Why Command and Control is Underrated

It seems to me that Command and Control as a management style has gotten a bum rap.  You’ve heard the disparaging remarks, “She’s a complete command and control style manager” – implying there is something wrong with that.

I think such comments display a startling lack of understanding of what leaders are required to do in organizations.  Command and control is a very useful managerial tool for certain situations.

People love to use fire-fighting as an analogy to describe modern management practice.  I would challenge anyone to go find himself a Fire Chief and ask him/her if command and control is a bad idea.

When a building is burning and lives are at stake, the Fire Chief very much relies on command and control as the appropriate management tool for that situation.  Can you imagine the fire department showing up at an emergency, and the Fire Chief requesting that everyone break up in study groups, to hold hands and sing camp songs?

“OK – everyone brainstorm ideas for how we should tackle this, and I’ll give a special prize to the group that comes up with the best idea.  Make sure everyone participates equally, and remember that everyone’s feedback is valuable.  This is an excellent opportunity to reinforce how much we value each other, and I’ll float between the groups to help facilitate.”

Glad it’s not my house on fire.  I want the Fire Chief standing on top of chair barking out orders as fast as she can to get the situation under control.  I also want the Firefighters to listen carefully to the orders being dispatched, and execute as they’re being instructed to do.

When they are back at the Firehall, and practicing for such emergencies, or doing community outreach, then the Fire Chief would be well advised to pull a different tool out of his box, and to engage his people in a more collaborative style.

The problem for people that disparage command and control is that they confuse this very important managerial style with a lack of respect.  Lack of respect is never appropriate, but many times it is a leaders job to tell her direct reports in no uncertain terms what they are required to do.  Setting clear expectations, holding people to account for those expectations, and administering the appropriate consequences are what we pay managers to do.

Command and control is one legitimate tool to get this done.

Tell me your experiences – both good and bad – with command and control as a management style.

The Performance Pie

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What is the Performance Pie?

The Performance Pie is a diagnostic tool that can help you analyze why a performance problem may exist. It does not offer specific solutions to performance problems but it does help you zero in on some of the more common reasons as to why performance may be suffering on a particular task, duty or responsibility.  Then you can target your solutions in the areas most likely to impact performance.

How Does it Work?

The performance analysis design primarily emphasized the individual, the job or process, the work environment and incentives or consequences. In other words, the design of the Performance Pie focuses on the following seven factors of performance:

  • Knowledge and Skill
  • Capacity
  • Standards
  • Measurement
  • Feedback
  • Conditions
  • Incentives

The Seven Factors of Performance

1. Knowledge and Skill

This means that the individuals performing the task must have the knowledge and skills necessary

2. Capacity

The right persons are to be selected for the right jobs and tasks. This means, for example, that the individuals are capable—physically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally.

3. Standards

Individuals must be clearly informed about what is expected of them. Supervisors, job descriptions, and performance appraisal objectives should clearly dictate the standards of performance, and these standards ought to be congruent with the expectations of the, supervisors, department and organization.

4. Measurement

Measurement clarifies standards, initiates goal orientation, provides data or information with which to give feedback and signals opportunities for rewards and recognition.  What gets measured gets done is not only a cliché but a truism as well.

5. Feedback

Individuals need to know how well they are doing in accordance with the standards and measures and how they can improve their performance. They must receive regular feedback on their performance from supervisors.

6. Conditions

Individuals need the resources necessary to perform their jobs according to expectation, standard, and measure.  They require the right facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supplies, time, and organizational climate—unhindered by conflicting goals or obstacles in work procedures—to perform effectively and efficiently.

7. Incentives/Consequences

Individuals do the things they are rewarded for doing and avoid negative consequences. Also, they must value the rewards and incentives.

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The Business Review Meeting

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A business review meeting is a specific type of recurring meeting that is held to discuss individual or team scorecards and progress toward objectives.  During the business review meeting, teams apply problem-solving tools to issues that are impacting their performance.  Team leaders, managers and senior leadership assume coaching roles which emphasize positive feedback and recognition.

