Category Archives: Timespan

The Real Work

1 Reply

Wes was turning inward, thinking about his role. “I never really thought about the people system that I’m responsible for. I always thought of recruiting as a necessary evil. We never plan for it. Conducting interviews is always inconvenient. I fill a position as quick as I can, so I can get back to my real work as a manager.”

“And what real work is that?” I asked.

“You know, motivation issues, management issues,” Wes replied.

“Did you ever think that if you focused more on the recruiting side, the selection side that your issues related to motivation and management might disappear?” -TF

Your Most Important System

Leave a reply

“And what is your most important system to think about when you are a manager?” I asked. Wes was beginning to see just how big his job really was.

He knew the answer to this question had to be something central, something core to the role of a manager. But, he was struggling. Not because he didn’t know the answer, but he had never really thought about it.

“What is the most difficult part of being a manager?” I followed up.

“That’s easy, it’s the people,” Wes replied.

“So, what’s the most important system to think about when you are a manager?” I repeated.

“The people system?” Wes floated.

I nodded. “Think about all the elements surrounding the members of your team. It’s pretty complicated stuff. First you have to decide on the roles that need to be played, then the skills necessary, the capability (measured in time span) necessary. You have to consider how to bring new people on to the team, what training is necessary. You have to test them to determine their skill level, design increasingly complex task sequences to find their failure points. You have to determine coaching times, mentoring times, recharging times, performance standards and goals. To be effective, as a manager, you have to create a system.” -TF

Looks Spontaneous, But It’s Not

Leave a reply

Wes was mulling over his role as a manager. “But, my days always seem to be filled with problems, some internal, some external, you know, with customers. In fact, we pride ourselves on prompt customer response. We are in a high demand, time is of the essence business. Yet, you say that a manager’s most important tasks have time spans of months. There are times when I have to respond, as a manager, within minutes. And we’re talking critical customer stuff.”

“It appears that way,” I replied. “But if you spend all your time responding to customer emergencies within minutes, then your life, your organization will be in constant and total chaos.”

Wes nodded. “Sometimes, no, most times, it seems like that.”

“How do you take the chaos out, and still respond to emergencies within minutes? Look at an organization whose life actually is emergencies, EMS. I will guarantee that when first responders show up on a medical scene, their actions are carefully designed into consistent systems that have been repetitively trained. Those systems are not ad hoc, but were created over long periods of time (time span) and are constantly reviewed and improved.

“What happens may appear rapid and spontaneous, but it is a system. When you think of the most important role of a manager, think system.” -TF

Takes More Than a Day

Leave a reply

Our next Leadership Program in Fort Lauderdale begins May 21. Visit www.workingleadership.com.
__
“I guess I kind of thought of them as the same job,” Wes pondered aloud.

“Even though you are one person filling both roles as supervisor and manager, their functions are quite distinct,” I replied. “At the end of the day, what is the supervisor supposed to have accomplished?”

“Well, every day has a quota. There is a certain amount of work that is supposed to get done.”

“And at the end of the day, what is the manager supposed to have accomplished?”

Wes was stuck. It was several seconds before he took a stab. “I don’t know, I guess he is just supposed to manage.”

“It’s a tough question. The reason it’s a tough question is, the most important work of a manager can’t be finished in a day. Many tasks take a month or six months with the most important tasks requiring a year or more to complete.” -TF

Over Your Head

1 Reply

Greetings from Toronto.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What happens when you realize you were given a promotion and not able to live up to the capabilities? Do you admit it to your superiors? Do you keep it to yourself and risk failure?

Response:

There are many ways to survive in a position that’s over your head, but in the end, it’s only survival. Not a way to live.

I often ask managers, “How do you know, what behavior do you observe when a person is in over their head? Where the Time Span for the position is longer than the Time Span of the person?”

The descriptions come back.

  • They feel overwhelmed.
  • They cover things up.
  • They cut off communication.
  • Their projects are always late.
  • I can’t ever find them.
  • They always blame someone else.
  • They have all the excuses.
  • They never accept responsibility.

So, the short answer is yes. When you realize you are in over your head, go back to your boss. Explain the difficulties you are having. Ask for help. If it is a matter of capability (Time Span), no amount of training, no amount of hand holding will help. It is possible that you may grow into the position, but it’s more likely a matter of years, not weeks that allows for the required maturity (increase in Time Span).

