Many moons ago, I was an Operations Manager for a big, global company.  My part of the empire was very small, but I was still subject to much of the silliness that comes with being part of a huge organization.

You could have said that the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing, but that would have been overly-kind.  There were departments at global headquarters that out and out competed with each other.  The loss-control guys would send out a memo, only to be contradicted by the HR group.  Of course, none of them did this knowingly – they were simply so big, that they had no idea what the other support group was doing.

This is what happens when companies face operational issues, and rather than invest in frontline managers to teach them to deal with the complexities of the business, they suck control of everything short of turning the key in the front door back far away from the core business.

The result:  total and complete misalignment.  Frontline managers and the employees doing the actual work that makes money are being continually pulled in all directions, and end up flying like a moth to the brightest light depending on which support department issued an email directive that day.

I made the decision to leave this organization, about a year before my ultimate departure.  I still loved the business, I just didn’t like working for a large, bureaucratic company that had centralized all control and decision-making.

I can honestly say, I was at my most effective in this last year.  I still wanted the business to be successful, and I cared deeply about the people I worked with.  What made me (and my operation) effective and successful in this last year is that I stopped listening to head office.  I did what I thought was in the best interests of the business, and largely ignored my instructions from head office.

The result?  They didn’t notice I was not complying with the multiple and competing directives.  They did notice our numbers were in the top ten percent in the company.

Remember you heard it here first – the fastest way to aligning your business, and ultimately generating better results is to ignore your head office.  Of course, it could also be the most direct route to getting fired, too.

Let’s be careful out there.

Join Jed and Bob as they discuss how to align your business, and the link between Alignment and Accountability.

Watch the ‘Alignment & Accountability’ Video (14 mins 44 sec):

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Business Alignment Strategies.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Business KPIs.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Business KPIs.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed and Bob as they define many of the terms related to measurement in business, and explain how to get started on measurement in your business.  They also describe the difference between a good performance indicator and a bad one, and as always, they will leave you with three things to remember.

Watch the ‘Metrics 101: Introduction to Business KPIs’ Video (14 mins 32 sec):

Performance metrics often provide an excellent illustration of how a really good idea can be made difficult and useless by poor implementation.  It’s a lot like watching your favourite sports franchise consistently snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Usually it goes down like this:  someone in some position of authority will read the first fifteen pages of a book about measurement.  Without reading the following 250 pages, he concludes that his organization needs to get everyone on the measurement bandwagon.  Then he strikes a committee, or hires a consultant to go forth and make this happen.

Fast forward in time six months, and a significant portion of everyone’s work week becomes dedicated to counting the number of paper clips they have consumed since last week, and calculating the annual impact of that paper clip consumption.  They then have a meeting to discuss how to reduce paper clip consumption, thereby reducing annual operating costs by $48.50, or roughly 1/100^th the cost of the first meeting about paper clip consumption.

OK… that might be a bit harsh.  But here are some actual examples of performance metrics gone horribly wrong:

• The technology company that measured sales success exclusively on dollar volume at the end of each quarter.  THE RESULT:  A whole bunch of clients went somewhere else because they were tired of being sold things they really didn’t need.
• The grocery retailer that measured check-stand effectiveness by calculating the frequency of cashiers using customers’ names.  THE RESULT:  the customers went to stores where they measure how much time was spent waiting in line – something the customer actually cares about.
• The restaurant owner that attempted to reduce cost by reducing the number of paper napkins provided to each customer.  THE RESULT:  I don’t know… probably sticky fingers and dirty tables – this one just seemed really silly to me
• The lumber manufacturer that measured how much fibre it recovered from each log, as opposed to how much money they made on different dimensions of lumber.  THE RESULT:  Very few wood-chips, but a yard full of garden stakes that no one would buy (and a whole bunch of trees unnecessarily harvested)

Some people will tell you all that matters at the end of the day is how much money you make.  Not true – if you focus exclusively on this, you are in a never-ending cycle of sub-optimized decisions that forbid any long term success.  Most obviously, if you ignore safety while focusing exclusively on how much money is make, it is only a matter of time before you injure or kill someone, which beside being ethically reprehensible, is very expensive.

Here’s the bottom line about measurement:  The great thing about measuring performance is that people will adjust their behaviors to affect the outcome of the measure.  Unfortunately, the really scary thing about measuring performance is that people will adjust their behaviors to affect the outcome of the measure.

So measurement (like other recreational drugs) should be used cautiously and in moderation.  Second, you should never have only one number you are tracking.  And finally, you need to understand why numbers are trending the way they are, as opposed to (over)reacting to one data point.

Let’s be careful out there.

In the past fifteen years, I’ve been in and out of dozens of organizations, all of which had some process for conducting Performance Reviews.  Of all of them, only one organization did them consistently, and did them well.  The rest of them conducted performance reviews that ranged between ineffective, and highly offensive.

This got me to thinking what all these organizations have in common when it comes to Performance Reviews, so here are the top five (of several dozen) reasons why Performance Reviews usually suck:

1)   Everybody wants more feedback – as long as it’s good. Yep… as much as your Gen Y types tell you they crave feedback, they really only want it if it confirms their worldview that they are beyond fantastic.  Any suggestions for improvement are usually met with a thud.  It is only the most elite of corporate cultures that have overcome this aspect of human nature.  These organizations train and encourage people to constantly seek out feedback that will make them better – which sometimes requires facing up to the fact you don’t do some things well.

2)   Performance Reviews are non-specific. They often contain broad sweeping statements about someone being “good with customers”, or “needing improvement on follow through”.  These observations are about as useful as a chocolate teapot.  If it’s not specific, don’t bother.  Bring data or specific behavioral observations.

3)   People are too polite.  Most supervisors hate performance reviews more than the employees.  So they try to get through them as quickly as possible, without hurting anyone’s feelings.  Great organizations, and great leaders use performance appraisals as catalyst for improvement.  This actually requires giving people feedback on how they can improve – rather than just trying to keep the peace.

4)   Performance reviews are structured too much like report cards. If the performance review is simply “the year in review” without any mention of the future, or developmental opportunities, then it is a waste of time.  Even more of a waste of time is a 4 or 5 point rating system that employees are graded on with little thought or explanation.  No wonder people hate them.

5)   They are disconnected with what people do every day. The big problem with performance reviews is that they are designed by HR people, or external consultants who have absolutely no idea what people in a particular role do everyday.  Hence people are assessed on things they rarely or never do, and the bulk of their efforts are not captured by the criteria or format used.

Employees don’t have any accountability for the Performance Review process.  OK… I said five reasons, so this one is a bonus.  In most organizations, the employee merely shows up for a performance review meeting, having lent no thought or effort to outcome.  Great organizations and great managers insist that employees complete some form of self-assessment in advance of the meeting so that the success of the process is shared.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed and Bob as they discuss why you’d bother with a Mid-Year review, and how it’s different than a regular Performance Review.  Also learn how to manage the mid-year performance review discussion to ensure it’s effective.

Watch ‘The Mid Year Performance Review’ Video (15 mins 17 sec):

Mick Jagger was right – you can’t always get what you want.

One of the dynamics that managers face is weighing off short-term objectives against longer term ones.  This sometimes results in seemingly poor decisions being made.

Often, I get to hear people in organizations complain about the seemingly silly decisions that are made.  It is so clear to them, that by investing $100,000, you can recover a $1m.  They’ve done the cost benefit analysis, and the answer is clear.  The only problem is that they haven’t figured whether there is $100,000 to spend in the first place.

Think of it like this:  If you replace the windows in house with better insulated ones, install high efficiency furnaces and air conditioners, and put new insulation in your attic, you will undoubtedly save thousands over the lifetime of those renovations.  However, you may not have the $25,000 required now to do those modifications.  Further, you may not be sure you’ll be in the house long enough to recover the investment.

It is the same for organizations.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve seen lots of examples of corporate stupidity, too.  My favorite one is the company that decreed in blood that all travel occurring within an operating division must be by surface, and that air travel was restricted to those going across operating divisions.  This made a lot of sense in Northern California, where the decree was issued.  It didn’t make a lot of sense in British Columbia (about twice the size of Texas, and full of mountains).  It turns out to drive from one side of this division to another was a four or five day exercise.  Surely a plane ticket would be cheaper?  Nope – the policy stands.  Truly stupid.

The dynamic of measuring the short term and long term costs and benefits is not easy.  Leaders need to do the math and figure out the right thing to do.  But sometimes, the right thing to do is deferred to what can be done.

You might not get what want, but rather “get what you need”.  Thanks Mick.

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

You don’t need a Masters Degree in Finance to do a Cost Benefit Analysis.  Join Jed and Bob as they talk about how to use this simple and effective tool.

Watch the ‘How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis’ Video (14 mins 25 sec):

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about How to Set Goals and Objectives.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed and Bob as they talk about the Performance Management process, and more specifically about Setting Goals and Objectives.  How do you cascade them up and down the hierarchy?  Find out this week.

Watch the ‘How to Set Goals and Objectives’ Video (15 mins 16 sec):

The fun part about our job is being exposed to a number of different industries and organizations.  One of my favorite things to say is, “I’ve worked in Nuclear Power Stations, and in grocery stores, and 90% of the management issues are the same.”  I usually get significant pushback from the Nuclear Engineers on this one, but it’s true.

Often the response I get from this statement is a question about the most common thread that weaves organizations and their performance together.  The answer, quite simply, is “Focus”.  The great performing organizations define and continually refine the limited number of things they need to do well, and then execute those things.

The reason people lose focus is because they get so busy managing tasks, they forget to look up every now and then and make sure they are doing the right things.  Or, as I like to say, “They are so busy doing their jobs, they forget to do their jobs.”

As a busy manager, the next time you feel more overwhelmed with work than the bartender on the Kennedy Compound, spend a couple of minutes to review what your top 3 to 7 objectives for the year are.  What are you doing to achieve those objectives this week?  Better yet, review your top objectives every day before you start diving into tasks.

If you find yourself involved in meetings and activities that have nothing to do with those 3 to 7 objectives, then you need to question what you’re doing.  Worse yet, if find yourself with 25 or 30 objectives, you need to go back to drawing board, and transform your laundry list into a more manageable, critical action list.

