Category Archives: Timespan

Time Span and Responsibility

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

My boss feels I am very good at my work, but that I don’t take responsibility. I tried to ask him what he means by that. He said that I have to be told every time what I must do. So, I tried to do things on my own initiative, but then he questions me “who told you to do this?” Most of the time when I ask about something I think I should do, he says “no” and asks me to do something else. How do I impress my boss that I am a person who takes responsibility or is at least willing to take responsibility?

Response:

Your attitude and willingness are in the right place, so let’s make one small change. I want you to ask your boss to meet with you to plan out your work for an entire day. I want you to create a checklist on paper and then work the checklist. The problem is not responsibility. You appear to be a responsible person.

The problem is time span. You appear to work on a single task at a time and then return to your boss for more direction. I want you to lengthen the time span by creating a checklist with a sequence of tasks for the entire day.

At the end of the day, you will be able to show him the checklist and what items you have completed. That will be evidence that you are, indeed, a responsible person.

The key is time span.

Maximum Capability

Thanks to Arne for his comment Tuesday. The discussion was in response to an inquiry of the source for the descriptive term Strata in relation to various roles in the organization. I have been working extensively with Elliott Jaques research for the past five years. Arne’s experience, however, was not altogether positive

The work of Jacques appears to most at the outset as interesting and logical.

It becomes more troubling as one reads his entire book (page pairs and all) and you realize some of the more subversive themes to his work. Notably that individuals have a natural maximum stratum that they are capable at working – and this stratus maximus is determined during their childhood. If a worker, say deemed as a Stratum II worker bee, then in an organization that follows this discipline naturally would not promote them further than this.

Arne, I would certainly agree that Jaques work is controversial but would never characterize it as subversive. I think more accurately, the implementation made by your company may have been misguided. It is very easy to misinterpret Jaques.

He did, indeed, believe that each person has a maximum capability to handle complex tasks in a given role, just as we are all genetically determined to grow to a certain height. At my height, I will never become an effective NBA basketball player. No matter how many toe stretches I do or how much training I may get, I will never make it on that court.

Maximum capability is a bit more difficult to detect. But the practice you describe, slotting a person in Strata II for the balance of their life, is precisely the wrong managerial practice. The Requisite managerial practice would be to continually test the individual with longer time span assignments until they reach the point at which they fail. That failure would indicate, at that moment, there is evidence that maximum capability was exceeded. The Requisite managerial practice would then be to shorten the time span assignment back to where the person was successful. Then wait.

Wait perhaps, three months, then test the person again with a longer time span assignment. This process should be repeated, continually challenging a person to reach their highest level of capability throughout their career.

In your experience, it is possible that this practice was not clearly understood or miscommunicated. It is always the job of the manager to constantly challenge team members to their highest levels of performance.

Gotta go practice my free throws, Dwayne Wade is on the phone. -TF

Tour de France Update

It was the first day in the Pyranees, the first mountain stage and things got weird. With many of the major contenders disqualified or out of the race, distant riders are taking chances and dicing things up.

Who is Cyril Dessel (FRA-A2R)? Well, he formed an early breakaway today that succeeded and he ended up, not only with the yellow jersey, but with the polka-dot King of the Mountain jersey as well. Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP-AGR) was the stage winner, but it was not enough to knock out Dessel.

Sergiy Gonchar (UKR-TMO) had predictable trouble when he hit the mountains. Big gears and mountains don’t go well together. Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) was content to let the opportunists notch him down to fifth place, hoping they will not be able to sustain successive back to back efforts.

Team Discovery’s Paolo Salvodelli (ITA-DSC) trails Landis by 1min 10sec and may be USAs only hope for a podium finish. George Hincapie (USA-DSC) drops to 19th place, two minutes behind Landis. Tomorrow is another rough day in the Pyranees.

Overall Standings after Stage Ten

1-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R -43hrs 7min 5sec

2-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+2min 34sec

3-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO –+3min 45sec

4-MORENI, Cristian -ITA-COF –+3min 51sec

5-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+4min 45sec

6-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+4min 53sec

7-LANDALUZE, Inigo -ESP-EUS –+5min 22sec

8-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+5min 30sec

9-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+5min 35sec

10-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+5min 37sec

11-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+5min 37sec

12-ZABRISKIE, David -USA-CSC –+5min 38sec

13-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+5min 48sec

14-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 52sec

15-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+5min 55sec

16-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+5min 58sec

17-KESSLER, Matthias -GER-TMO –+6min 1sec

18-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+6min 12sec

19-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+6min 15sec

20-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+6min 42sec

What Do You Train?

