From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I have been reading the section of your website on Time Span and I am curious. How do you measure objectives in terms of Time Span?

Response:

Time Span is a concept I have been working with since 2001. It is based on the research of Elliott Jaques (1917-2003). Time Span is most useful as a measuring stick to determine the complexity of any task. The longer the Time Span of the task, the more complex the task is likely to be.

Attaching a Time Span to an objective is extremely helpful in understanding the breadth and scope of the objective. For example:

Objective – As the department manager, hire a person to fill the vacant position on the team.

In the short term, if the Time Span is described as two weeks, then you can imagine that the tasks involved would include posting an ad, reviewing resumes, conducting some interviews and making a selection.

However, if the Time Span is described as six months, you might imagine a much broader scope for this project. The tasks would extend to bringing that person on board, moving them through the training process and evaluating their initial skill level. This might be followed by supervising additional training and re-evaluating their skill level. Once on the production floor, the manager would select appropriate assignments for this new recruit, then advance them to more complex tasks as time passes. After six months, it might be expected that this new person now possesses the skills and competence to fill the position as a productive member of the team.

Taking this one step further, if the Time Span is described as 12 months, you would imagine an even broader scope. The tasks would extend to evaluating proper staffing levels to determine, if indeed, this vacant position needs filling in the first place.

Time Span, as a unit of measure, helps us understand the breadth and scope of the task, and ultimately the scope of the role. -TF

“So, as you see me struggle with my new role as a manager, what do you see as my biggest challenge?” asked Joel.

“The biggest mistake most companies make is underestimating the Time Span required for success in a role. The biggest mistake most managers make is underestimating the time span required for success in a task,” I replied.

Time Span is the cornerstone for understanding what is necessary. -TF

I could see that Joel was stressed. This was a big job. Joel had been a successful supervisor, but this assignment as a new manager was different for him.

“I was Mr. Nextel walkie-talkie,” he proclaimed. “Life was exciting. Things were always moving.

“But you asked me to make a list of the most important tasks in my new role. I started with the job description. The insight came when I tried to peg the time span associated with each task.

“Here is one,” he continued. “The job description says that I am responsible for making sure we have enough direct labor to meet the production needs for all the cycles during the year.

“At first, I thought it just meant that I should post job vacancies and do some interviews. But when you asked me to attach time span to the task, my head started to spin.

“It was only then, that I realized I needed to research our historical workloads during the three cycles of our year. I had to take a look at our maximum production capacity along with the marketing and sales forecast. I spent the time to lay out all this data for the whole year. I used a line graph to help me visualize it. Then I had to figure out when we needed to meet to capture the actual numbers related to the forecast. The forecast is helpful, but it is often wrong by as much as ten percent.

“All in all, when I looked at my new job, I really have to be planning out 12 months in advance. This is a lot bigger than I thought.”

I smiled at Joel. He was new to the job, but he was beginning to understand the time span necessary to be successful. -TF

Joel laid the list on the table. “It’s weird,” he started, “there were some obvious things, but there were some other things that were more interesting.”

I had asked Joel to make a list of tasks that he had performed as a supervisor and to identify the time span of each task.

“For example,” he continued, “I ran a rolling production schedule out for three weeks. So at any one time, I was working three weeks into the future. But there were some other tasks that were longer than I thought.

“I was in charge of raw materials. We would get in shipments of plastic parts that had to be inspected. There was a time when a whole boatload of parts was defective. In the short term, I had to really move around the production schedule to keep things moving. But in the long term, I had to work with the vendor on getting replacement parts in. I had to figure out what we needed to keep in production, then to build some raw goods inventory.

“Finally, I had to spend several months figuring out what the problem was with the parts, working with the vendor to solve the problem. Turns out, there was a bad batch of resin from another supplier. Because of the problem, the resin supplier actually went out of business and our vendor had to find a new source. I know it was his problem, but I had to work with him, trying out and finally certifying a new resin supplier so our parts would hold up. That whole process took three months and my manager expected me to handle it without a lot of direction from her.”

“So the time span for that project was about three months?” I asked.

“Yes, you could call it three months.”

“So, now in your new job, as a manager, what are some of the tasks that you will be responsible for and what is the time span? Take a look at your job description and meet me back here tomorrow.” -TF

“Tell me, Joel, in making your transition from supervisor to manager, why do you think things slowed down for you?” I asked.

“The biggest difference,” he replied, “is that I am not dealing with things so much as I am dealing with people. When I was a supervisor, I just made sure material got moved around, that machines worked and that everybody was at their workstation. Sure, things shifted around and we changed the schedule all the time, but it was easy compared to this. As a manager, things have slowed down, but it’s a lot harder to get things done. It’s more complicated. I have to think further into the future.”

“How far into the future did you have to think as a supervisor?” I pondered.

Joel thought for a minute. He had never considered the time span he had to work into the future before. “Well, as a supervisor, I guess it was only about two weeks out. That’s how far we scheduled people.”

“Tell you what, Joel. The next time we meet, I want you to list out the longest tasks you had as a supervisor. I want to go over that list with you to see if we can make some sense moving forward as a manager.” -TF

I looked at the breakout session on the hotel marquee. Today in the Yeehaw Room was a symposium on Best Practices.

I smiled.

Best Practices are necessary but not sufficient.

Past experience may be helpful, but seldom covers all the bases. Past experience seldom anticipates all the change. Past experience often misses critical elements that will be different in the future.

Best Practices are what we teach in school. Those who live by Best Practices will find themselves perfectly equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. Accomplishment always happens in the future. -TF

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

As a follow-up question regarding the necessity for a Manager to think into the future.

Question:

The question(s) are: How do you determine the time frame that a manager should be thinking into the future? Given your garden-variety project, do you figure out “lead time” for the group? Example: team has to prepare documents for an audit in two weeks, we have an existing pool of docs to update. You’ve discussed this in the past, however your thoughts would be appreciated.

Response:

This question sets the perfect trap for the manager with short term thinking. Of course, this short term project has to be completed prior to the two week deadline. But here is what a manager needs to be thinking about.

What audit projects do I anticipate receiving during the next twelve months? What is the scope of those projects, how long will they take and what technical work is necessary? If I chart out a timeline of the number of projects over the next twelve months, how many overlap, or are there quiet periods in between?

Who will I need on my team to do the technical work, the research, the preparation and the review? Who will I need to perform the administrative work of tracking all of the elements and packaging the audit when the work is completed?

Who do I have on my staff now and who do I need to recruit? What impact will that have on my budget, in terms of expense to the anticipated revenue? When do I place the ads, when do I interview and when do I make the hires?

How long will training take to get these people up to speed to perform this audit work? Who will do the training?

All of these questions require way more than two weeks. These are the issues for the successful manager. The typical timespan (working into the future) for any working manager is twelve months. -TF