The purpose of a business review meeting is to:
  • Reinforce the accountability and action plans of each team or individual
  • Share ideas and learn about interrelationships in the business
  • Celebrate success
  • Identify and remove barriers

Roles of leaders in the business review meeting process:

  • Articulating the organization’s vision
  • Involving people in deciding how to achieve the organization’s vision
  • Supporting employee efforts to realize vision by providing coaching, feedback, and role modeling
  • Recognizing and rewarding success

The business review meeting process:

Business review meetings are scheduled on a regular basis (monthly or quarterly) and include a presentation of key performance measures (individual and/or team).  Baselines (historical performance), current data and projected trends are presented for each goal or critical success factor.  Key successes are shared with the group as well as required interventions and actions to overcome barriers.  Working together, the team develops action plans to improve performance – steps to reach objectives are identified; individuals are assigned responsibility for each step; target completion dates are established for each step and expected results are communicated.

Why have a business review meeting?

  • Opportunity to assess the current performance status of each team or individual
  • Opportunity to highlight and recognize good performance
  • Opportunity to gain input from peers and management on ideas, scorecards and action plans for the next time period
  • Opportunity for leaders to focus the team on critical issues, goals and objectives
  • Opportunity to make decisions as a team
  • Opportunity to give and receive feedback

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The Business Review Meeting topic bundle includes:

  • Business Review Meeting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • Business Review Meeting Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • How to Make a Successful Presentation at a Business Review Meeting
    • How to Lead the Business Review Meeting Process
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about business review meetings
  • Business Review Meeting Podcast (mp3)
  • Business Review Meeting Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)

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Dealing with Difficult Behavior

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For most managers, ‘people issues’ consume the largest portion of time and effort.  No employee is more time consuming than one exhibiting difficult behaviour.  For this reason, building skills to cope with difficult people has an immediate and measureable return.

Everyone displays difficult behaviour at one time or another.  People often engage in difficult behavior because such action has worked for them in the past.  There are very specific techniques that managers can use to address difficult behaviour.  Some specific behaviours require certain responses, but for all difficult behaviours:

  • Focus on the specific behaviour, not the person or personalities
  • Identify the type of behaviour, and strategize a response before reacting
  • Attempt to understand the root cause of the behavior
  • Avoid public showdowns
  • Determine if the conversation can continue at that time, and postpone it if emotions are running high
  • Be aware of the impact of the behavior is having on you
  • Don’t make excuses for the person
  • Choose to do something about the behavior

Not all the Turtles make it to the Sea

In some cases a difficult person will not respond to reasonable attempts to assist them in correcting their behavior, and organizational health can be at stake.  In such a case, high integrity leaders must make the unpleasant choice to part company with that person.

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The Dealing with Difficult Employees topic bundle includes:

  • Dealing with Difficult Employees Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • Dealing with Difficult Employees Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • How to Deal with People Who Love to ARGUE
    • How to Deal with People Who Feel Unreasonably ENTITLED
    • How to Deal with People Who Think They KNOW IT ALL
    • How to Deal with Chronic PESSIMISTS or BLAMERS
    • How to Deal with People Who DON’T WANT TO WORK
    • How to Deal with the UNMOTIVATED
    • How to Deal with a BULLY
    • How to Deal with People Who ALWAYS ARGUE and people Who Can NEVER MAKE A DECISION
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about Dealing with Difficult Employees
  • Dealing with Difficult Employees Podcast (mp3)
  • Dealing with Difficult Employees Podcast slides (Powerpoint)
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Difficult Conversations – You Smell and People Don’t Like You

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Unless you’ve been living alone in a cave most of your life, you will have had to conduct a difficult conversation with someone. If you’re a leader of people, tough talks are a job requirement. You can avoid them, but it will be at your own peril. Sooner or later you’ll need to address that difficult situation.

How to conduct a Difficult Conversation:

Step 1 – Prepare and Anticipate

  • Prepare in advance – anticipate responses. Make sure you are dealing with complete information
  • Explain but don’t defend
  • Make sure any issue you are dealing with does not have legal ramifications (termination, harassment, violence in the workplace etc.)
  • Don’t think it’s not going to be uncomfortable. Mentally prepare for the discomfort the situation may cause you.

Step 2 – Focus on Facts and Observable Behaviors

  • Focus on observable behaviors and facts, not the person. “People don’t like you”, is much different than “People don’t like it when talk loud on the phone.”
  • Focus on the issue at hand – don’t get dragged into irrelevant parallel issues.