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

You say that most companies do a fair job of technical training, but a poor job of supervisor or management training. How do we go about creating that training? What do we teach?

Response:

On Monday, I talked about the core skills of supervision. Most companies think people have those skills waiting in the wings, ready to go. Good technicians get promoted to supervisor without a second thought that the skills of supervision are totally different than the skills of doing the work.

Here is some of the material we cover for supervisors (Strata II) in our classroom program:

  • Time Management
  • Communication
  • Coordination
  • Delegation
  • Scheduling
  • Motivation
  • Short term planning
  • Problem Solving

Here is some of the material we cover for managers (Strata III) in our classroom program:

  • Accountability
  • Communication
  • Team Problem Solving
  • Goal Setting
  • Follow-up & Evaluation
  • Short & Long term planning
  • Control systems
  • Root Cause Analysis
  • Selecting Talent

Hope this helps. -TF

Tour de France Update

Some of the riders came to Tuesday’s stage ready to exhaust themselves in this last flat stage before the mountains. All of the sprinters lined up belching smoke and fire after a well deserved day of rest. Others came reserved, saving themselves for the first mountain stage on Wednesday.

Monday, Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) revealed his physical struggles over the past two years. At the young age of 30, he is a candidate for hip replacement surgery, yet he is riding the helm of the Tour in the catbird seat, just one minute behind the yellow jersey. Sergiy Gonchar (UKR-TMO) was able to hold the jersey without getting caught in the chaos at the finish.

Oscar Friere (ESP-RAB) took his second stage win of the Tour barely edging out Robbie McEwan (AUS-DVL). Tom Boonen (BEL-QSI) was in the fray, but couldn’t get his legs together, finishing fourth.

Wednesday begins the first of five mountain stages this year, two in the Pyrenees and three in the Alps. One of the climbs is “Out of Classification” and will surely spread the field. Watch for some interesting breakaways with a downhill finish.

Overall Standings after Stage Nine

1-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO -38hrs 14min 17sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min

3-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+1min 8sec

4-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+1min 45sec

5-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+1min 50sec

6-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+1min 52sec

7-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 52sec

8-ZABRISKIE, David -USA-CSC –+1min 53sec

9-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+2min 3sec

10-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+2min 7sec

11-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+2min 10sec

12-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 13sec

13-MAZZOLENI, Eddy -ITA-TMO –+2min 14sec

14-KESSLER, Matthias -GER-TMO –+2min 16sec

15-LANG, Sebastian -GER-GST –+2min 22sec

16-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+2min 27sec

17-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+2min 30sec

18-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+2min 57sec

19-LÖVKVIST, Thomas -SWE-FDJ –+3min 1sec

20-ROUS, Didier -FRA-BTL –+3min 15sec

Strata and Levels

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What is Strata I and Strata II?

Response:

Looking at most company’s organizational charts, you can see the different levels of work. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great describes them this way:

Level V – Level 5 executive work

Level IV – Effective leader

Level III – Competent manager

Level II – Contributing team member

Level I – Highly capable individual

It’s curious that while Collins wrote his book in 2001, there is a much clearer description of these roles written by Elliott Jaques, dating back to 1963.

Strata V – Business Unit President (Strategic Vision)

Strata IV – Manager (Integrator – Multiple Parallel Systems)

Strata III – Manager (Single Serial Systems)

Strata II – Supervisor (makes sure the work gets done)

Strata I – Team member (does the work)

Elliott used the word Strata as opposed to Level, in part because the word Level connotes the superiority of one level over another. Strata, in any geologic formation, require all layers to be robust and strong, none better that any other, all serving a requisite purpose.

I find Elliott Jaques research and writing much more detailed and helpful in building efficient organizational structure. To learn more about different Strata, you can visit www.managementblog.org and follow the Category link on Time Horizon.

Note: I have talked with several people who did not realize that we have more than 400 articles on our site all catalogued and indexed according to subject matter. Happy exploring.

Tour de France Update

Monday was a rest day. Tuesday is the last flat stage before we hit the Pyrenees. While preparing for the challenges ahead, why not unwind with some slot online gacor for a fun and exciting break before the next adventure begins?