Achieving focus is conceptually very easy, but requires a lot of discipline to do well.

“A bias for action” – this has become a buzz-phrase I’ve noticed lately, and it makes my skin crawl the same way as when some one uses the word “irregardless”.  This is the curse of several years of studying English at University.

I’ll be the first guy to encourage people to actually get things done, but if I’m going to have a bias for something, I’d prefer it be a bias for thinking.  Simply put, any action you take that is not preceded by some thinking is a waste of time that will ultimately cost you much more time in the long run.

In many situations, the thinking involved need be brief.  Unless you’re planning a moon landing, the amount of time writing and refining plans quickly hits diminishing returns.  To spend even a few minutes thinking about something, and perhaps handwriting one page on what you are trying to achieve, the benefits, risks, and involvement required from others will save you a huge amount of time in the long run.

Here are some of my favorite business moments that demonstrated a bias for action, and an absence of thinking:

New Coke:  Turns out people liked the old coke better, and the company spent millions to undo their action

Moving Jay Leno from the Tonight Show:  NBC had a problem as to what to do with Conan O’Brien, but didn’t think too long about any of these decisions.  Oh well… what’s $40 million between friends?

Ford Motor Company and the Pinto:  It seems it was cheaper to pay wrongful death suits than it was to recall the exploding Pinto.  Apparently the guys running Ford at the time had the Wizard of Oz trifecta:  No brains, no heart, no courage.

US IRS and tax evaders: The US Revenue Service has decided recently to go after tax evaders in Canada and the UK.  Newsflash: people looking to evade taxes don’t move to higher tax jurisdictions that have comprehensive tax treaties with the United States.  If any thought had been put into this, they would realize the housewife who moved to Canada as a child probably isn’t as promising a source of revenue as the corporate executive that moved to Grand Cayman.

Think, then act.  You’d be surprised how well it works.

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Writing a Business Case.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed & Bob as they discuss the Seven Steps to writing a good business case.

Watch the ‘How to Write a Business Case’ Video (14 mins 47 sec):

So if I read all the management literature correctly, then to improve employee morale, I should hire a concierge, allow people to bring their pets to work, and every day at 3.00pm we should join hands in a circle and sing campfire songs.  Personally, I can’t think of anything that would make me start looking for alternative employment faster.

So what does impact morale, and should managers care?

First of all, they should care – just not about concierges and employee sing-alongs.  Morale is a key driver of attendance and retention both of which have a clear and immediate impact on costs.  Morale also creates and maintains employee discretionary effort — which has a clear and immediate impact on productivity, quality and safety.  Besides all of that, it’s just way more fun to work at a place where people are engaged.

There are several ways for leaders to impact morale.  Perhaps one of the most important is a consistent, fair, and well thought out progressive discipline process.  Yep, that’s right… I’m suggesting that progressive discipline and higher employee morale are highly correlated.  Here’s why:

When one member of a team consistently doesn’t pull his weight, it is rarely the boss that feels the impact of this.  Most often it is that laggard’s peers.  By addressing one person’s poor performance, others are both relieved and validated.  They are relieved that the discipline will either lead to the person beginning to pull their weight, or that the person will be replaced by someone who will.  They are validated by the demonstration that their effort is superior to that of the person receiving the discipline.

The most highly effective workplaces have predictable and clear consequences for both good and poor performance, so it is not good enough for a leader simply to focus on discipline.  However, many managers put off uncomfortable discussions about poor performance using the excuse that any intervention will harm morale.  In fact, the opposite it true.

Oh No.  Now you’ve got to go do it.

Go ahead… discipline someone for poor performance, and improve your team’s morale.

Join Jed and Bob as they discuss why and how progressive discipline should be undertaken in an organization.

Watch the ‘Progressive Discipline’ Video (15 mins 36 sec):

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Employee Discipline Procedures.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

The current silliness around the US Government’s debt ceiling is a classic case of individual members of government completely failing to take any responsibility.  For those observers convinced that it’s one party’s fault or the other, you are blinded by partisanship, and not seeing the whole situation clearly.

Perhaps the idea of political parties has passed its “best-before” date.

Originally, the British Parliament (of which many other systems of government have been based upon including the American one), was set up so that a local riding would elect a member to represent it, and then the elected members would all get together, and deal with the business at hand – such as selecting the Prime Minister and other key ministers.

This devolved into parties as people became more apathetic about the political process.  Political parties gave all elected official cover from any personal responsibility to their constituents.  The current silliness in the United States over the debt ceiling is a prime example.  Does any thinking person really believe this has anything to do with anything BUT politics?  Any American, regardless of his political stripe, should be deeply offended by what is happening in Washington right now.

There is a whole lot of politicking, and not any responsibility being taken.  American society has been living beyond its means since the end of the Second World War, and its like nobody got the memo on this until May.  Now it’s a crisis, and no one wants to act

Bad news folks – if you take two or three minutes to add up the numbers, it is indisputable that there are substantial spending cuts required, and significant tax increases needed to fix the problem.  Unfortunately, no one in Washington will take the responsibility of telling people a truth they don’t want to hear.

This is what we expect from politicians – as a society, we have completely abandon the idea of personal accountability.

By the way, this situation is not unique to the United States.  Because I have lived in a few different countries, I seek out news from my former adopted homes, and am quite aware similar silliness is occurring in Australia, Canada, and the UK.

Only when people re-engage in the political process, will anything change.  People lament it is the absence of the voter on election-day, but this is simplistic way of looking at the problem.  The Australians have mandatory voting, and still get caught in political silliness.  Only when we demand responsibility from our locally elected Members of Parliament, or Congress Members will anything change.

That is, unless the current political problem in the US doesn’t completely destroy the global economy, in which case you should look for a nice plot of land with a long growing season.

In 1974 Bill Oncken asked the question of “Who’s got the Monkey” to lament the fact that managers seem to buy more and more problems back from their people, when really they should challenge and develop their people to solve their own problems.  Join Jed and Bob as they discuss how managers can put Oncken’s advice to work.

Watch the ‘Who’s Got the Monkey? Delegating Responsibility’ Video (13 mins 34 sec):

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Delegating Responsibility.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Before the industrial revolution, most of us were connected to the outputs of our labor.  We were either farmers or craftsmen in cottage industries where we worked on something for some period of time, and then either harvested, used, or sold the output of all our hard work.

In the 21^st century the link between what we toil on daily, and the output of that toil is much more illusive – particularly so in information based jobs and industries.  We behave like some really minor cog, in some great big organizational wheel always feeling at least slightly nervous that if we got hit by a truck, it might take some time before anyone noticed.

As a result, we become focused on a series of tasks, rather than how those tasks contribute to some greater goal.  Several years ago I did a job at a sawmill.  This was before the forest sector in North America got completely spanked, and prior to Americans and Canadians sparring each other, and failing to recognize the much greater threat was coming from outside NAFTA.

Turning a raw log into a two-by-four is a much more complicated process than you might think.  There are lots of moving parts and many people involved before you can go down to the Home Depot and buy some boards to build that eyesore treehouse for the kids in your backyard.  As a result, you’ve got several groups of people that optimize their little part of much larger process without ever putting their head up to see if what they’re doing makes any sense.

Raw logs are scanned by laser on their way into the mill to optimize the use of fibre, and reduce the amount of waste (also known as chips).  The problem is as the timber got smaller and smaller over the course of many years, optimizing the amount of fibre meant that sawmills were producing a whole bunch of lumber with a dimension of 1” X 1” – about the size of a garden stake.

So you can imagine my surprise walking into the lumberyard of a sawmill, and learning that 80% of the space was taken up by garden stakes and bean poles.  Somewhere I had missed the bulletin about the fall of society, and our return to an agrarian economy.  Apparently, the larger lumber dimensions (like the wood you use to actually build things) were no longer required.

This is what happens when people optimize their little part of the business without any regard for the larger organizational goals.  This sawmill was indeed maximizing the amount of fibre recovered from each log – they just weren’t producing anything that anyone needed or wanted.

It would be easy to think this is an isolated case, but there are examples everywhere of people optimizing a piece of the business to the sub-optimization of the whole enterprise.  Ironically, this is often encouraged by well-meaning business improvement people, or high-paid consultants.

The bottom line is to draw a clear path between what each person does every day, and the higher-level goals of the organization.  If this path of vision is obstructed, you may end up with a yard full of garden stakes.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Strategy Mapping.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Strategy Mapping.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Find out how how individual managers can build and use their own strategy maps, and how doing so can focus performance.

Watch the ‘Strategy Maps for the Individual Manager’ Video (15 mins):

Download the  ”Strategy Mapping” Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

Here’s an extreme example of the power of leading versus lagging indicators: plane crashes.  Every now and then, a plane might just fall out of the sky with no advance warning, but most often the cause was entirely predictable, and could have been caught by some leading indicator of trouble.  The tragic lagging indicator is when a plane hurls into the side of a mountain.

Now, to be fair, the airline industry has an outstanding safety record, and their ability to catch problems before they turn into catastrophe is something many other industries would be well-advised to study.

However, a recent news article by the Detroit Free Press got me to thinking about leading indicators of airline disaster.  The article was about an Air Traffic Controller who was caught watching a movie (Cleaner, starring Samuel L. Jackson, if it matters), rather than tending to the airplanes he was supposed to be watching.  I am going to go out on the limb here and say that the number and amount of movies watched while on duty by Air Traffic Controllers is a pretty clear leading indicator of plane crashes.

Once this was made public, the United States Federal Aviation Authority naturally took steps to suspend the Controller in question and his boss (even though they should have fired them both), and has launched an investigation.  And the pundits have all started to weigh in on the impact of goofing off at work.

In November of 2010, Salary.com did a survey that revealed that 36% of us waste two or more hours at work every day.  If you think your organization has any significant number of people making up that 36%, then it should be a pretty clear leading indicator of your pending implosion as a viable organization.

But back to the Air Traffic Controllers.

