Throughput of a Team

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The first realization of a new rider is the impact of the team. A team of slower riders will always sustain a longer faster throughput than a single faster rider. Four slower riders can travel further faster than a single faster rider.

We have all heard the acronyms, like TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More)…(gag me with a spoon). In cycling it is really true. When Lance Armstrong talks about his team in winning the Tour de France, he is not just blowing smoke up somebody’s skirt. He is dead serious. Without the team, Lance Armstrong is just one single fast rider. With a team, he can win the Tour de France.

The single biggest factor impacting speed on a bike is wind resistance. New riders think they have to buy a lighter bicycle with a composite frame to go faster, but the simple fact is, if you want to go faster, build a team. The key to speed is wind resistance. As a rider travels, a short wind tunnel is created behind. The faster the speed, the longer the wind tunnel, as much as 24-36 inches off the back of the rider. A second rider, who can maintain a position in that short wind tunnel, only has to work 80% effort to keep the same speed as the lead rider. In cycling, that’s huge.

After a few minutes on the nose (into the wind), the lead rider will tire and no longer be able to maintain the pace. That’s where teamwork plays in. As the lead rider feels the pace slip, movement to the left is initiated and a quick hand signal confirms that it is time for the second rider to pull into the lead. It’s like a handoff without a baton. The second rider moves from 80% to 100% effort and takes the lead, thanking the lead rider for the “pull,” then hammering down to set the pace. The leader, now off the nose, allows the pace line to move up, then initiates right into a position at the rear. With four riders in a pace line, the ex-leader now enjoys a number of successive wind tunnels in front and will enjoy the same speed with 75% effort.

In 1-3 minutes, the new leader will tire and pull to the left allowing the pace line to move, always maintaining maximum speed. The leader working 100%, the rest of the pace line reserving energy for their turn on the nose. This simple cooperation will move a team of slower cyclists past a single rider every time. Every time.

How do your teams work? Do they truly understand their leverage? Do they truly understand their sustained throughput as a team? Do they understand how small bits of cooperative effort gain advantage over smaller, weaker teams? Something to think about at the next team meeting.

Henrik’s Wheel

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If I can just catch Henrik’s wheel. Another two feet and I can tuck in behind the protection of the pace line. Press harder, rotate faster. 95, 98, 101. The gap closes, 4 feet, 3 feet, 2 feet. I am in the draft. The wind becomes quiet. I made it to Henrik’s wheel.

I tell my friends I took up the sport of cycling, but that description doesn’t tell the story. This is no casual ride on a bicycle.

The group assembles at 5:00am. In a few minutes, this group will become a team. As a team, they can go faster and further than the fastest single rider. They will cooperate, communicate and take turns as the leader. Each rider brings a tuned machine and a tuned body. As a team member, they are responsible to the group for focused concentration, each responsible for the safety of the team, for pulling, closing gaps and calling hazards.

This is the story of a team. This may be a story about your team. This is the story of Henrik’s wheel.

Mineral Rights Conversation

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In her book, Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott talks about deepening our conversations, taking our conversations closer to reality, having our conversations enrich our relationships. This holiday time is perfect for practicing the skill of the Mineral Rights Conversation.

Mineral Rights is a multi-level conversation which cycles through surface issues, toward deeper insights, understanding and learning. Mineral Rights is the kind of conversation we often avoid, yet long to have. Yes, it deals with issues of the heart, beliefs and values. I am often asked when I teach this skill, “Isn’t that kind of personal?” Well, yes. “Doesn’t it make people uncomfortable to talk about that?” Well, no.

People like to talk about themselves. In fact, most people are actually waiting for someone to come along so they can talk about things close to the heart, what they believe, things important. They have been waiting all their lives for someone like you to listen.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. You will be spending time with family and friends. Take your conversations to a new place. Listen for what is important. You will find your relationships will be enriched by these conversations. In fact, you will find the conversation is the relationship.

Happy Thanksgiving. —TF

Why Do People Bring Their Personal Lives to Work?

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As we approach the intensive holiday part of the year, I am always asked about company policies relative to holiday time off, skeleton crews and differential pay for holiday work. It seems there is a growing tension during this time between the needs of the company for productive work and the needs of the team member for family time.

I am often asked, “Why do people always seem to bring their personal lives to work?” The answer is very simple. People bring their personal lives to work because they have personal lives. All of this talk about separating personal lives and work lives, striking a balance between work life and home life is mildly amusing. I never ask how I can keep them separate. I always ask, “How can our lives, at work, support our individual needs for family, religious observance and recreation (re-creation)?” and “How can our personal lives, our family life, our ethics, our re-creation support our lives at work?”

Stop the schizophrenia. We are all whole people, with needs for important contribution at work and needs for family and individuality.

