Tag Archives: work

Commitment to the Work

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“What do you mean, make it necessary?” Max looked confused. “We know what we were supposed to do in that handoff meeting. What more should I do, as the leader, to make it necessary?”

“Three things,” I replied. “First, what is the vision, what does that handoff meeting look like, feel like, taste like? Your vision of the paperwork is NOT a big checkmark across the page. Your vision of the paperwork is individual checkmarks on specific line items. More important is the discussion between the estimator and the project manager about each line item. So, what does good look like.

“Second. Does the team, the estimator and the project manager, have the capability to understand the decisions and problems, and the capability to make those decisions and solve those problems? Max, you are the leader. It is your judgment I depend on to assess their capability and make the necessary resources available.

“Third. Are they committed to the work? A checklist looks like compliance, but compliance isn’t good enough. You, as the leader, need commitment to the work. It is your role to create the circumstances for that commitment to exist. If you just needed compliance, you could do that with pizza. But, pizza doesn’t create commitment.”

It’s Not About the Button

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Vicki was stumped.

“Your team member is in the break room, having a soda, thinking about a problem in his work area that needs to be solved,” I repeated. “Would you call that work?”

“I want to say no,” Vicki struggled. “He is not at his work station working, so he can’t be working. I know, he is not being productive, so even though he is thinking, he is not being productive, so he is not working.”

“And if he does not solve this problem he is thinking about, his productivity will stop,” I continued.

“You want me to say yes, he is working, but it feels like no,” Vicki insisted.

“Vicki, do you pay your machine operator to move a piece of metal into position and to press a button to cut the metal? Because, if that was it, you could hire a robot. Or do you pay your machinist for his judgment of how raw materials are organized to enter the work area, the cleanliness of the scrap produced by the machine, the attention paid to the preventive maintenance to keep the machine operating?”

Vicki finally responded in a long slow sentence. “I pay him for his ability to solve problems and make decisions, not to push the button.”

Arms Folded Behind My Head

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“Perhaps we should define the word, work. That might help us better understand why people need to work. What is work?” I asked.

“This is going to be a trick question,” Vicki replied.

I nodded. I had known Vicki for a couple of years. She was used to my trick questions. “It’s only a trick question because you really have to think about the answer,” I agreed.

“If you caught me at my office,” I continued, “leaning back in my chair, arms folded behind my head, feet up on the desk, how would you describe my activity at that moment?”

Vicki grinned, “I could say that you were goofing off, but I know better. You would be thinking.”

“And what would I be thinking about?”

“I don’t know, your next project, how to solve a problem, perhaps thinking about a decision that needed to be made?” she floated.

“Yes, so would you call that work?” I stopped as Vicki nodded in agreement. “And if one of your technicians goes outside to the picnic area for a break, and he isn’t goofing off, what would he be doing?”

I could see Vicki looking for the trick in the question. “Okay, if he is not goofing off, then he is probably thinking.”

“And what is he thinking about?” I asked.

“Well, he is probably thinking about his next project, how to solve a problem.”

“Yes, and so, would you call that work?”

The Need to Work

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“They work because they have to,” Vicki repeated.

“Let me change a word,” I replied. “They work because they need to.”

“Well, yeah, same thing.”

“Only if we can talk about the need. What is the need that requires people to work?”

“They have to work, I mean, they need to work because they need the money to survive, to pay their mortgage, make their car payment.”

I shook my head from side to side. “It’s a noble attempt, but there is a deeper need. If you only see the benefit of work as a paycheck, as a Manager, you will be led down the wrong path. For a Manager, that path is miserable and unproductive. As a Manager, that path will cause you to create systems that breed unproductive behavior. So let’s try again. What is the need that requires people to work?”

At Every Level of Work

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The biggest problem in performance management, for most companies, is focusing on the work. Many managers focus on personality characteristics or communication breakdowns thinking if someone has the right information and the right personality, performance management is a no brainer. What is missing is an understanding of the work. What is the work?

Work is not completing a task. Work is the decision making and problem solving related to the task. The most important conversation between every manager and team member is, “In completing this task, what decisions do you have to make and what problems do you have to solve?”

And, there is appropriate decision making and appropriate problem solving at every level of work.

A Human Showed Up

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“It’s a wholistic approach,” Pablo said. “When we look at a role in the organization, we think we need a project coordinator. So, we hire a project coordinator and a human being shows up for work.”