Jonathan Spira, an analyst that has studied goofing off at work (sounds like a fun job) said about this situation: “Clearly, if someone is watching a movie, they are bored, tired, distracted or somehow unable to perform his job.”

What Mr. Spira missed is that the person goofing off might just be an idiot who needs a kick in the ass.  Such as is the case with this Air Traffic Controller.  If this problem is widespread (which the US FAA is investigating currently), then I am going to suggest another leading indicator for airline safety:

The number of Air Traffic Controllers disciplined or fired is a leading indicator of improved air traffic safety.

Who says Ronald Reagan is dead?

Now if you really want to know what happens in the control tower, click on this week’s video clip, below:

 

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Have you been down to your local blacksmith’s lately?  Unless you’re reading this post through a hole in the space-time continuum, you probably haven’t.  Actually, blacksmiths still exist, but they are now a rare, highly-specialized group of skilled workers.

Compare this to the 15^th through 19^th centuries, when a blacksmith was one of the focal points of every community.  As our societies and technologies evolved, the skills of the blacksmith became less and less pervasive.

Now compare this to the wordsmith.  I couldn’t find any significant history on the wordsmith, so I’ll make something up, and then go post it on Wikipedia.  The wordsmith was also around in the 15^th through 19^th centuries, although they kept a low profile.  This is because as children, future wordsmiths were routinely beat up by future blacksmiths

This may explain why so many wordsmiths are able to rear their ugly heads (and ply their treacherous trade) today.  With the diminishing number of future blacksmiths, future wordsmiths don’t receive near as many beatings as they should to discourage them.

You probably know a wordsmith – although they set-up shoppe in the most unlikely places.  The wordsmith is the one who ensures that any meeting that could have been done in 30 minutes, goes for at least two-hours.  These are the people who will argue incessantly about subject-verb inversion, and how it may affect the organization’s vision statement.

If you find yourself organizing or facilitating the articulation of organizational goals, strategies, mission or vision statements, you need to root out the wordsmiths early.  Send them on a business trip, or tell them there’s a newspaper somewhere that needs to have a letter written to the editor because the sentence structure of a headline was inappropriate.

The bottom line is that missions, visions, goals and strategies are all useless documents, unless they move people to action of some sort.  If the wordsmith gets her way, these documents will all be grammatically and politically correct, but so general and generic to the point of being useless.

So… if you have any of these documents, that sit high on a shelf for 11 months of the year, until the dust is blown off them for the next planning cycle, you can blame the wordsmith.  To address this problem, you have two options:

1. Distract the wordsmith long enough to rewrite the documents in a concise and meaningful way.
2. Hire a blacksmith to take out the wordsmith.

Learn how to align your Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Goals and Objectives – and how to make sure these are acted on.

Watch the ‘Aligning Mission, Vision & Goals’ video (12 mins 34 sec):

Download the Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

Well, that title should upset a few people – particularly the folks in finance that love their spreadsheets more than they do their children.  Don’t get me wrong… I like the idea of measuring things so you know where you stand.  My problem is the way in which some organizations execute their metrics.

Performance metrics often provide an excellent illustration of how a really good idea can be made difficult and useless by poor implementation.  It’s a lot like watching your favourite sports franchise consistently snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Usually it goes down like this:  someone in some position of authority will read the first fifteen pages of a book about measurement.  Without reading the following 250 pages, he concludes that his organization needs to get everyone on the measurement bandwagon.  Then he strikes a committee, or hires a consultant to go forth and make this happen.

Fast forward in time six months, and a significant portion of everyone’s work week becomes dedicated to counting the number of paper clips they have consumed since last week, and calculating the annual impact of that paper clip consumption.  They then have a meeting to discuss how to reduce paper clip consumption, thereby reducing annual operating costs by $48.50, or roughly 1/100^th the cost of the first meeting about paper clip consumption.

OK… that might be a bit harsh.  But here are some actual examples of performance metrics gone horribly wrong:

• The technology company that measured sales success exclusively on dollar volume at the end of each quarter.  THE RESULT:  A whole bunch of clients went somewhere else because they were tired of being sold things they really didn’t need.
• The grocery retailer that measured check-stand effectiveness by calculating the frequency of cashiers using customers’ names.  THE RESULT:  the customers went to stores where they measure how much time was spent waiting in line – something the customer actually cares about.
• The restaurant owner that attempted to reduce cost by reducing the number of paper napkins provided to each customer.  THE RESULT:  I don’t know… probably sticky fingers and dirty tables – this one just seemed really silly to me
• The lumber manufacturer that measured how much fibre it recovered from each log, as opposed to how much money they made on different dimensions of lumber.  THE RESULT:  Very few wood-chips, but a yard full of garden stakes that no one would buy (and a whole bunch of trees unnecessarily harvested)

Some people will tell you all that matters at the end of the day is how much money you make.  Not true – if you focus exclusively on this, you are in a never-ending cycle of sub-optimized decisions that forbid any long term success.  Most obviously, if you ignore safety while focusing exclusively on how much money is make, it is only a matter of time before you injure or kill someone, which beside being ethically reprehensible, is very expensive.

Here’s the bottom line about measurement:  The great thing about measuring performance is that people will adjust their behaviours to affect the outcome of the measure.  Unfortunately, the really scary thing about measuring performance is that people will adjust their behaviours to affect the outcome of the measure.

So measurement (like other recreational drugs) should be used cautiously and in moderation.  Second, you should never have only one number you are tracking.  And finally, you need to understand why numbers are trending the way they are, as opposed to (over)reacting to one data point.

Let’s be careful out there.

What is the Balanced Scorecard and how can you use it in your own organization?  Learn the basics in this podcast.

Watch ‘The Balanced Scorecard Approach’ video (14 mins 2 secs):

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The Balanced Scorecard Podcast Slides

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Learn More About ‘The Balanced Scorecard Approach’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Watch the full length ‘Balanced Scorecard Approach’ Video (15 minutes)
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• Download the ‘Balanced Scorecard Approach’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘Balanced Scorecard Approach’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • The Business Review Meeting
  • The Vision Statement
  • Mission Statements
  • Lagging and Leading Indicators

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about The Balanced Scorecard Approach.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Part of what makes my job so much fun is being exposed to a variety of organizations in a wide variety of industries.  The culture of these organizations vary widely, and is probably best manifested in how people make decisions.  In some places, people gather as much information as they can, they discuss possible courses of action, and then they pull the trigger on a decision.

Other organizations have rambling, unfocused discussions, refer things to subcommittees, defer decisions seemingly indefinitely, and then wonder why their organizations consistently fail.

People can argue whether the greater evil is in making decisions to quickly or too slowly, and you can probably guess which side of equation I will argue for with the following list:

Things that delay decisions:

1. Needing perfect information before committing.  It would be nice if you had all the available information at your disposal, but by the time you gather and process all that data, it’s possible your decision won’t matter anymore.
2. Being too risk adverse. When people are deathly afraid of making a mistake, they will hesitate to make decisions.  What is not part of their calculations is that their delay carries a certain amount of risk too.
3. Trying to keep everybody happy all the time.  Making decisions usually means having to make trade-offs of some sort.  By saying yes to one course of action, you are saying no to another, and in the process, you are going to upset someone.  This is a key reason why the public sector often fails to make timely, quality decisions.
4. A top-heavy or micro-managed business.  In this case, only one person, or a small number of people are permitted to make any decisions, and as such become a bottleneck.  Organizations that push decision making down the hierarchy to the most appropriate level are much more agile, and ultimately perform much better.
5. Poor decision-making process. Sometimes, people fail to recognize a decision point when it appears in front of them.  If they don’t recognize the fork in the road, they certainly won’t know which turn to take.
6. Fear: Contrary to popular belief, it is sometimes better to make the wrong decision today, realize it tomorrow and then correct your course of action, than it is to delay a decision for weeks or months.

Now I’m really having a hard time deciding which video clip to include this week.  One of the candidates is a Monty Python bit (People’s front of Judea) that contains foul language that might offend some.  The other is a clip of George W. Bush talking about being a decision-maker, that may offend some American viewers.

I could ask everyone to weigh-in, and then make my decision, or I could just flip a coin, but I can’t decide which decision making process is better.

Here’s a quiz:  In my organization HR is/are:

a)    A highly professional service provider that partners with managers to maximize shareholder value through effective people management practice.

b)   The people who organize our Christmas parties and picnics

c)    Where people who couldn’t make it in the core business go to be marginalized to the point where they do a minimum of damage.

OK – maybe HR’s an easy target in many organizations, but if beating up HR is a fun way to relieve some tension mid-day at the water cooler, you really won’t like what comes next:

If your HR group truly sucks, then your organization most likely sucks, too.

Yep, that’s right.  I’m suggesting there is a direct correlation between highly effective HR, and a highly effective organization.  Furthermore, I’d suggest that organizational managers get the HR departments they deserve.  If your HR group is solely administrative in nature, and generally not very high performing, then that is exactly the quality of service you as a manager, or an organization has asked for.

You may like or hate Jack Welch, but it would pretty hard to argue that GE wasn’t a high performing organization when he was running it.  Just about any time you heard Welch speak, he would talk about what he was doing, and he’d also talk about Bill Conaty – his HR guy.  For GE, the HR portfolio was extremely important.  Some other Jack Welch quotes about HR:

“A high quality senior HR person is as critical as the CFO”

HR should “get out of the picnic business”

And his advice to HR people:  “Don’t be a victim”

Every organization has its version of the “People are our most important asset” speech, but Welch actually lived it.  People will jump all over this, because Welch had an impressive record of firing people.  But valuing people necessarily means that you remove barriers to a team’s success, and sometimes this means removing people.

The strongest organizations I have worked with have highly-competent, business-focused HR people.  They also insist that every manager in the company is an HR manager.  HR is not something that is delegated to a central group – it is actively managed by every leader, every day.  The HR group’s role in these high-performing organizations is to set organizational leaders up to be outstanding managers of the human asset.

Picnics and Christmas parties need to be assigned elsewhere – perhaps the marketing department isn’t busy.

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Why Care about HR?