As we roll into this holiday season, I hope you get lots of presents under your Turkey. —TF

Control Systems vs. Feedback Loops

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Question:
Our company is contemplating a new position for a Quality Control person. Who should they report to? How do we make sure they don’t cover up or gloss over quality problems. Some say they should report to the Plant Manager, some say they should report to someone higher in management.

Response:
The Quality Control person in most companies is despised and largely ineffective. The reason is that most companies regard Quality Inspection to be a punitive process. In the end, everyone hates the QC person, ignores their directives and in some cases, even sandbags the entire Quality initiative. Why does this happen?

Simply by changing the name, we can change the orientation of the entire process. Substitute Control Systems with Feedback Loops and everything changes. Where do Control Systems go wrong, and where can Feedback Loops be more effective?

Purpose:
Control systems try to catch product or service defects prior the customer experience.
Feedback loops try to measure variances in product or service so corrective action can be taken immediately.

Who:
Control systems depend on an inspector who informs a manager who chews out the production line.
Feedback loops provide useful information to the production line so they can take corrective action immediately.

When:
Control systems generally check the quality of the product or service after delivery. Inside the control system is a built-in delay.
Feedback loops check the quality of the product or service during critical phases of production in real time so corrective action can be taken immediately.

So, figure it out. Come up with your own list. Abandon the Quality Control department and startup the Feedback Loop department. I think they should report to the production line. The job is to provide feedback in real time directly to the people who take corrective action immediately. —TF

How to Set Weekly Goals

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Credit to Barry Shamis, Selecting Winners for this model.

Materials: 3×5 index card, a stack of them.
Each Monday (or other consistent day of the week), the Manager meets with the Team Member. The Manager always asks the same question, “What 5 things do you intend to accomplish this week?”

The Team Member responds, “After reviewing all the things on my plate and the needs of the other folks around me, I intend to accomplish the following items on my 3×5 card:”
Item #1
Item #2
Item #3
Item #4
Item #5

The Manager takes the card, clarifies something about items #2 & #5, adjourns the meeting.

The next meeting, the Manager asks the question, “Of the things on the list from last week, what did you get accomplished?” The Team Member responds:
Item #1, I got finished, no problems.
Item #2, we started, but had to postpone due to inclement weather.
Item #3, we finished, no problems.
Item #4, we finished, but on inspection, noticed a defect, had to scrap the effort and start over, still incomplete.
Item #5, we finished, had to make an adjustment to the final outcome, but delivered to customer, they accepted the change.

As you review the list, is it possible that the Manager and the Team Member could have a short, but meaningful conversation about progress the previous week?

The Manager finishes with the same question from last week, always the same question, “What 5 things do you intend to accomplish this week?”

The Team Member responds, “After reviewing all the things on my plate and the needs of the other folks around me, I intend to accomplish the following items on my 3×5 card:”

This is the Five by Five system. Five items in review for five minutes per week. In the real world, I have Managers who are working 2×2, 3×3, 4×4. Whatever works for you. —TF

What is the Role of A Manager

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When I talk to groups about this structure, I draw a picture. The picture makes it simple. It is the fundamental building block for any organization engaged in productive work. It clearly defines the role of the worker, the supervisor and the manager. This is simple, fundamental, but most companies don’t “get it.” Once you “get” this, you can build infrastructure in any organization.

The picture is a triangle with three levels.
On the top level is the – Manager
On the middle level is the – Supervisor
On the bottom level is the – Worker.

The role of the Worker is to “do the work.” The Worker uses machines, equipment and tools to “do the work.”

The role of the Supervisor is to “make sure the work gets done.” The Supervisor uses checklists, schedules and spec sheets, observes production, marks completion, inspects quality. The Supervisor coordinates, checks available material and labor, re-sequences production to meet the deadline. The role of the Supervisor is to “make sure the work gets done.”

The role of the Manager is to “create and maintain systems in which the work is done.” The Manager uses flow charts, capacity grids and budgets. The Manager plays “what if,” anticipates problems, creates contingency work programs, looks for bottlenecks, designs and tests sequence for efficiency, time and motion. The role of the Manager is to “create and maintain systems in which the work is done.”

These are the keys to the Kingdom.

This is so fundamental that most companies miss it. When I inspect their job descriptions and review their organization charts, I see a big chocolate mess. And they wonder why things are so screwed up. Get this right, and you will have the basic building block to create the infrastructure you need in your company.

Death by Meeting

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Dear Tom,

Question:
I thought I would try to just meet with my supervisors individually. That way I could compile all the information and make some sense out of it. It just isn’t working. By the time I get back to them, chaos has broken loose.