I nodded.

“We hire people, we don’t hire project coordinators. There is nothing that interrupts a person’s professional productivity more than something going on in their personal life. We hire a person, they play the role of a project coordinator. As a manager, it is our accountability to bring value to the problem solving and decision making in the role, that is very specific. And, it is also our accountability to create a work environment where people are able to do their best, free from dramatic distraction, to focus on the work at hand.”

They Need the Money

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“Why do people work?” Pablo asked.

It was an innocent question, but Pablo always has an agenda. “Okay. I’ll bite,” I replied. “I was going to say they work for the money, but I know you too well.”

Pablo laughed. “You are correct. People work because they need the money. But, if that is all they work for, then you will be hard pressed to keep them when a competitor comes knocking on their door, and offers a dollar more.”

I stared at Pablo with a half smile.

“Would it surprise you,” he continued, “to find out that people need to work, more than they need the money? Don’t get me wrong, they need the money. But, they also need the work. To lead a happy, fulfilled life, people need to work, to make a contribution to a group which they hold in high regard. And, it takes somewhere between 35-40 hours per week to create that internal feeling of significance. If you can create a safe place, where they can do their best work, and that work is valued by their most important group, now you get the beginnings of engagement.”

Separated From the Group

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“And, what happens when that social network of people is interrupted, where the person becomes separated?” Pablo asked. “And that separation could be physical separation, or mental separation.”

“Do you mean, like sending a technician out in the field, alone, as a team of one?” I floated.

“Perhaps,” Pablo replied. “Or excluding someone from a meeting in which they had a vested interest. Remember, the lions, tigers and bears are not so physical anymore. There are a hundred things leaders can do to disconnect team members from the group. Sometimes, as leaders, we create that disconnection without thinking. And when we create disconnection, it shifts the mental state of the individual into distress. That mental state of disengagement, can be incredibly corrosive. I bet you already have someone in mind, who is in a state of disconnection, and whose behavior you see as counterproductive (at best).”

I nodded. “Stands out like a sore thumb.”

“But, let’s bring this down to work, because that’s what we are really talking about. It is not my purpose to teach you to be warm and fuzzy with your team. We are here to get work done. Let’s create a list of characteristics where the mental state is in work mode vs non-work mode.”

  • Work vs Non-work
  • Positive vs Negative
  • Productive vs Unproductive
  • Cooperative vs Collusive
  • Scientific vs Unscientific
  • Conscious vs Unconscious

“And what is more contagious that a positive attitude?” Pablo smiled.

I nodded again. “A negative attitude.”

What Tone Do You Set?

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What is more contagious than a positive attitude? A negative attitude, of course!

I always ask, “Think of one positive thing that has happened to you this past week.” Often, I receive blank stares, quizzical looks, some hard thinking going on there. Given another thirty seconds, most can finally come up with something. What makes this exercise so difficult?

A much easier question would have been, “What is the worst thing that happened to you this past week?” People never have trouble coming up with that one. They are happy to tell you about things not working out in their lives. Interesting that makes them so happy.

Thinking negative thoughts is largely an unconscious activity. People express negative thoughts without thinking. Idle gossip is rarely intentional, it just happens and those who get sucked into it are not even aware they are traveling in that direction.

As a manager, if you want to set a positive tone, you will have to challenge your team to think about positive things. The expression of positive thoughts is a conscious activity. It requires active thinking. It is work to think that way. Positive thoughts and positive expression only occur intentionally. As a manager, it is your responsibility to challenge your team to think this way.

Think of the tone it sets for the rest of the meeting/day/week?

Setting Context

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“One of my main responsibilities, as a manager, is to set the context for my team? What do you mean?” Paula asked. “I assume this is more than introducing each other.”

“It’s all about the work,” I replied. “Context starts with a clear understanding of the task at hand. What is the quantity, quality standard, necessary resources and the time frame. QQT/R.

“Next, is how that assigned task fits with the larger picture, that you, as a manager are accountable for. This provides the team with an understanding of just how big their role is, in the larger picture.

“Context also includes the work their teammates are doing, work that intersects with their work, work output they may be waiting for, work output they produce that someone else may be waiting for.

“Context answers the questions – How do I fit in? What is the importance of the work I am doing? What do others depend on me for? One of the primary accountabilities for every manager is to set context for the team.”