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

“But, what about today?” asked Kristen. “It’s great to think about the future, but I have to get stuff done today.”

In class, we had been talking about how a manager has to think differently.

“The anchor for the manager has to be some specific time point in the future. Every action we take only has meaning related to that future time point. Call it planning, call it a milestone, call it a goal.

“You are right. You have to get stuff done today. Action occurs today. The role of the manager is to inspect that future time point and create today’s effective action. Here is the question. What is the destination, and what is the most effective action we can take, today, to get there?” -TF

We kicked off a new management program last week. With every class, I have a new manager, recently promoted, on the cusp of a brand new role.

“What’s the biggest difference? What will change for me? What do I have to learn?” The questions reveal the chasm, a chasm that requires a journey full of twists, turns and decisions to be made.

“The biggest difference,” I begin, “is time span. As a manager, you will begin to think further into the future.

“As a team leader of a crew, you might think about what needs to be produced this week. As a new supervisor, you also have to think about what the schedule looks like for two weeks. The big project three weeks from now will require more prep and staging time.

“As a new manager, you have to think about your system that captures forecast data and translates that data into materials, people, equipment and timelines.

“Becoming a manager, at any level, requires you to think further into the future, using your own discretionary judgment.” -TF

Audrey had been silent for almost thirty seconds, eyes deep in thought. “So, identifying the Time Span for a project is pretty easy, because it has a deadline. Does Time Span apply to other jobs that are not quite so defined?”

“Of course. We always have some timeline in mind for any task. Elliott Jaques called it the Timeline of Intention. Time Span can be used to define not only specific tasks, but also to define specific roles inside the company.

“Let’s take payroll, for example. Every week, the payroll clerk prepares the timesheets, calculates the additional elements of each paycheck, like 401(k) and such. You might say that payroll has a one week Time Span. In reality, payroll is a bit more complicated because of its reporting at the end of every three months.

“Payroll clerks know that every payroll transaction has an impact on that quarterly report and if something gets screwed up on a payroll run, it is going to be screwed up when it comes time to prepare that quarterly report.

“Even though payroll may be run once a week or once every two weeks, the payroll clerk is always focused on the quarterly report. The Time Span for payroll is three months.

“Here, take a look at this. It’s a list I put together. I collected a number of roles in a typical company and identified the Time Span for each position. You might find this helpful.” -TF

If you would like to see the list I showed to Audrey, just drop me an email and I will send you a copy. It’s a couple of pages, quick read.

“So, Time Spans can be anywhere between a few minutes and a month?” Audrey asked. We had been talking about how to identify the complexity of a task by how long it takes to complete.

“What if you had a task that takes longer than a month to complete?” I responded.

“What could take longer than a month?” Audrey’s curiosity was touched.

“Look at some of the outside projects that your Project Managers run. How long does it take for one of your longer projects?”

Audrey pulled a memo out of her in-basket. “Well, we just got this project last week and it won’t be completed until next June. And actually, with some of the delays we anticipate, this project will probably take eighteen months.”

“Can you give that assignment to one of your junior Project Managers?” I asked.

“No way. This will be a complicated project. We have no idea what material shortages or cost escalations will occur. To make this profitable, we have to have someone who is comfortable working way into the future.”

“Big job?”

“Big job.”

“How big is big? Use Time Span to describe it,” I directed.

Audrey stopped. “The Sun Tower Project has an eighteen month Time Span.” She stopped again. “So, when we pick a Project Manager, we want to pick someone who has run a job for eighteen months before. Only two of our Project Managers have that kind of experience.” -TF

“Identifying the Time Span of the first task is easy,” Audrey continued. We were talking about the Time Spans of different tasks to figure out how big, big is. “The first task is just moving some junk out of the way in the loading bay, so forty five minutes.

“But, the second task, where we have to anticipate all the different things that move through the loading bay, that will take longer to think about. Plus we have cargo containers that get loaded in the bay, so we have to stack things in different places when that happens. If I had to create a policy for how we move things through the loading bay, I would have to think about all those things.”

“And if we set perimeters around the loading bay using safety tape to mark zones for received materials versus outgoing materials, would that also be part of the thinking?” I asked.

“You’re right, this would be a big job,” Audrey concluded.

“Okay, how big of a job? Use Time Span to describe it.”

“We are going to have to talk to the Shipping Manager and get his input. We will also have to get with our Freight Coordinator to find out what kind of vehicles and containers we load. The Purchasing Manager can tell us about incoming materials. The Safety Director can help us understand the physical perimeters and safety zones, how high we can stack stuff. Then we will have to write the policy, present it through a couple of meetings to get more input and revisions. This will probably take a month. I will say the Time Span of this project to be about a month.”

“So, when you think about how big a job is, we can use Time Span to more precisely describe its complexity?”

“Yes,” replied Audrey. “And it will also help me pick the right person for the assignment.” -TF