Twisting in the Wind

From the Ask Tom mailbox:

Question:

How do you teach Strata II to a new manager? I have a problem at work because a peer who is also a manager is failing miserably in his new role and our boss will not help him or train him in any way, shape, or form.

I tell him things when he comes to me for advice for a particular situation but since I am trying to manage my department and people, I cannot spend the time and I do not have the authority to step in and diagnose all the problems and restructure and re-organize since I am a peer. I have instructed him to go to our boss and that did not help a bit.

The morale is getting worse & worse and the boss is ignoring it!

How do you teach Strata II?

Thank you very much for your guidance!

Response:

Your new Strata II manager is in a tough spot. It is not unusual, but it is still a tough spot.

He has been promoted to being in charge of a small number of people. He has a new completely different role that requires a brand new set of tools. Without any baseline experience as a supervisor, his self-confidence will be unstable.

Worse yet, your company will let him twist in the wind without direction. It’s not malicious. Most companies do not know how to work with brand new supervisors to make them successful.

You say you don’t have the time or the authority, but you appear to be willing to help as long as it doesn’t cost you the farm. If you are up for it, we can create a game plan. This is precisely the skill set we teach in our Working Management program (next session – July 24).

Step One is to specifically define the role. Remember, Strata I does the work. Strata II makes sure the work gets done. The core skills are scheduling people, coordinating materials, supplies and equipment, breaking down larger goals into daily work targets, monitoring work progress, checking for accuracy and completeness.

I don’t know what that means in your company, but that is where I would start. The written description to those questions should fit on one page.

The biggest tool for the Strata II manager is the weekly schedule, kept two weeks in advance. The two other important tools are checklists and short meetings (daily and weekly huddle meetings).

Get started on these items and brief us back here with an email.

If you (the rest of you) have a helpful suggestion related to our new Strata II manager, please post a comment below.

Tour de France Update

Stage Seven. Saturday’s Time Trial, as expected, broke the field wide open. The duo of Tom Boonen (BEL-QSI) and Robbie McEwan (AUS-DVL), who dominated the first week of racing predictably fell to 41st and 109th in the stage. Serhiy Gonchar (UKR-TMO) grinding it out in a heavy gear set a blistering pace and never faded, capturing a stage win and the yellow jersey. Team T-Mobile is doing quite well without Jan Ullrich who was scratched from the Tour 24 hours before the start.

Stage Eight. It is rare that a breakaway succeeds, but when it does, it becomes the isolated exception that keeps riders trying to break the rule. The peleton tried to organize for the catch, but it was too late with too much distance. It was an early break at 47km that held to the end (181km). The last three riders in the escape Sylvain Calzati (FRA-A2R), Kjell Carlstrom (FIN-LIQ) and Patrice HALGAND (FRA-C.A) held together until 148km when Calzati make a dash that neither Carlstrom nor Halgand could respond to. With 25km to go, Calzati was 30 seconds ahead. By the end, he had extended his lead to 2:05. It was his first career stage win.

The Tour takes a break on Monday with a relatively flat stage on Tuesday. Look for the sprinters to be back in force. Then we go to the mountains. Floyd Landis (USA-PHO), a former Armstrong teammate now racing for Team Phonak, seems poised to take advantage of his lead.

Overall Standings after Stage Eight

1-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO -34hrs 38min 53sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min

3-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+1min 8sec

4-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+1min 45sec

5-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+1min 50sec

6-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+1min 50sec

7-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+1min 52sec

8-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 52 sec

9-ZABRISKIE, David -USA-CSC –+1min 53sec

10-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min

11-KESSLER, Matthias -GER-TMO –+2min 3sec

12-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+2min 7sec

13-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+2min 10sec

14-MAZZOLENI, Eddy -ITA-TMO –+2min 14sec

15-LANG, Sebastian -GER-GST –+2min 22sec

16-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+2min 27sec

17-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+2mim 30sec

18-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+2min 57sec

19-LÖVKVIST, Thomas -SWE-FDJ –+3min 1sec

20-ROUS, Didier -FRA-BTL –+3min 15sec

Time Span and Complexity

“I’m not sure that I understand time span,” Morgan said. “It’s not that I am resisting the idea, I’m just not sure how it works.”

“Let’s say I have a task that I want to delegate,” I explained, rolling up my sleeves. “I call you in and we discuss it. I lay out the delegation, talk about the performance standards. You have questions, we create an action plan. The meeting is over.

“From that moment, you begin to work ahead without my direction. You use your own independent discretionary judgment and finally complete the task.