Why should organizations care about having an HR strategic partner?  In many cases HR is viewed a necessary evil in a company, and is simply part of the overhead cost of doing business.  This is the case in poorly run companies that do not have HR as a strategic partner.  There are no world-class companies with weak HR departments.  Excellence requires great HR, or an HR strategic partner.

Here are some other reasons to strive create an organization that has an HR strategic partner:

• Employees are expensive, and good leadership/management maximizes the value of organization’s investment in people.
• Great HR has better firm performance*
  • 63% less unwanted turnover
  • 400% greater sales per employee
  • Over 3 times greater Market Value:Book Value

*Becker, Brian E., Mark A. Huselid and Dave Ulrich, The HR Scorecard – Linking People, Strategy and Performance (Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Mass. 2001)

Top 10 Reasons HR Often Sucks

There are a variety of reasons that people become frustrated with their HR departments.  Here are our Top 10 reasons why organizations end up without an HR Strategic Partner:

1. Organizations don’t know what they want/need from HR. As companies evolve and grow, the focus of HR and what management needs them to do changes.  Often, there is no thought given to what are the key drivers of human performance.  Being an HR strategic partner requires a clear understanding of what the HR group will do, and what they will not do.
2. In the absence of clear direction, HR is reduced to arranging picnics and Christmas parties.  Because there is no direction from the organization, the HR group ends up becoming a “catch-all” where all the administrative jobs fall into.  Once the HR group becomes overwhelmed with useless trivia, they do not have the time or talent to conduct more vital and valuable work.  Being an HR strategic partner requires elevating above mere administration.
3. We make HR the policy-cops. There is no doubt that HR should be involved in the drafting of policy, but their role in enforcement should be that of an advisor, not an enforcer.  It is the job of individual managers to enforce policy.  An HR strategic partner coaches, supports and advises managers through the enforcement of policy issues.
4. There is no HR business plan. HR needs to have clear deliverables and measures just like any other business.  The HR business plan needs roll out of the greater organizations strategic, tactical and action plans.  An HR strategic partner enables the achievement of the overall business plan through superior people practice.
5. Managers like to use HR as a scapegoat. It’s much easier for managers to tell their people unpleasant news if they can pin it on someone else.  Usually the target of such finger-pointing is either higher-level management, or the HR group.  In either case it is inappropriate.  Managers need to take responsibility for the leadership and management of their human assets.  An HR strategic partner is a trusted advisor to getting this done well.
6. HR is not properly staffed.  If your HR group is filled with able administrators, but not people with any real business training or experience, you will not have an HR strategic partner (although your staff picnics will probably be great).
7. HR reports through finance. The practice of having HR report through Finance is far too common.  If you want an HR strategic partner, HR needs to report to the people responsible for executing the strategy.  If HR isn’t at the senior leadership table, then it is highly hypocritical to claim that “employees are our most important asset.”
8. HR people do not know the core business. In order to provide quality, professional advice to managers in the core business, an HR strategic partner needs to understand that core business.  It is not necessary to be expert, but there are many organizations where the HR people do not fully understand how the company operates, or how it manages and measures its success.
9. HR should be a place for high performers, not the company ghetto. If an organization expects outstanding performance from its HR group, it needs to staff it with outstanding people.  If HR becomes the ghetto of the organization where we put people who couldn’t make it in the core business, or a place where we hire less than the best to try to meet diversity requirements, you won’t have an HR strategic partner.
10. HR needs to be better at selling itself, and influencing others in the organization.  An HR strategic partner is an influencer more so that s/he is a decision-maker.  As such HR needs to become much better at “selling” its viewpoint.  Moreover, for organizations that don’t’ know how they should best use HR, it is up to the HR people to define and sell its role in the company.

What’s to be done?

If you find that your organization has an HR department that sucks for any or all of the reasons above then action needs to be taken right away.  As a starter:

1. Have an HR business plan that is attached to the organization’s strategic plan. Without a clear focus, there is no chance of having an HR strategic partner.
2. Get skilled business people into HR. If you staff your HR department like an organizational ghetto, your results will match.  An HR strategic partner is a highly skilled, high-potential human asset.
3. Get HR to the table. An HR strategic partner needs to be included in all important discussions.  If HR’s not at the table when those discussions take place, there is no change of maximizing the value of the human asset, and no change of truly being a high performing organization.

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Bob and Jed discuss the Top 10 reasons why HR often sucks, and what you can do to begin to fix it.

Watch the ‘Why HR Often Sucks’ Video (14 mins 59 sec):

Download the ‘Why HR Often Sucks’ Video (mp4)

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Why HR Often Sucks Podcast Slides (.ppt)

Check out the ‘HR as a Strategic Partner: Why HR Often Sucks’ Cheat Sheet

“My goal now:  to be the all-being ruler of time, space and dimension….  And then, I want to go to Europe.” – Steve Martin

For the low price of about $5000, you can spend the weekend with some screaming hucksters (who you would run far away from in a normal social setting), who will guide you to the perfect collection of personal and professional goals that will change your life, and provide the happiness that has always alluded you.  Your registration also includes a coffee mug, and a handsome leather portfolio for all your hand written notes.

It seems that the SMART acronym (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-phased) is not the stuff of which great goals are based.  You can also dispense with BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) made famous by Jim Collins.  Nope, the only way to achieve greatness is to pay your $5000, and lose a weekend of your time.

I’m thinking about advertising on the same forum a one-hour seminar on how to avoid rip-offs, but only charging $2500.  I would assume I would be marketing to the same clientele.

Don’t get me wrong – I think goals are important.  However, I don’t believe their commodification is necessary.  You can write your goals in whatever format you wish on the back of a napkin, and get everything out of it your would by paying your $5000.  The reason most goals fail to be achieved is because people lack the discipline to follow up on their goals – not because of how they are written.

I do believe everyone should have goals, and I do believe you should write them down.  The SMART acronym can help you write higher quality goals, and Jim Collin’s idea of BHAGs can help you to write something inspired.  If you don’t buy into either of these, write them as you see fit – just write them.

You already know what SMART goals are – find out about HARD goals and how they can help you achieve more.

Listen to the ‘SMART Goals are Dumb’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

SMART Goals Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘SMART Goals and HARD Goals’ Cheat Sheet

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Why do things go wrong with Performance Appraisals?  Learn how to manage perceptions all year long, and what to do if discrepancies occur.

Listen to the ‘Ace Your Annual Performance Review’ Podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Ace Your Performance Review Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Ace Your Annual Performance Review’ Cheat Sheet

In many organizations, Annual Performance Reviews are about as popular as Ike at the Tina Turner Fan Club meeting.  They are done sporadically, if at all, and they typically have very little impact on organizational performance.

The last big multi-national corporate organization I worked for as an employee had a fascinating “system” for the annual performance review.  I would suggest it’s very typical to what is seen in other companies, so in the interests of demystifying the whole process, here is a list of definitions and translations to sort out some of the vernacular that accompanies the annual performance review:

Annual: In the case of the annual performance review, “annual” means maybe once every 18 to 24 months, or maybe never at all.

Performance Review Meeting: This is where both manager and employee avoid eye contact and share some awkward small talk before the boss launches into his/her diatribe of the last year in review.  Similar to a bad sitcom in format.

Coaching: This is the organizational equivalent of Batman.  You might see it late at night after a signal (usually a corporate memo) has been flashed, but if you see it at all, it will be in a poor light, and you’ll never be sure if it happened or not.

Developmental Opportunities: These are the things you will get fired for, if you don’t fix them.  If there were no employment laws, they would revert to what they used to be called: threats.

Pay for Performance: Managers who get along well with people, take the amount of discretionary salary dollars they have, and divide by the number of direct reports they have.  Managers who don’t care how well they get along with people give it to the people they like the most.  In the rarest of cases, there is a good measurement system in place that everyone understands, and it truly is pay for performance.  It is about as common as spotting a unicorn at the fall carnival.

Performance Appraisal Documents: This is a template that bears little resemblance to your actual job, written by someone in HR who has never worked in the core business.

Performance Review Meeting Preparation: This describes the immediate 30 seconds prior to the meeting starting

The Sandwich Method of Feedback: This is where poorly trained managers slip some “constructive” feedback in between two compliments.  For example, “Nice shoes; you’ve got some significant improvement to make on your analytical skills, but I like your socks.  Also known as the “Sh*t Filled Twinkie” method.

Performance Management Philosophy: This is the same affliction that causes writers of annual reports to declare, “Employees are our most important asset” without the implied disclaimer, “unless they cost us money, or otherwise inconvenience us.”

Seek the Employees View: This is the final 30 seconds of the meeting where the employee is expected to thank the supervisor for the constructive feedback, and declare his/her intentions to act on it.  Only trouble-makers would disagree with the feedback.  Under no circumstances should an employee ever speak his mind here.

I hope this translation helps.  For ideas on how to cope with, and ultimately succeed at your Annual Performance Review, download this week’s podcast.

Every few years I’ll do a job or a project for a governmental organization.  Given that I spend about 90% of my time dealing with private sector organizations, I always have to recalibrate when I enter a public sector organization.  Most often in government, I experience generally hard-working people frustrated by a bureaucracy resulting in precious little actually being accomplished.

The public sector usually attracts people who are generally risk averse, and as a result, the idea of taking action without perfect information, or allowing oneself to make mistakes and then swiftly correcting them is a hard sell.  I seem to spend a ridiculous amount of time just urging people to hurry up and move to action.

In some cases, my problem in private sector organizations is exactly the opposite.  Getting people to slow down for just an hour or two to evaluate and document their performance is often branded as heresy.  In the case of doing some form of “look-back” after a project or initiative, public sector organizations tend to do a much better job.

There are probably a variety of reasons for this, not the least of which is that public spending is subject to much closer scrutiny, and by a wider variety of interest groups.  Nevertheless, private sector organizations would be well advised to take a look at how their cousins in the public sector evaluate and document lessons learned from projects and initiatives.

Most often, the reason given for failing to do a post mortem is, “we don’t have time, besides… everything went well.”  When things go very well on a project or initiative is the most important time to do a post mortem.  Do you know why things went better than expected?  Can you repeat that performance again, or was it just good luck?