Response:
Management is about leverage and impact. One of the most powerful leverage tools you can use, as a manager, is calling a meeting. Working with team members one at a time has its place, but the leverage is 1:1. Don’t ever work 1:1 when you can help it. A manager cannot afford to work 1:1. A manager has to work at least 2:1, better 3:1 or 5:1. Gain 5 hours productivity from one hour’s work.

You are working with several supervisors on an individual basis, attempting to coordinate their schedules. Call a meeting, get them in the same room and have them coordinate with each other. The trap most managers fall into is the feeling that the manager must solve the problem. Listen carefully, write this down:

The manager does not have to solve the problem. The manager ONLY has to make sure the problem gets solved. Big difference. Think about it. The manager solving the problem requires:

1. The manager meets with each supervisor to collect a schedule familiar only to the supervisor.
2. The manager reviews the schedule to understand its current sequence, without the knowledge of required labor and materials.
3. The manager meets with three other supervisors to do the same thing.
4. The manager does some anlaysis to locate overlaps and gaps between the schedules.
5. The manager, without the benefit of knowing labor and materials, makes unilateral decisions to re-sequence production, preventing overlaps and filling in the gaps.
6. Everyone stands around wondering how far the manager had his head up his a*s when he made that decision.

Try this scenario:

1. The manager calls a meeting with the four supervisors who arrive with their schedules and knowledge of who is working today and what materials they have on hand.
2. The manager asks each supervisor to report on their intended production schedule, asking the other supervisors to listen for overlaps and gaps between the schedules.
3. The manager asks each supervisor, with their knowledge of who is working today and materials on hand, to re-sequence production to prevent overlaps, fill the gaps and meet the production needs of the Project Mgrs.
4. The manager adjourns the meeting.

Management is about leverage. Meetings are a powerful leverage tool. —TF

Fitness – The Ability to Pull It Off

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Dimensions of Performance

  • Capability (Mental)
  • History
  • Fitness
  • Attitude
  • Technique
  • Technical Knowledge

There it is, number three on the list. When I think about “performance,” and the things that impact performance, I always come back to this list. It makes for interesting thinking. You can guess at most of this stuff, but I get some sideways glances when I start talking about fitness.

Fitness comes at several levels, but the obvious is physical fitness and mental fitness. A team can have all the elements, but if they don’t have fitness, they will not be able to pull off the strategy. So, class members get that blank stare when I start talking physical fitness. The eyes glance from side to side. “He’s not talking about… being fat, is he?”

If the project calls for a ten hour day, can you work it and then go home with enough energy to be with your family? No way, unless you are in shape. Yes, I am talking about physical fitness, exercise and nutrition.

And mental fitness. What exactly is mental fitness? Is it:

  • Creating four alternative solutions to every question, to make sure we include unlikely possibilities.
  • Creating an argument for the other side when this side seems so obvious.
  • Pulling the team together for fifteen minutes to make sure we “check-in” before we make a major decision.
  • The discipline of using a consistent mental process for problem solving and decision making.
  • The discipline of concentration on a task until it is complete.
  • The discipline of follow-up on due date projects.
  • The discipline of have the difficult conversation when it is easy to avoid the confrontation.

Physical discipline and mental discipline go together and are critical for successful execution. Most companies do a fair job of planning and organizing. But if you want to crush your competition, get great at execution. To be great at execution, you need physical and mental discipline. I will take a mediocre plan well executed, anytime, over a great plan that is poorly executed. Where does your team stand on the fitness scale? —TF

When Should You Delegate?

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Management is about leverage. So, let’s talk about leverage.

Most people work on a ratio of 1:1. They work for an hour and they get one hour’s productivity. Managers have to get far more leverage from their time than 1:1.

Here is how I counsel my clients. “You have to get more leverage from your time than 1:1. You cannot afford to get only one hour’s productivity for one hour worked. Start by asking yourself, “How can I get two hours productivity from one hour worked?”

It’s a fair question.

Since we are talking about delegation, the answer is obvious. But the challenge continues. Ask yourself, “How can I get three hours productivity from one hour worked?” Okay, okay, I know you get it.

But here’s the real challenge, “How can I get 50 hours productivity from one hour worked?”
Chicken feed. “How can I get 100 hours productivity from one hour worked?” In fact, “How can get 100 hours productivity from one hour worked, every month, month in and month out?”

You see, most managers view delegation from the perspective of time management. Personally, I call it dumping. And if you dump enough stuff, you can get multiples of five, or six, even ten hours of productivity from one hour’s work.

But, if you look at delegation as development, you begin to understand true leverage. One hour can turn into 100 hours productivity. How would you like to work for 5 hours and gain 500 hours productivity over the next 30 days? It’s all in the way you think. So, how do you think? —TF