has the title, he has the responsibility, he is failing. His behavior is getting more defensive as time passes. What is my next move? I cannot demote the guy, sacred cow.

Response
Family members in the business are always interesting. It’s like Dilbert in real life.

But, just because he is a family member does not make him a bad person. Yet, since you attended the workshop on Time Span, his underperformance is now clearly visible. The workshop gave you a language to describe it and a way to measure it.

Time Span helps you understand the situation, it can also help you resolve the situation. Your goal is to help this young Vice President become a productive, contributing member of the management team.

This is simply a matter of calibration. It is a matter of matching his Time Span task assignments with his capability. It starts with a thorough review of his job description, specifically identifying the Time Span associated with his goals. You know where he is effective and ineffective, and you should see a Time Span pattern emerge like a watershed. Where he is capable, move in more task assignments. Where he is not effective, move out task assignments.

This will redefine expectations around his role, where he is successful. That should stop his defensiveness. From there, create a professional development plan, based on Time Span task assignments that pull him to the limits of his capability. If he is, indeed, heir apparent in some succession plan, you can help him grow toward that.

And don’t worry about his title or the size of his office. Everyone knows he is blood relative to the CEO.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question
I have a team member who has always been the “go to” person on his team for as long as I can remember. Anytime anyone needs help, they call on him. He is an expert on how our machines run. He is always cheery, enthusiastic. So I promoted him to supervisor. That means, now, he is in charge of scheduling, making sure each day’s production is complete, checking raw materials for the next day. It doesn’t seem like a lot of responsibility, but I think the promotion was a mistake.

Response
It doesn’t seem like a lot to you, because those responsibilities are well within your Time Span capability. You have a team member with a high interest in machines and how they run. He can probably listen from across the room and tell if something is wrong with a machine.

In his new role, listening to a machine doesn’t go far. You are asking him to use a new set of tools – schedules and checklists. Machines work in real time. Schedules work into the future. He may not be interested in the work of a supervisor and you may be asking him to play a Time Span role beyond his capability.

There is one simple way to find out. Ask him.

“You all know you are team leaders, right? Let me draw a three layered cake. I will put your manager on the top layer, you, as a supervisor in the middle layer and your team in the first layer.”

Sitting around the room, we have assembled a group populated by both Stratum II supervisors and Stratum III managers. The purpose of the discussion is to talk about Time Span and their roles.

“What is the role of your team?” I asked, looking specifically at the supervisors in the room. The responses were descriptive of the technical services delivered by the company. “Those are the people in production,” the group replied. “They assemble our products and deliver our services.”

Satisfied with that starting point, the next question got tougher. “If the role of your team is production, what is your role as supervisor?” The eyes in the group began to dart. “If the role of your team is production, then your role as supervisor is to make sure production gets done.

“And what are the tools you use, as supervisors, to make sure production gets done?” I continued. We circled the room, compiling a list. Turns out, the tools of the supervisor are schedules, checklists and meetings.

How do you talk about Time Span to people in Stratum II roles? They clearly understand the relationship they have with their team and the relationship they have with their manager. I use that as the starting point.

A quick review of Stratum roles (in the discipline of management).
Stratum I – Production, assembling a product or delivering a service.
Stratum II – Making sure production gets done, supervisory role.
Stratum III – Creating, monitoring and improving systems.
Stratum IV – Integration, bringing an organizations different disciplines into a whole system.

Time Span is the cornerstone of the research conducted by Elliott Jaques and Kathryn Cason.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
With the basic understanding that I now have about Time Span, I am curious how deep in the organization to take it? How do you explain Time Span to Stratum II or even Stratum I?

Response:
The principles of Time Span are absolutely applicable throughout the organization. How we talk about Time Span will depend on the purpose of the discussion. Let the purpose of the discussion be your guide.

Let’s start with Stratum I, because I sense that is where you are having difficulty. How would you explain Time Span to people in Stratum I roles? What would be the purpose?

The simple elegance of Time Span is that it comes from setting goals. It is the “by when?” of the goal (what? by when?). Is it important to set goals for those in Stratum I roles? Then, let that be my purpose.

When I talk about Time Span with people in Stratum I roles, I simply talk about their goals. “What do you need accomplish? By when?” It is a straightforward and important conversation.

Avoid the temptation to make Time Span more complicated.

How do we explain Time Span to those in Stratum II roles? Tomorrow.

Time Span is the cornerstone of the research conducted by Elliott Jaques and Kathryn Cason.

The sun is just streaming in over Sandia Peak here in Albuquerque, NM. Working with Charlie Hawkins’ Vistage groups on the research of Elliott Jaques and his findings on Time Span.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
We have managed to find a niche in this recession where we think we can grow. We are ready to scale. Understanding the layers of the organization, we believe we have Stratum I and Stratum IV (capable) people, missing layers II and III. What is our next move? Do we grow the company up from the bottom or from the top down?

Response:
Let’s describe the trouble and let you pick your poison.

A quick review of Stratum roles (in the discipline of management).
Stratum I – Production, assembling a product or delivering a service.
Stratum II – Making sure production gets done, supervisory role.
Stratum III – Creating, monitoring and improving systems.
Stratum IV – Integration, bringing an organizations different disciplines into a whole system.

Right now, your perceive that you are effectively delivering a product or service into your market. That market is responding and appears to have an appetite for more (even in this difficult economy).

From a role perspective, you have a layer of Stratum I pumping out Production and a layer of Stratum IV wise guys who think they have a tiger by the tail. I will concede that your Stratum IV (capable) people are looking down the road 2-5 years and that’s why they can see the tiger.

The trouble will be in growing. BTW, this trouble is normal, natural and unavoidable. And you still have to grow through it. Your excited Stratum IV hunters in heat will spearhead a sales effort and start raising your volume (product or service). This will outstrip your Stratum I abilities to control both pace and quality. You will suffer difficulties in scheduling to meet demand and quality control to meet specifications.

This volume will create the need to look ahead (three months plus) and monitor production’s pace and quality. Specific processes must be developed, documented and trained to insure we are working production on time and within spec. This is clearly a Stratum II role. In the beginning, one of your Stratum IV wise guys will step in and temporarily fill the gap. This term will be short-lived as boredom in the role sets in, necessitating the need to hire a proper Stratum II supervisor.

This same scenario will play itself out again as volume and market increases. The need to look out (twelve months plus), to invest in systems, procure capital equipment, re-arrange production resources for efficiency will draw one of your Stratum IV (capable) honchos into the mix. There will be temporary challenge creating these systems, but likely, the discipline to monitor and maintain those systems will require the hiring of a proper Stratum III (capable) manager.

Building this infrastructure will be dictated by the time between hope and reality (reality always wins). My counsel would be to clearly define your goals (milestones) and watch for follow-through indicators for your growing market. Do not hire on hope, hire on confirmation of indicators.

Keep in touch. -TF

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Now that I know more about Time Span, I realize I have over promoted someone beyond their capability. What can I do to repair the damage? I need this person’s skills, but they are floundering in this new position.

Response:
You have already taken the first step. You have accepted responsibility for your dilemma. Often, we blame the floundering team member when it was our miscalculation.

Now, that you understand Time Span, your next move is to calibrate task assignments (goals) within the Time Span capability of the person. To understand the Time Span of the task assignment, you have to trace your way back to the goal. A goal is a “what, by when.” The “by when” of the goal is the Time Span of the task.

If you list out the Time Span of the former task assignments (where the team member was successful) along with the Time Span of the new task assignments (where the team member is having difficulty), you will likely see a pattern. This pattern will be helpful in determining what Time Span task assignments are appropriate.