Category Archives: Timespan

Manager’s Discretion

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“What about me?” Corina continued. “As a Manager, my job is different. How would discretionary judgment be stated on my job description?”

“Let’s take your job description, identify one of your Key Result Areas and see what we come up with,” I said.

Job Description
Job Title: Plant Manager
This is a Stratum III Position. This role in the organization is to create the systems in the plant, monitor and improve those systems.
Key Result Area – Cap Ex Equipment
Prescribed Duties: By October 1 each year, the Plant Manager will submit to the Management Team an analysis and recommendation for the purchase and retirement of all production equipment whose value (at purchase) is $5,000 or greater for the following calendar year.
Time Span – 15months. This task requires the Plant Manager to look ahead to the following calendar year, to anticipate changes in production systems and work flow or other circumstances that will affect production capacities; to examine the remaining useful life of existing equipment and to explore new technologies which may be useful in the plant. The Plant Manager will use discretionary judgment to analyze production capacities, market demand (from sales) and return on investment on each piece of equipment. The Cap Ex Equipment plan will be reviewed by the Management team for modification and approval by November 30 each year.

Discretionary Decisions

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“How do you talk about discretionary judgment in the Job Description?” Corina asked.

“Right at the top,” I replied. “And attached to each Key Result Area.”

“Okay, I have a supervisor position. The Key Result Areas are:

  • Scheduling
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Safety
  • Production

“The prescribed duties are easy,” Corina explained. “The supervisor has to post the schedule, maintain the equipment, prevent time-lost accidents and meet the production schedule. How do you figure in discretionary judgment?”

“The first element to establish is the Time Span of Discretion. How long do you, as the Manager, expect the team member to be able to make routine decisions (using their discretionary judgment) without having to come to you for direction? And that Time Span may be different in each Key Result Area.

“Let’s start with scheduling. How far into the future do you expect your supervisor to schedule your team members in their work assignments?”

Corina squinted, “I believe next week’s schedule is always posted the Wednesday before.”

“And what about the week after that, and two weeks out and three weeks out?”

“Well, those aren’t posted, but the supervisor has them in a notebook on his desk. They’re not finalized because some people may have vacation, or the production schedule may require overtime.”

“So, the supervisor is looking out four weeks into the future, using his discretionary judgment, making decisions about work assignments based on things like vacation and production schedules. Would you say the Time Span of Discretion is about four weeks?”

“Yes,” Corina began to nod. “It’s not just that the supervisor posts the schedule on Wednesday. To do an effective job, it’s the discretionary decisions being made four weeks out, in his notebook, looking ahead.” -TF

Post It Note Mentality

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We had an enthusiastic pile-on to yesterday’s question from the Ask Tom mailbag. It was kicked off by a response from Michelle Malay Carter. Michelle is one of the principles of a company called Peoplefit. You can read more from Michelle at Mission Minded Management. My thanks to all those who posted yesterday.
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So, I am in Cincinnati this morning. Cold up here for a Florida boy. Working with 50 managers from a company interested in the research of Elliott Jaques. I am often asked, “What is your workshop about?”

Elliott’s research spanned more than 50 years exploring the notion that each of us has an innate capability to handle varying degrees of complexity, in both our personal and business lives.

We, as Managers, have an intuitive sense about this capability, especially in others. Yet, we have no language to talk about it, nor a way to measure it.

  • Charlie has a post-it note mentality.
  • Sally just doesn’t get it.
  • Sam is in over his head.
  • George is in the weeds.

When I say these things, you know exactly what I mean. Yet these descriptions don’t help us pinpoint a person’s capability. Elliott’s research gives us that language and defines the scientific measuring stick. Tomorrow, I will talk more about its application in the workplace. -TF

What Could Be More Important?

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“Why is it important for a Manager to think one year into the future?” I asked.

Melanie had finally opened her mind to discovery. “If I had been thinking out a year, I could have had conversations with my supervisors a long time before they quit. I would have known what changes to make to keep them challenged. I didn’t think they would be interested in learning new things and stepping into more difficult projects.”

“So, if I asked you, as a Manager, to take a single piece of paper and chart out your team members, think about their capabilities and interests, and develop a one year plan for each one, could you do it?”

“Well, yes, but I would probably have to talk to each person, to make sure I was on target, it’s going to take some time,” Melanie replied.

“So, what do you have to do that is more important?” -TF

Could They Have Found It Here?

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“But, how could I possibly know a year in the future, what my team members will do?” Melanie asked. “I don’t even know what I am going to be doing a year from now.”

“That’s an interesting question,” I replied. “What questions could you ask? Think about the two supervisors you just lost, who graduated from night school. What questions could you have asked?”

“Well, I could have asked them if they were going to night school.”

I smiled. “You already told me you knew they were going to night school, so somehow you had managed to ask that question. Think deeper. Think further out into the future.”

Melanie’s mind began to crank. “I could have asked them what they were studying. I could have asked why that interested them. What they hoped would happen as a result of going to school.”

“And if you had known the answers to those questions?” I prompted.

“I guess I would have found out if what they wanted was something they could find here, in our company.”