To spend an hour or two properly debriefing a project or initiative may be the best investment an organization can make.

What should happen after a project winds down?  Pick up some tips for a successful project post-mortem.

Listen to the ‘Project Post Mortems’ Podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Project Post Mortems Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Project Post Mortems’ Cheat Sheet

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What is a Project Post-Mortem?

• A “look-back” from a specific project or course of action
• Occurs after the fact
• Documents lessons-learned for use in similar future circumstances
• Compares expected results with actual results

• A full, comprehensive project post mortem for the project or action
• Bundle the project with other similar ones and debrief together
• No post project review will occur, but it will be a conscious decision rather than just not getting it done

Benefits of a Project Post-Mortem

• Documents the wisdom gained through experience, and what could be done differently next time
• Understand why things went well (or not), and why
• A form of structured feedback
• Improves communication

How to Conduct a Project Post Mortem

1. Decide on scope and who should participate
2. Establish ground rules, and meeting roles
3. Conduct Gap Analysis
   • Review expected performance or results
   • Document actual performance or results
4. Document action items arising as a result of the PPM

Questions to Ask at a Project Post-Mortem

• What are the KPIs for this project?
• Where the requirements and goals of this project clear at the beginning?
• Did we achieve the business objective?
• What went better than expected?
• What did not go as well as expected?
• How were specific problems overcome?
• What changes would be made if we were to do this project over?
• Which process or methods caused frustration?
• What specific tools or techniques were useful on this project?
• Next time we need more/better involvement from…?
• Does a smaller group need to go offline and evaluate parts of this project further?

Tips for a Successful Project Post Mortem

• Do it as soon as possible after the conclusion of the project or action
• Do not assign blame, but rather focus the intent on learning
• Talk about team performance
• Keep the discussion focused, and do not allow digression to related issues
• Look for an 80% solution

3 Things to Remember about Project Post Mortems

1. Don’t let the project post-mortem become bigger than the project it was meant to assess
2. Take the time to do it well
3. Make it a learning exercise – don’t make it about personal blame

Learn Even More About ‘Project Post Mortems’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘Project Post Mortems’ Podcast (15 minutes)
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• Click through to Related Topics:
  • The Business Review Meeting
  • Tools to Lead Change
  • Giving Quality Feedback
  • Cause and Effect Map: Creating and Using a Fishbone Chart

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Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Project Post Mortems.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Find out all about the Wily Manager Leadership Boot Camp:

• Why bother?
• What it’s about
• Who should participate
• How it works
• What’s covered

Listen to the ‘Leadership Boot Camp’ Podcast:

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It all starts off with noble intentions and great expectations.  Organizations invest thousands to send a manager off to some Leadership Development Training, with high hopes of getting a return on their investment, and of seeing some measurable change in managerial performance.

The normal result is a large invoice for the training and related costs, and a new PowerPoint slide hung on the wall, with some convoluted model or diagram that’s supposed to change our lives, and solve all organizational ills.

How do managers and organizations get is so wrong?

They have the right idea, but they make the same mistake that any of us that has ever been on a diet before has made.  We think that some temporary action, and new package on an old bit of knowledge will make a difference.  Here’s a blinding flash of the obvious:  if you want to lose weight, eat more veggies, eat less of everything else, and try to exercise more.  Most importantly, make these changes habits rather than a temporary intervention.

Organizational and Leadership Development is no different.  Figure out what behaviours you want your managers to display, and take action to make those behaviours into habits.  This is incredibly easy conceptually, but much harder in practice.  You need to look at your reward systems, development systems and processes.  Part of your answer may include training, but only then as part of the solution.

We did some work with PepsiCo, who are generally well recognized as very competent at Leadership Development Activity.  Their development model calls for 10% Leadership Training, with the balance of development activities taking other forms such as coaching, job-shadowing, special assignments, and secondments.

Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely believe that quality leadership is the stargate to better production, increased quality, improved safety, and better cost control.  I just think that organizations that attempt to bridge their leadership quality gaps via training are taking the easy way out, and burning shareholder money to boot.

Just like most of us don’t need another diet book, but rather the discipline to use one of the 44 we already own, leaders don’t need another day in a classroom – they need help making habits out of the things they learned last time.

As a society, we’ve decided that many behaviours that were acceptable only a few decades ago, are now completely out of the question.  A careful viewing of any episode of Mad Men will confirm how much has changed in a relatively short time.  Gone are the days of getting completely plastered at lunch, and then driving back to the office to finish up your day.  Same goes for smoking, recreational drug use, gambling, gluttony, and virtually all other forms of excessive, self-destructive behaviour.

There is one glaring exception: workoholism.  I am often bombarded on Monday mornings with tales of alleged heroism about how someone successfully avoided their family all weekend, so they could work right through to finish some insignificant office project.  The same people will drone on about how they get to the office before 7.00am, and work past 6.00pm on a regular basis.

Here’s a newsflash: this is something to be embarrassed about, not something one brags about. Not many people entertain people at the water cooler boasting about their other self destructive vices:

“I spent the weekend gambling away my kids’ tuition money!”

“I ate 12 boxes of Krispy-Kreme’s in one sitting on Saturday.  Then I purged, and did it again.”

“I’m pretty sure my eating disorder is serious enough now to warrant medical attention”

All of these sound as ridiculous to me as, “I work 80 hours per week on a regular basis”.  Congratulations – you’re completely dysfunctional, and probably need to see a mental health professional – top speed.

Workoholism is the working professional’s last and only chance to be a martyr.  These martyrs think the tales of their self-perceived heroics will place them in higher standing amongst their peers and boss.  It doesn’t – the only thing your organization cares about is what you get done.  Think of how many times in your working life you’ve seen the obsessively hard worker be passed over by someone else, who works significantly less, but gets way more done.

There are only two situations that I could envision someone working an 80 hour week:

1)   The exceptional project, event or occurrence that will quickly pass to return to a more reasonable way of working, or

2)   You are a farmer – in which case you have my gratitude and respect.

The rest of you need to wake up and realize this self-destructive behaviour for what it is.  For thoughts on how to get out of workoholic trap, visit our site this week, where we talk about the 80/20 rule, and how to apply it.

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Who Cares About von Manstein?

• Career military man who finished his career advising the West German government
• He assessed top performers on how they got things done
• Provides guidance on how to organize our time

The von Manstein Matrix:

The Pareto Principle:

• 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts
• You need to work hard to identify the 20%

How to Get “Lazy”:

• Don’t fall into the activity trap.  Nobody cares how busy you are, they care what you produce
• You need to do more than just work hard
• Decide what NOT to do

Applying the Matrix:

• Don’t try to keep all people happy all the time
• Have a work plan
• Practice saying “no”
• Assess your direct reports on the matrix
• Fire the hardworking, stupid ones

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about The von Manstein Matrix.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Learn how to be “lazy” yet get more done at work.

Listen to ‘The von Manstein Matrix’ podcast:

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von Manstein Matrix Podcast Slides

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Why is it important to manage your boss?  What are 4 key strategies for managing up?

Listen to the ‘How to Manage Up Without Brown Nosing’ podcast:

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Managing Up Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘How to Manage Up Without Brown Nosing’ Cheat Sheet

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If you want to get ahead, then you need to manage up.  But how do you do this without brown nosing?

Learn to manage up the right way:

This is important because….

• Your boss is probably your most important stakeholder
• Problems often arise from style differences that are easily managed
• It’s costly in time, effort and credibility if you get it wrong

Figure out what your boss cares about:

• Ask to see your boss’s goals and ask about his/her top priorities
• Link them to your own
• Set up a recurring meeting if one is not currently in place
• Assess your boss’s world-view

Create and manage two-way expectations:

• Know what is expected of you – preferably in writing
• Communicate what your expectations of your boss are
• Ask your boss about his/her style
• Never surprise your boss
• Make your boss look like a star

Ask for feedback:

• Actively seek out feedback from your boss and others
• Listen and act on feedback that you get
• Give feedback generously to your boss and others

Adjust your style:

• You can only control your own behaviour
• You are accountable for your relationship with your boss
• Communicate in a way that is most meaningful to your boss
  • Media
  • Level of detail
  • Frequency
• Look to complement how your boss operates

Learn Even More About ‘How to Manage Up Without Brown Nosing’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘Managing Up’ Podcast (15 minutes)
• Download the ‘Managing Up’ Audio (mp3)
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• Print or save the ‘Managing Up’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • My Boss is a Micro Manager
  • Getting Ahead

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What is a Business Review Meeting all about?

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Do you have a job description?  Have you seen it since you were hired into your current position?  Does it bear any resemblance to what you actually do every day?  If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions (much less all 3 of them), you are in the minority.  Most organizations either don’t have job descriptions, or have ones that are useless.

There is a good argument to be made that job descriptions are a relic from a time gone by, and that many jobs defy a linear description that is normally seen on a job description.  I would argue that the majority of jobs can, and should have job descriptions, but not in the way they are normally done.

If your job description articulates in painstaking detail the activities that you will undertake on a “normal” day, then it officially sucks.  Sorry to be the one to bring it up but:

a)    Nobody cares how busy you are.

b)   Nobody cares what you do.

Of course there are some highly bureaucratic organizations (often governmental organizations) where they do care about these things, but they are the minority.

Well run organizations care what you get done.  What did you produce?  What are your results?  How much value did you create?  A good job description will articulate these things – not how many paper clips you will use to file a report.

So I’m drawing a line in the sand today – Job Descriptions are dead.  Throw them away.  In their place, we will create POSTION OUTCOMES DESCRIPTIONS (PODs).   This is not a directive to the HR people out there – they are usually the last to come on board with such changes.  This is to every person who wants to make a difference.   A well-written POD will facilitate you making a difference at your job.

Write yours today, and get your boss to sign-off on it.  Then, when the crap-tasks start sliding across your desk, you have some mechanism by which to question it.  In your old Job Description, the crap-task would have fallen under “other duties as assigned”.

Now do you see why you need to do this?  There are lots of tools on the Wily Manager website to help you with this.  Join the revolution – and let us know how you’re making out.

What are some important things to remember before you write a job description?  What are the 4 key components of a job description?