“You arrive back in my office and say, ‘Okay, I’m all done!’ You clap your hands together and say, ‘What’s next?’

“You have just established the time span for that task and now need my direction on what to do next. Perhaps it was three days, maybe a week, whatever it took.

“Morgan, whenever I look at a position in the company, I always look at the time span for the various tasks that have to be completed. Time span indicates the complexity of the task. The longer the time span, the more complex is the task.

“Most companies underestimate the complexity of most roles in the organization and then are surprised when people fail to perform. By using time span as the measuring stick, we can be much more precise about the level of complexity.” -TF

A Supervisor’s Time Horizon

Morgan was complaining. “You have been talking about checklists and schedules as the core tools for Project Managers and Supervisors. It just doesn’t seem that hard. Why don’t my PMs get it?”

“Morgan, it’s not just a matter of training. Supervising and Project Management are clearly Strata II roles. The role is different and the people are different.” I could see Morgan was struggling with this.

“But, if I take my lead technician, why can’t he seem to put a schedule together?” Morgan was pushing back.

“Morgan, I want you to think of these two roles in terms of time span. The time span required for a technician may be as short as one day. A person doing the work may only have to think about the work that needs to be done today.

“But the time span required for a supervisor is longer. And the story doesn’t end with just scheduling. Scheduling responsibilities may only require a two or three week time horizon, but there’s more. Supervisors must also think about building bench strength, recruiting technicians, training technicians, testing technical competence, cross-training. For a supervisor to be successful, I usually look for a minimum three month time horizon. The supervisor needs to be able to work into the future, without direction, using their own discretionary judgment, on tasks that may take as long as three months to complete.” -TF

Core Skills of Project Management

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What do you consider the three most important parts of Project Management?

Response:

Project Management is a classic Strata II role. From a macro level, it involves the coordination of people, materials, equipment and project sequence. The three core management skills drive the project forward.

1. Project Planning (creating a comprehensive project plan including milestones and accountabilities).

2. Creating and monitoring a schedule (prioritizing and sequencing time frames associated with changing elements of a project).

3. Creating and monitoring a checklist (documenting and tracking all the details for completion and quality).

The value adds for Project Management are project control, accuracy to project specifications, timliness and completeness. -TF

One Simple Discipline

“Purpose?”

“Purpose. The first step to having important meetings is to be crystal clear on the purpose for the meeting.” Phillip and I had been talking about meetings. Phillip was concerned that his Project Managers were having difficulty in what seemed basic stuff to him.

“We tell Project Managers that they need to have meetings, and then we wonder why their meetings fall apart. Bottom line is that most companies don’t train their supervisors and managers on how to conduct an effective meeting. They just expect it to happen, like magic.”

“So we need to start with purpose?” asked Phillip.

“Everything starts with purpose. Meetings run amuck when there is no purpose, or where people attending have different purposes. Until we get those purposes out on the table, our meeting is going to meander aimlessly.”

“How do we do that? Send an email out before the meeting?” pondered Phillip.

“Yes, it’s as simple as that. But think about it. How many meetings did you attend during the past month where there was no stated purpose and no agenda?”

Phillip didn’t have to think long. “You know, I don’t think I went to a single meeting last month where there was an agenda, much less, a stated purpose.”

“Now, I know some things managed to get done in those meetings, but they could have been much more effective. Do that one simple thing, and teach your PMs to do the same and you will see an improvement.” -TF

Running the Job

“There is more?” Phillip asked. He was gaining a new appreciation for the role of the Project Manager. “This is more complex than I thought.”

“Phillip, one of the biggest mistakes a company makes when it hires people, is underestimating the Time Horizon required for the person to be effective in the position. The role of a Project Manager requires a brand new skill set, a skill set that most companies never train.”

“We talked about schedules and checklists, but you said there was another tool.”

I nodded. “Perhaps the most important tool. Meetings. Most PMs know they need to have meetings, but they just gut their way through. Nobody likes their meetings. They skip them if they can. Participation by team members hardly exists.

“Yet, if you think about it, running an effective meeting is an important management skill. It makes communication consistent because everyone hears the same thing. It provides the opportunity for interactive participation and questions. It encourages participation and promotes buy-in. It can be used as an accountability tool.

“But that rarely happens, because most managers don’t know how to hold an effective meeting.” Phillip was listening intently. It was beginning to sink in. Running the job is completely different than doing the job. -TF