“But you didn’t get that chance, did you?” -TF

Melanie’s Discovery

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Melanie was thinking. I repeated my question.

“What things do you need to pay attention to that will have an impact one year from now?”

“This company is pretty stable in what it does,” she replied. “We may replace a machine or our volume might go up or down. But what is really volatile, is the people. You never know what is going to happen with the people.” Melanie’s mind began to race like she had just discovered uranium.

“You’re right,” she continued. “The biggest thing that always changes is the people.”

“And even if the people don’t change, the people change. Even if it’s still the same people, they are not the same people.”

Melanie’s discovery of uranium was shifting to panic. This new world that opened up just a few seconds ago, suddenly got very scary.

“So, I am responsible for knowing that, a year into the future?” she asked.

I nodded. -TF

Seeing the Future

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“You were promoted because your manager was promoted. I didn’t think you were ready to make the move from supervisor to manager, but the position was open and the COO was impatient. He is now having second thoughts when he looks at your turnover statistics.”

Melanie became quiet. Her voice was calm. “I didn’t know that. But you said two of my supervisors quit because they graduated night school and got better jobs. I can’t help that?”

“We didn’t find that out until the exit interview. They had jobs lined up three months before they gave you notice. And you didn’t know.”

“But how was I supposed to know. We stay pretty busy around here,” she protested.

“Melanie, the job of being a manager is not about being busy. It’s not about scrambling to save the day. As a supervisor, you were effective at that. Now, it is killing your effectiveness as a manager. As a manager, your role is completely different.

“You said you could anticipate things, as a supervisor,” I continued. “You said you could see the future. I need you to see even further into the future. As a manager, I need you to think out 12 months.”

Melanie shifted, sat up, “But, who knows what is going to happen a year from now?”

“Indeed,” I said. “What things do you need to pay attention to that will have an impact one year from now?” -TF

From Supervisor to Manager

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Our next Leadership program kicks off January 9, 2008. For registration information, visit www.workingleadership.com.
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“Do you know why you were promoted from supervisor to manager last year?” I asked.

“Because, I was the best darn supervisor the company had,” Melanie replied.

“And, being the best supervisor, what did you do that none of the other supervisors were able to do?”

“Oh, that was easy. I could see the future. I could tell when something was going to get screwed up, weeks ahead of time, and I could adjust the schedule to make sure we stayed productive. You know, if you reject some raw material because it’s out of spec, that means you have to shift some stuff around.”

“Yes, you were one of the best schedulers around.”

“What do you mean, were?” quizzed Melanie. “I still am.”

“Not exactly. Do you know why you were promoted from supervisor to manager last year?” -TF

Three Months Notice

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“This is all spilt milk, anyway,” Melanie snorted. “I know I have to buckle down, get out there, split up the work, then see if I can put an ad in the paper. I have gone through this before, third time this year.”

“I know,” I nodded. “I have read the exit interviews. Did you know that two of the three supervisors that left you this year had graduated from night school?”

Melanie’s eyes got wide. “Well, I knew they were going to school at night.”

“Did you know they had new jobs lined up three months before they graduated?”

“Well, I thought that was all talk. I didn’t pay any attention to that.”

“I know you didn’t pay attention. If you had paid attention, you would have three months advance time to prepare a new supervisor to take over. Now, you have to scramble. Melanie, the only reason you still have a job, here, as a manager, is that you are a pretty good scrambler. But, one day, you won’t be able to scramble and you’ll get sacked for a loss.” -TF

The Manager’s Meeting

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In response to Michelle’s comment to yesterday’s post.

Question:

Will you expand upon the idea of planning like a democracy? Democracy implies to me that decisions are up for a vote and majority wins.

I am certainly all for a manager soliciting the best advice from his team, but ultimately the manager must have the authority to decide, as it is the manager who is accountable for the output of the team.

My experience is that teams are OK with the ultimate decision being that of their manager, as long as they know this upfront. Employees advise and recommend, but the manager decides.

Conversely, when a manager says or implies he’s running a democracy and the majority recommends something that the manager ultimately overrules, the team feels betrayed – and rightfully so.

Your thoughts?

Response:

In his book Driving Force, Peter Schutz characterizes the distinction between planning and implementation using analogies to organizational processes of dictatorship and democracy. His distinction is to make the point that most managers reverse the process, making decisions like a dictator and then wondering why the implementation is wrought with democratic slowness.

For implementation to be competitive, it requires the streamline efficiencies analogous to those found in a dictatorship. In implementation, there is seldom time for discussion, divergent opinions or tactful instruction.

To implement in this way, however, requires the planning process to incorporate processes analogous to those found in democracies. Planning must include the participation of those stakeholders in discussion, alternatives, contingencies, related issues, including the impact on all parties.

Your question centers around the specific accountabilities in the process of decision making. You are correct, the manager must make and be held accountable for the decision. And in fact, team members who participated in the process do not have to agree with the decision; they only have to agree to support the implementation of the decision made by the manager. It is their participation that is critical. People will support a world they help to create.

Elliott Jaques (Requisite Organization) goes so far as to rename the weekly team meeting to the weekly manager’s meeting to clarify the accountability.