Listen to the ‘How to Write a Job Description’ podcast:

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Job Descriptions Podcast Slides

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Things to Keep in Mind Before You Write a Job Description

• Job descriptions are not an ‘HR thing’
• Job descriptions should be focused on outcomes
• Job descriptions should be used for the entire life-cycle of an employee (recruiting, development, evaluation, discipline, succession)

Four Components of a Job Description

One: Basic Functions

• Who does this position report to?
• Who reports to this position?
• What are budgetary or statutory requirements?

• Specific outcomes required of this position (production, quality, safety, risk management, etc.) - ‘what’
• Leadership and interpersonal competencies – ‘how’
• Values and attitudes required – ‘how’

Three: Stakeholder Management

• Where does this position intersect with others?
• Who are key stakeholders, and what is the nature of the relationship with this position?

Four: Metrics used to Evaluate Performance

• Measurement must be meaningful
• Production
• Quality
• Compliance
• Customer satisfaction
• Financial
• Employee Satisfaction/retention

Learn Even More About ‘How to Write a Job Description’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

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• Click through to Related Topics:
  • How to Conduct a Job Interview
  • ABC’s of Performance Management
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss: Be a Better Boss

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OK – we’ve all done it.  Decided to do something ourselves because its easier and faster than holding the appropriate person to account.  Maybe you’ve even done it with your children.  Micro-managing – the gift that keeps on destroying.

Every manager has been warned against this, so let’s look at why it happens, given the most common excuses most managers give for doing so:

It’s faster to do it myself.  It probably is faster… the first time.  But if you look at the amount of time it will take you to teach or correct someone else in the execution of a task, versus the amount of time it will take you to do it on an ongoing basis, the answer is clear.

I can do it better. You probably can… for a while.  However, if you insist on doing every individual task yourself, you will become quickly overwhelmed, and will end up doing some (high) proportion of those tasks poorly.

My people aren’t capable. If this is the case for any amount of time, you are clearly not doing your job as a manager.  It is your job to develop people.  Occasionally you truly don’t have the right talent, in which case you have to make changes to your talent bench.

I need to keep close to the details. Actually, you probably don’t.  As a manager, it is not your job to be expert at everything.  It’s your job to create experts, and be able to ask some semi-intelligent questions of them.

If I don’t do all these tasks, I won’t be useful anymore. Listen to yourself.  If you’re that insecure in your role as a leader, you need to examine whether you should be in a management role at all.

The bottom line is that micro-managers sap the productivity out of organizations by failing to capture the discretionary effort of their employees.  They don’t develop people, which is a primary function of a leader.  They also limit their own career mobility by trying to make themselves indispensible in the role they are in.

Micro-management is a self-destructive behaviour, and a great way to get fired.  Then you’ll have lot’s of time.

Apparently the most recent flavour of the month is the Results-Oriented Work Environment or ROWE for those who prefer to only work with acronyms.  It a great name because how could anyone not want a more results-oriented work place?  Some of its detractors call it something different – anarchy.  I would probably call it self-employment.

ROWE, in its most current incarnation, was pioneered at Best Buy, and is in use at other high profile companies such as IBM and Netflix.  The theory is a simple one:  employees set their own time, schedules, and work methods, and are instead measured on the output of what they produce.  In theory, it sounds like an excellent idea, and in certain cases it could probably work very well.

I can think of a two situations where it really wouldn’t work:

1. It can’t work where there’s a high degree of inter-dependence with other stakeholders.  As a refugee of the Retail Food Industry, I can say without reservation that it would be a disaster if employees wrote their own schedule.  As great as it would be for the bulk of employees to work banker’s hours, it would get pretty frustrating for customers who predominantly shop at nights and on weekends.
2. It can’t work in situations where it is difficult to measure the output of employee effort.  If there is any degree of variation in work processes, then the measurement thereby becomes very difficult.  For example, any profession with case-work (lawyers, social workers, insurance etc.) are inherently difficult to measure.  Some cases may be easily wrapped up in a few minutes, while others may require weeks of research and follow up.

I know we’re all supposed to buy-in to the myth that any and all things are measurable, but the luxury of believing that falls only to academics who have never had to actually measure anything.  Ask a professor how to measure teaching effectiveness, and watch her face as she looks like your dog when you pretend to throw the ball and then hide it behind your back.

The second group of people who insist that all things are measureable are management consultants – who, (for the low cost of $5000/day plus expenses) are more than willing to help you measure everything in your business.  Unlike the professors, these folks don’t believe it, but they make good money convincing organizations to try it.

Should you try to better focus your organization on results?  Yes – that’s your job as a manager.

Should you impose measurement systems on everything?  Maybe – it depends on your business, and how meaningful you can make your metrics.  Where possible, you should measure and evaluate people mostly on their output.

Should you set people loose and tell them as long as they produce X widgets in a given week, they can do whatever they want?  I think that’s a recipe for disaster for employee morale, risk management, and true accountability.

Of course, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong (with thanks to Dennis Miller).

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Symptoms of Micro-Managers:

• Highly Controlling – wants to oversee every aspect of the work
• Power-Hungry – enjoys “flexing muscles” to ensure everyone knows s/he is the boss
• Makes all the decisions – no matter how minor

Why are They Like This?

• Insecurity – may be unsure of their own ability in the job
• Power-crazed – may use their position to feel self-important
• Perfectionist – may need every aspect of the job to be as close to perfect as possible
• Not a Leader – may have been a great individual contributor, but has moved to a leadership role without requisite training

What Can I Do About It?

1. Upward Manage

• Schedule and structure one on one meeting times with your boss
• Determine what is most important to him/her, and contribute to those priorities
• Talk about what you plan to do in the coming week, and get feedback in advance
• Don’t ever surprise your boss

2. Get a Performance Agreement

• Define boundaries of authority.
• Agree on a work plan that defines outcomes and methods
• Agree on the top 3 – 7 priorities
• Link your performance goals clearly to your bosses goals

3. Learn to Say “No”

• Always say “Yes” before saying “No”
• Acknowledge their position as the boss
• Refer to your Performance Agreement
• If you think a request is unreasonable, try to negotiate.  Educate him/her as to the nature of the request
• Describe the impact a request may have on you without complaining
• Carefully manage your tone

Learn Even More About ‘My Boss is a Micro Manager’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

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  • Help! I’m a Micro Manager
  • How to Manage Up Without Brown Nosing
  • Top 10 Manager Challenges: Part A (Managing Conflict)

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What do you do if you work for a micromanager?

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At the risk of coming across like The Cranky Middle-Manager, I have a couple of grievances to air on how people interact with each other in the workplace.  It seems that people claiming that they work in a “toxic environment” is all the rage as of late.  In a minimum of cases, this may be truth, but in far more circumstances, it seems as though anytime someone doesn’t smile at you at the water cooler, you’re entitled to claim a horrible work situation.

The truth is that anytime you are in a workplace of more than one person, there are going to be disagreements and compromises.  And contrary to much of the hype you read in the popular media, sometimes work will be a drag.  To quote Jed’s dad, “If it was supposed to be fun, they wouldn’t call it work.”

I believe the root cause of this problem, is most people’s incompetence in dealing with conflict.  Many people believe that conflict is bad, when in fact it is neither good nor bad, but merely exists.  People’s response to conflict can make the situation bad.

Some people respond to conflict by becoming aggressive and overbearing.  Others choose to avoid conflict like it was a toilet seat at the bus station.  Both responses are destructive and will not improve or resolve whatever situation has caused the conflict to emerge.

Interestingly, in my experience I see the most common response to conflict to be one of either avoiding or yielding.  Both are poor responses to conflict in almost all cases.  If you are inclined to respond to conflict in this way, it is time to grow a pair and act like an adult.  Issues need to be confronted and dealt with.

It doesn’t mean you are always going to get your way, but at the very least you will have some confidence that you have attempted to constructively resolve workplace conflict, rather than letting it get pushed underground to fester.

I found this clip on YouTube that is a hilarious/sad commentary on many workplaces.  Happy Viewing.

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Before You Fire

• Have you done everything reasonably possible to have the employee succeed?
• Has the employee been warned that their poor behavior or performance will lead to termination if not corrected?  Are these warnings in writing?
• Consult with your legal council and HR to determine whether the termination is ‘with just cause’ or ‘without just cause’
• In cases of ‘with cause’ have you completed an investigation and got the employees side of the story?
• With the help of Legal or HR prepare the letter or ‘separation agreement’

Be Respectful

• Have the conversation as soon as possible after making the decision to terminate
• Select neutral territory, preferably where you can be as discreet as possible
• Plan to allow the employee to depart with as much dignity as possible
• Provide appropriate transitional support

Doing the Deed

• Have someone with you to witness the conversation, preferably HR or another manager
• Keep the discussion quick and to the point
• Don’t defend or debate the decision

Learn Even More About ‘You’re Fired! How to Fire an Employee’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

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• Click through to Related Topics:
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • Difficult Conversations: You Smell and People Don’t Like You
  • ABC’s of Performance Management
  • Handling Emotional Behavior
  • Top 10 Manager Challenges: Part A (Managing Conflict)
  • How to Manage Conflict

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Learn how to fire an employee in a way that preserves the dignity of everyone involved.  Find out what to do to get ready, and exactly how to do the deed.

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You're Fired Podcast Slides

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People do what gets reinforced (this is both a good news and a bad news story)!  Here’s how you can use consequences to manage performance.

The ABC’s of Performance Management

For more information, take a look at ‘Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement’, by Aubrey C. Daniels

Activator (or antecedent)

• Something that comes before a behaviour or activity which sets the occasion for that behaviour
• Most often over-used by managers
• Have only short-term effects
• Cause a behaviour to happen a limited number of times
• Must be paired with a consequence to be effective

Behavior

• What a person does
• Performance
• Action
• Event
• Decision

Consequences

• The result of a behavior
• A response to an action
• What is said or done about someone’s work or an activity
• An event that occurs after a given behavior
• What happens to the performer as a result of the given behavior

Leaders often overuse activators and underuse consequences.