This doesn’t make you a bad person, it just means you were placed in a position where you cannot be effective. Yet! -TF

Test Before, Not After

2 Replies

“The point, Gerald, is testing. We promote people on a wing and a prayer without any evidence of their capability,” I said.

Gerald was quiet, this was a thoughtful conversation for him. “So, at each and every promotion, we should be testing people for higher levels of capability? And that testing should take place before the promotion, not after it?” he asked without expecting an answer. “It’s so basic, so fundamental, I couldn’t see it.”

A Manager’s Solution

Leave a reply

“So, the Supervisor’s solution to fuel pricing cost more money in overtime and extra travel distance to the cheapest pump?” I nodded. “What would have been a Manager’s solution? You’re a Manager, what would you have done?”

“I actually did step in. It took us three months to figure out the problem was getting worse. The solution wasn’t in finding the lowest pump price for the day. We had to look at our system and think in a longer time frame. The Time Span for this task wasn’t a day, or even a week, it was 12 months.”

“What was the long term solution?”

“I got a fuel price, not the cheapest one, but one I could lock in on a 3 month contract for a tanker to be parked in our truck yard. I got three options going forward that capped a price escalation. That sets us for the year.

“We have a night security employee in the yard who now has something to do at night. He drives the tanker around and fills the trucks with fuel. The drivers come in at their regular time and the truck is all ready to go.

“The Supervisor’s solution about find the cheapest fuel price wasn’t the answer. It was looking at our system of fueling trucks.”

Without Evidence

1 Reply

“What is different about being a Manager?” I asked.

Gerald was quiet. His new Manager had been a great Supervisor, but was having difficulty.

“You have a great employee, team player, always shows up, works well under pressure, your go-to guy in a pinch. What is so different about being a manager?”

Gerald began slowly, “The things he is failing on, are things that go more slowly. He works well in a bit of chaos, but as a Manager, I would expect him to prevent some of that chaos. It’s almost as if he allows the chaos to emerge, so he can show off his stuff. I want him to work on a system, so things are anticipated, projects get routed automatically, conflicts are resolved on paper before they happen.”

“And did he demonstrate any of that behavior before you promoted him?” I asked.

“Well, no, but we thought he would be able to figure that out.”

“Did you ever assign him tasks, management tasks, to test him on his capability to handle those assignments?”

Gerald narrowed his eyes, before his short answer, “No.”

“So, you promoted him to a Manager level, without evidence of Management capability, based on his success at a Supervisor level?” -TF

In a Pinch, He’s Great

Leave a reply

“Are you having fun with all this?” I asked, smiling behind a very serious intent.

“Hell, no,” Gerald replied. “I’m ready to just ditch the guy. But he has eight years of good performance in his file, easy enough to get along with, always shows up as a team player. I don’t know how I would document his deficiencies to fire him. I can’t even get his production reports.”

“Let’s think about the problem, again. Let’s go over the facts. You have an eight year employee, always a team player, positive attitude that you promoted to Manager.”

“Yes,” Gerald agreed.
“Before you promoted him, did he ever display behavior that demonstrated competence as a Manager?”

Gerald’s face turned puzzled. “What does that mean? He was one of our best supervisors. He could make things happen in a heart beat. My top pick if we ever got in a jam. He could handle two walkie-talkies, a cell phone and drive a fork-lift at the same time.” Gerald stopped. “Well, not that we allow people to talk on the phone and drive fork-lifts, but you know what I mean.”

“So, in a pinch, when things get hectic, he’s your man?” I confirmed.

“What is different about being a Manager?” -TF

Can’t Wait

Leave a reply

“When did it start?” I asked. Gerald stopped to think. A long time employee, recently promoted to Manager, had gone brain-dead.

“The timing is a little tough. When we promoted him to Manager, we knew there would be a learning curve, so we gave him a little space and the benefit of the doubt. But after four months, my patience is wearing thin.”

“Why have you let it go so long?” I asked.

“Well, we figured it would take a quarter to get up to speed, so we set some benchmarks that he needed to hit by the end of six months. I don’t know if we can wait until then.”

“So, this is management by results?” I pondered.

“Yeah, that’s the way we normally do things. But he’s not even close, and when we do try to pin him down, there is always some excuse about something not being in his control, and that we should wait for the six months we agreed to measure the benchmark.”

“How are you liking your approach?” -TF