Step 3 – Showtime: Manage the Confrontation

  • Get to the point – eliminate the small talk, and move to your point quickly. Often the best course of action is to make it clear in your first sentence what the other person should expect.
  • Do not engage in any tough talk if you are emotionally compromised at the moment. Adjourning the conversation is a legitimate course of action if either party is excessively emotional, but keep in mind that by deferring the conversation you are prolonging an unpleasant event.
  • Stick to your guns unless emergent facts cause you to want to reconsider. If the recipient is feeling badly, that does not count as an emergent fact.
  • If there are specific behaviors required of the other person, ensure those are well understood.

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The Skip-Level Meeting

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A Skip-Level Meeting is a meeting between managers and team members who are one or more levels below them. The purpose of a skip-level meeting is for managers to get to know their team members, build trust with them, and understand their problems. Skip-level meetings can never take the place of direct communications within teams, but it can be a powerful adjunct to these efforts.

Skip Level Meeting Key Concepts:

  • Group round-table meetings are more efficient than one-on-one meetings for skip-level meetings.
  • Leading organizations plan a skip-level meeting with every team or workgroup at least once per year.
  • Don’t wait for your boss or the HR department to arrange skip-level meetings for your direct reports.
  • There are five key steps to conducting an effective skip-level meeting:
  1. Plan the skip level meeting
  2. Conduct the skip level meeting and record the feedback
  3. Analyze the information collected at the skip level meeting
  4. Create an action plan based on the feedback
  5. Follow up and report progress

Skip Level Meeting Planning Questions:

  • When is the last time a skip-level meeting was conducted with this group?
  • Has the feedback from last skip level meeting been acted upon?
  • Have skip-level meetings been conducted in parallel business areas?
  • Will the skip level meeting be used to ‘build a file’ for disciplinary action on the leader of the group?
  • Have I followed the five-point planning process for skip-level meetings?
  • Do I need to improve my skills in any of the related areas, for which information is available?

Skip Level Meeting Potential Pitfalls:

  • Do not use skip-level meetings to ‘build a file’ on a leader you want to fire.
  • Tell all managers what you are doing and why.
  • Don’t include the manager in the skip level meeting if your goal is to get back honest feedback.
  • Don’t ask about topics about which you are unable or unwilling to do anything.
  • Provide some level of feedback to the manager about the feedback received from his/her direct reports during the skip level meeting.
  • It is more damaging to do a skip-level meeting poorly than it is to not do it at all.

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The Skip Level Meeting topic bundle includes:

  • Skip Level Meeting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • Skip Level Meeting Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • Skip-Level Meeting Readiness Self-Assessment
    • Skip-Level Meeting Communication Timeline
    • Sample Skip-Level Meeting Invitation Letter
    • Sample Skip-Level Meeting Follow-up Letters
    • Skip-Level Meeting Discussion Guide
    • Suggested Skip-Level Meeting Questions
    • Skip Level Meeting Action Planner
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about skip-level meetings
  • Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the Skip Level Meeting Booklet (pdf)
  • Skip Level Meeting Podcast (mp3)
  • Skip Level Meeting Podcast slides (Powerpoint)
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How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert

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Coaching has become a very popular business trend in the past several years. As organizations get flatter and as you progress in your career to take on roles of increasing responsibility you will more often find yourself in a leadership or coaching role where you are not the ‘expert’.

How Coaching Conversations are Different:

  • There is an articulated focus and purpose for coaching conversations
  • Accountability mechanisms are built in to the coaching conversation
  • Feedback and reinforcement are part of the conversation structure

A Brief Introduction to the Wily Manager Five Step Coaching Model:

Step 1 – Context: Decide what is to be worked on, and why it is important. Also identify the conditions and constraints.

Step 2 – Clarify: Articulate the desired outcomes and goals of the coaching. Contrast these against the current reality.

Step 3 – Create: The coach and a team member now explore potential avenues forward, taking into account what has been learned in the first two steps. Decide upon a preferred path.

Step 4 – Commit: Agree upon specific action plans to reach the desired destination. Write down and agree upon ‘who does what by when’. Where possible, include measures of success as well.

Step 5 – Close: Ensure all commitments are understood and the desired behaviours are reinforced. Periodically, debrief the coaching session at this point.

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The ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ Topic Bundle includes:

  • ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • ‘How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert’ Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • Benefits of Coaching
    • How Coaching Conversations are Different
    • The Coaching Process
    • Wily Manager’s 5-Step Coaching Model
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about Coaching
  • Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ Booklet (pdf)
  • ‘The Wily Manager Coaching Model’ Podcast (mp3)
  • ‘The Wily Manager Coaching Model’ Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)
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