Types of Consequences

There are four types of consequences:

• Positive reinforcement – Makes me feel good about something I’ve done
• Negative reinforcement – I do something because it will allow me to avoid something negative
• Punishment – Makes me feel bad about something I’ve done
• Extinction – Being ignored for something I’ve done

Positive and negative reinforcement are consequences that will increase behavior, while punishment and extinction are consequences that will decrease behavior.

Consequences That Drive Performance

Consequences can be:

• Positive  OR Negative
• Immediate  OR Future
• Certain  OR Uncertain

The consequences that will drive performance are positive, immediate, and certain.

Learn Even More About ‘ABC’s of Performance Management’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

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• Click through to Related Topics:
  • How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss: Be a Better Boss
  • Difficult Conversations: You Smell and People Don’t Like You
  • The One on One Meeting
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • The Performance Pie
  • Giving Quality Feedback
  • You’re Fired! How to Fire an Employee
  • The Situational Leadership Model

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Far smarter people than me have written about what is required for effective leadership, but this week I have been reflecting upon the most necessary ingredient:  courage.

I have had the pleasure of interacting with many leaders of varying quality over many years, and all of them have at least a few obvious strengths, but the common denominator in the truly outstanding leaders, are those who handle awkward, difficult or downright scary situations head-on.  They don’t always get it right the first time, but the outstanding leader does not back down because she fears reprisal from her boss, peers, direct reports or some other stakeholder.

It is amazing how many people have a strong need to liked by those who report through to them.  The relationship between a boss and his/her employees should always be respectful, but it does not need to be friendly.  Many leaders hate to deliver bad news, or say “no” to people.  Other leaders won’t deal with performance issues because it might involve a difficult conversation, or let an employee who should have been fired years ago get away with perpetual sub-par performance.

This is exquisite BS.

It is a form of dishonesty, and certainly demonstrates a lack of integrity when leaders fail to engage in difficult conversations.  Progressive organizations have figured this out, and gotten rid of managers who are afraid to get rid of people.

The right thing to do is rarely the easy thing to do, but it is the burden of leadership.  If you are too chicken$hit to do the right thing, then you should either grow a pair, or wait to be fired.  The choice is yours

One of my favourite work assignments was a project based in Philadelphia that was a joint venture between an American Company and a British one.  One would think the similarities between these two countries would keep cross-cultural issues to a minimum, but as anyone who has worked in both countries will tell you, the differences are more than merely adjusting to funny accents.

One of the first wrinkles that needed to ironed out was the fact that Americans take about 3 weeks vacation a year in increments of no longer than 5 days, and their British counterparts have two or three times that holiday entitlement.

While the Brits would jet off to Southern Europe for 3 weeks at a time during the summer, the Americans would be at the office working the same excessive hours as always.  Interestingly, the productivity of the two groups was about the same.

This got me to thinking about how we work in North America, and how much of the time we are pretending to work.  Lots of people will take offence to the notion that they are not really working, but in reality the bulk of the work at many organizations takes place in just a few weeks per year.

January through May are good production months, except for a few days around Easter and Spring Break.  June through August, many people are not at work at all, and those that are working show up, but really have one eye to the outdoors and their next BBQ.  September and October are usually about budgeting and planning, and while some will argue they are critical to the business, it distracts from the actual running of the business, and often adds far less value than it costs in time and effort.  Finally November and December work gets done, but with the distractions of Christmas and (for the Americans) Thanksgiving.

So as a manager, how do you reconcile that the few people that do show up in July and August are probably just pretending to work?  You don’t.  It’s part of the deal, and most organizations don’t fall apart as a result.  The real question to ask is whether the work being done the rest of the year, when the entire staff complement is in place and working at capacity has any value.

Anyway, I better take a quick lap around the office floor (holding a piece of paper, and walking quickly) so as to maintain the appearance of work, before someone figures out I’m part of the masses pretending to work during the summer months.

Something happens in an airport or on an airplane every few months that makes us collectively lose our minds.  In the past year, restrictions have been put on air travelers that are only slightly less obtrusive than being bound in straight-jacket while in transit.

At any given time there are literally hundreds of thousands of people in the air.  Of all of those people, some tiny fraction of one percent want to do harm.  Regardless of how small that deviant population is, all air travelers are subject to slow, invasive, and somewhat ineffective security measures.

Many workplaces manage their employees the same way.  They put restrictive policies in place to thwart the occasional employee that may abuse a corporate directive.  One example was a client of ours who had a proposal to put people on a per diem expense when they were travelling, and thus eliminating the need for the collection and auditing of hundreds of $10 lunch receipts.

Ultimately the proposal was turned down because there was some history of one or two employees abusing their expense accounts.  Rather than properly discipline the offending employees, it was decided to stack policy on top of policy to eliminate any chance anyone could abuse their expense account.

In the process, they created an abundance of unnecessary work for countless employees, cost the shareholders more in compliance-related costs, damaged any atmosphere of trust in the organization, and ultimately didn’t stop dishonest employees from taking advantage of the situation.  Not a very smart decision.

In the airports, we don’t have much choice; in the workplace we do.  Managers need to be accountable for managing.  If an employee behaves poorly, then address the behavior – don’t write a policy.  In the example above, the offending employees should have been fired.  They then could have instituted an expense allowance that is easier to administer and saves everyone time and money.

I can already hear the HR and Finance people objecting, but at some point pragmatic common sense must prevail.

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As a manager, you should delegate because:

• It helps develop other people’s skills and abilities
• It frees you up to do the work that only you can/should do
• It makes good business sense

Why do many managers not delegate?

• Delegating takes some up-front work so it seems easier to just do it yourself
• Some managers are control freaks
• Some managers see it as asking for help which they perceive as weak
• Some managers feel badly about passing on their work to others

What managers should delegate:

• Tasks that someone else could do
• Tasks that would contribute to building your team
• Tasks that are organizationally appropriate to delegate

Use the Wily Manager Delegation Worksheet to list and plan potential tasks and duties that you could delegate.

How to delegate:

Consider the Context

• What is the work you are delegating?
• Why are you delegating this work?
• How is this work important to the bigger picture?

Clarify

• Clarify the desired outcomes and expectations
• Clarify constraints, boundaries, and resources

Create

• Where possible, empower the individual to contribute their ideas as to how the work will get done
• Create the plan together

Commit

• Get commitment and alignment to specific timelines, due dates, reviews, follow up meetings, measures of success etc.

Close

• Wrap it up and express support and confidence in the individual

Learn Even More About ‘Delegation’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

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• Click through to Related Topics:
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss: Be a Better Boss
  • Top 10 Manager Challenges: Part B (Managing Stress)
  • How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert
  • Time and Priority Management
  • High Impact Development
  • Help! I’m a Micro Manager
  • The von Manstein Matrix
  • The Situational Leadership Model

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As a manager, you SHOULD delegate!  In this podcast you will learn:

• Why managers don’t delegate
• Why you should delegate
• What you should delegate
• How to delegate

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Delegation Podcast Slides

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Learn how to create a team charter that establishes both WHAT a team needs to achieve and HOW the team is going to do this.

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Team Charter Podcast Slides

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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.

So… following a title like the above, I should probably fully disclose before going any further:  I have worked in HR, and have done a fair bit of consulting work with HR Business Areas.

Unlike the title may imply, I have met a number of smart, hardworking people in HR.  Like any other category of people, there are good, bad and ugly performers in HR.

So why would I suggest that HR probably sucks in your organization?

In many cases, it is because organizations don’t really know what it is that they should be asking HR to do for them, and HR professionals are notoriously poor at “selling” their wares.  Many companies want HR to administer the payroll, and arrange the Christmas party.  They then staff the HR group with people who are capable of doing those tasks, but do not have the experience or training to make a more strategic contribution to the business.

So, what should we look for in our HR department?

1. “People Persons” are often the last people you should have in HR.  A good HR person knows that her job is to generate returns for shareholders.  The respectful treatment of people is a prerequisite to consistently generating those returns, but many “people persons” forget that some of their people may regularly need a kick in the ass.
2. Your HR people need to have business training. I’m not suggesting you insist every one of them go out and get an MBA, but they need to have some understanding of the business you are in, and how it works.
3. You need high potential, high achievers in HR.  I have worked with more than one organization that has used HR as a ghetto for people who could not make it in the operating part of the business.  These organizations have taken the easy way out, and put these poor performers where they perceive they can do the least amount of damage – in HR.  This is the opposite of what should be happening – your highest potential leaders should be cycled through HR.
4. HR people need have well developed skills in sales and influencing.  The best managed companies know that the management of the Human Resource is NOT the responsibility of HR, but rather of every leader in the organization.  HR’s job is to influence those managers to do it well.  An HR professional, without the ability to influence organizational leaders is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Of course, I could go on and on, but I better get back to work before I get caught, and someone wants to send me to work in the HR group.  So now that I’ve offended every person who has ever known anyone in HR, I’d love to hear what you think about the HR group in your organization:  Are they good?  Are they bad?  Are they the highest potential employees?

It has been said that populations get the governments they deserve.  In organizations, we end up with the HR departments we deserve.

There hasn’t been a fall from grace like this since the OJ trial.  Ok… maybe this recent Tiger Woods thing, or the fact that people set the expectations for Barack Obama way too high could be close seconds, but the fact that Toyota isn’t absolutely perfect seems to be disturbing a lot of people.

Toyota is a well run company – despite their recent setbacks.  What separates well run organizations from those not so well run is the ability to respond to challenges, not the absence of any troubles.

I have no doubt the marketing people at Toyota are freaking out, but they do have some credibility they can spend on this issue.  What they shouldn’t do, is announce to the world there isn’t really a problem, and carry on with business as usual.  This is the corporate equivalent of OJ going out on his own to look for the “real” killer.

Toyota needs to step-up, acknowledge what went wrong, tell everyone how they intend to fix it, and then get back to completely dominating the global automobile industry.  Too much spin, and they’ll lose even more credibility.

And while we’re talking about supposedly world class companies, can we have a reality check?  I have studied and held up organizations like Southwest Airlines, General Electric, and Disney myself as examples for managers to look to.  In many cases I would stand by this advice.  However, we need to realize that even the best run entities are not going to do everything right all the time.  In fact, it is probably closer to the truth that these companies really only do things right marginally more than every other organization out there.

Don’t get me wrong… much like I find President Obama to be an impressive guy, watching people’s unrealistic expectations of him be constantly deflated, people need to look to the Toyotas of the world in the proper context.  They are not perfect, and they will make mistakes.  They also can’t be all things to all people.

I bought Southwest Airlines stock about 8 years ago, because they were such an impressive company.  So impressive, that I would lose my shirt if I sold those same stocks today.  I also bought Southwest stock before ever flying with them.  I have no doubt they serve their niche well – I’m just clearly not one of their target customers: “What do you mean you won’t assign me a seat?”

Leaders in big organizations and small should watch Toyota very carefully in the coming weeks and months.  They will either come through this stronger than ever, or crash and burn horribly.  Either way it will be instructive.

How do you think this will end?  Will Toyota recover like Tylenol did after the poisonings, or will Mr. Toyota end up driving down an LA freeway with a gun to his head?

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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.

• 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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Get our Management Cheat Sheet Collection. Of course, it’s FREE.  Become a member and learn even more about RACI Responsibility Charting!

What is a RACI Responsibility Chart?

RACI is an acronym for the four major headings in a responsibility chart:

• Responsible – this position does the work to ensure that the action is completed
• Accountable – this position is ultimately responsible for ensuring completion of a function, activity or decision, but may delegate responsibility to another. Only one position should be accountable for every action or decision
• Consulted – This position is involved prior to a decision or action taking place
• Informed – This position is told of an outcome of an activity or decision afterwards

RACI Responsibility Charting Guidelines

• Focus on the position, not on the individual currently occupying the position
• Ensure the level of detail is appropriate to the positions on the RACI Responsibility Chart. Organizations should have cascading RACIs from the senior team down to the individual contributor level
• The RACI Responsibility Chart should be revisited and tested regularly as business conditions change
• The first RACI Responsibility Chart will be an iterative process, and may not 100% accurate at first. Further refinement is encouraged
• Place accountability (A) and responsibility (R) at the lowest feasible level
• There can be only one accountability (A) per activity
• Minimize the number of Consults (C) and Informs (I)
• Avoid listing mundane activities like ‘attend meetings’

Horizontal & Vertical Analysis of a RACI Responsibility Chart

Once the RACI responsibility chart has been populated, it is important to review and analyze the work to ensure that the tasks, decisions and functions will be properly executed. View the chart horizontally to ensure that each action or decision is properly supported. View the chart vertically to ensure that workload is properly distributed amongst a team or work group.

Using a RACI Responsibility Chart to enhance or validate job descriptions

After a RACI has been conducted with a group, it is wise to cross-check the data on the RACI responsibility chart with what is written in the job description. In some cases, items from the job description should be noted on the RACI. responsibility chart. Most often Accountabilities and Responsibilities from the RACI responsibility chart are used to update job descriptions.

Using a RACI Responsibility Chart to enhance KPIs or Scorecards

A good use of the output of a RACI responsibility chart is to note what KPIs, data and other management information is required for an incumbent to successfully execute his or her accountabilities and responsibilities. In many cases the RACI responsibility chart can provide a solid guide as to what should be on a scorecard for the positions featured in the RACI chart.

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The RACI Responsibility Charting topic bundle includes:

• RACI Responsibility Charting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• RACI Responsibility Charting Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • RACI Horizontal and Vertical Analysis Check-Sheet
  • RACI Job Description Template
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about RACI Responsibility Charting

• RACI Responsibility Charting Example from the Oil and Gas Industry (Excel)
• RACI Responsibility Charting Presentation – use this if you want to roll it out in your organization (Powerpoint)
• Easy-print versions of the Wily Manager Tools contained in the RACI Responsibility Charting Booklet (pdf)
• RACI Responsibility Charting Podcast (mp3)
• RACI Responsibility Charting Podcast slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘RACI Responsibility Charting’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!

What is RACI? Learn how to create a responsibility chart (matrix) using RACI…and how to use it once you’re done.

Listen to the ‘RACI Responsibility Charting’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

RACI Responsibility Charting Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘RACI – Creating a Responsibility Chart’ Cheat Sheet

Stop wasting time in meetings. Learn the four key points to effective meetings.

Watch the ‘Meeting Effectiveness’ video (26 mins 38 sec):

Download the ‘Meeting Effectiveness’ Video (mp4)

Download the ‘Meeting Effectiveness’ Audio (mp3)

Meeting Effectiveness Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Effective Meetings’ Cheat Sheet

How do you create an effective communications plan?

Listen to the ‘Communications Planning’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Communication Planning Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘How to Build a Communication Plan’ Cheat Sheet

Why we like this book:

Jim Collins always writes his books based on quality research as opposed to the cheerleading that we see in many management books. He also has a very conversational tone, which makes it very easy to read and retain his key ideas. How the Mighty Fall is not a book about the Global Financial Collapse, although its timing was almost perfect, and the lessons to be learned from the book and the research certainly may have helped some of the organizations. Probably those who need to read this book most are those that are running companies (or departments within companies) that are doing particularly well. As Collins points out, organizations that convince themselves they are doing very well often self-delude themselves into ignoring blind spots that become all too evident after the fact.

We think this is an easy, informative read, and worth the time to do so. What about you – what do you think?

Jed & Bob

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You should never hesitate to initiate a communication plan even if you are a lower-level manager.  Think about it – if your organization is undergoing a significant change but has not communicated it well, you can still create a communication plan for your direct reports so that they have a better idea of what is going on.

The techniques of effective communication are not difficult, but require discipline to execute.  A written communication plan will assist in establishing and maintaining the required discipline.  In some cases, a communications plan can be written on one sheet of paper.  In other circumstances, the plan may be significantly longer.

This topic bundle is intended to assist managers when they have a specific event or decision to communicate.  Ongoing communication between organizations and employees is better covered in the Communicating for Results Cheat Sheet (coming soon).

Elements of a Good Communication Plan:

1. Guiding Principles – What are the parameters under which this communication will take place?
2. Context – What events or conditions staged the necessity for this communication?  What definitions and terms of reference are there?
3. Purpose or Objectives – What is the communication intended to achieve?
4. Risk Analysis – What could go wrong with this communication?  What happens if you don’t do it?
5. Stakeholders Analysis – Who are all concerned parties, and what is the importance of each of them?
6. Targeting – How will you most effectively reach each stakeholder?
7. Media – What is the most effective method of communication for each stakeholder?
8. Budget – What budgetary and other resources will be required to effectively roll out the message?
9. Assessment – How will you know if the communicationsplan has been successful?

Tips to build an effective communication plan:

• Consider an effective communication campaign to be very similar to a marketing initiative.
• Use electronic media such as email and website.  These are usually inexpensive, and can be highly effective
• Always target your audience properly, and remember that the same message can be communicated differently to different target groups
• Only ask people for their opinions or feedback if you are prepared to consider their input
• Prepare an ‘elevator speech’ for what you are communicating.  Be prepared to condense your message into small, easy to understand segments
• When soliciting feedback or two-way communication, ensure there is media available to support this.  It is not enough to say, “We’d like to hear from you”; there must be infrastructure in place to gather opinions
• Be very clear on exactly what action, or change in behaviors the communication is intended to address

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The How to Build a Communication Plan topic bundle includes:

• How to Build a Communication Plan Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• How to Build a Communication Plan Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • When to Create a Communication Plan
  • 9 Critical Elements of a Communication Plan
  • Communication Plan Template
  • Example of a Communication Plan for an Organizational Change
  • Media Decision Worksheet
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about How to Build a Communication Plan

• Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the How to Build a Communication Plan Booklet (pdf)
• How to Build a Communication Plan Podcast (mp3)
• How to Build a Communication Plan Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘How to Build a Communication Plan’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!

Get our Management Cheat Sheet Collection. Of course, it’s FREE.

How much time do you waste…I mean spend…in meetings every week? Meeting effectiveness is a critical leadership issue that needs improvement in just about all organizations.

• Have a defined purpose and clear objectives with a written agenda
• Members have prepared in advance and are engaged
• Balance of discipline, flexibility, diplomacy and determination
• Members have defined roles and respect established ground rules
• Efficient, result focused, and ultimately save time and effort
• Result in a series of tangible action items
• Capture insights and enthusiasm
• Motivate people to specific action
• Efficient and result focused
• Are documented and summarized with commitments well understood

On the other hand, ineffective meetings look like this:

• Lack participation
• Dominating leader or member, unbalanced involvement
• People don’t listen to each other
• Stays off track too long
• Inefficient, results unclear
• Ideas and different views are criticized or squelched
• Action assignments and outcomes are not clear

There are four steps you need to follow to make sure that your next meeting is effective. Here’s a brief introduction to the four steps:

Step 1 – Prepare

• Ensure the purpose of the meeting is well understood. Ask what would happen if this meeting did not take place.
• Prepare the agenda in advance.
• Ensure that the desired outcomes of the meeting are articulated in advance.
• Make sure all the participants are prepared in advance.

Step 2 – Communicate

• Inform all participants well in advance of the details of the meeting; the purpose and outcomes; and, preparation required.
• Circulate agenda in advance, as well as any other reading material

Step 3 – Control

• Start on time
• Review ground rules and assign roles
• Use a “Parking Lot” to keep on the agenda

Step 4 – Document and Follow-up

 
• Record main discussion points and decisions for future reference. This list becomes your meeting minutes.
• Clarify actions and assign names and deadlines to them.

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Get the Effective Meetings files here

The Effective Meetings topic bundle includes:

• Effective Meetings Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Effective Meetings Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • How to Get a Meeting Back on Track
  • Role Definitions for Effective Meetings
  • Effective Meeting Preparation Checklist
  • Worksheet for Effective Meetings
  • Meeting Rating Form
  • Types of Meetings and Tips for Success
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about Effective Meetings

• Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the Effective Meetings Booklet (pdf)
• Effective Meetings Podcast (mp3)
• Effective Meetings Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘Effective Meetings’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!