As people and people who create organizational-systems of work Managerial-Accountability-Hierarchies purpose and the Goal means very much to us. So much that if the goal is not explained to us and we make choices, we will create the goal to match the choices we made. Creating purpose out of the work we did, because nothing is more demotivating than thinking all of our hard work was for naught.

You’ve experienced this before, you decide to take on a task that was poorly delegated by your manager. Your working hard, because that’s what you do, an obstacle happens and you must make a choice. You decide, then your manager shows up and says “No, No, No this is all wrong I wanted _____ and _____.” This could have been avoided. In the beginning if you knew the goal and when you hit the obstacle, the choice you might have made would have been clearer, because you would know what the goal is.

What to do.

Phrase the goal in a way that everyone understands, use language that is concrete and known by the people who are tasked with completing the goal.

• Be specific about what the outcome will be (the Goal)…
• Allow people to make choices within the path the complete the goal. BUT they have to know the goal or objective in order to make choices along the path.
• Manage and work with people to determine a measurement for success/progress and failure/regress on their path to complete the goal.
• Coach people to develop better ways to make choices and learn from what they are doing.
• Supply the necessary resources needed
• Develop the necessary follow-up and check-in procedures

Much of this will be dependent upon the role the person is in and their ability to handle the complexity of the goal. For example a person who can only handle a project goal for 1 month of less, will never magically be able to complete a goal that should take 1 year or more.

If you, as a manager, are finding that people are not achieving the goals and there is a clear understanding from both parties what the goal is. Then you need to revisit the time-span on the goal. Perhaps create shorter tasks within the goal for the person to achieve.  

What do you think?

Do you have a story of when you were convinced you were on the right path only to have your manager tell you, you were totally wrong?

When faced with a challenge, how do you know you are making the right choice?

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Defining the goals of an organization and how your role contributes to that goal is tough and necessary.

Tough because as managers we think that everyone just knows…and sometimes we are not even all that sure ourselves.

Necessary because the decisions people make when faced with challenges and workplace complexity, are based upon the organizational goals.

You…make millions of choices a day about your work, all these choices are based upon what you think the goal of the company is, and how you think your work contributes to this goal.

This is why is must be made clear and consistent in words and action.

Next time you have your team together ask them;

1. What is the goal of this company? What are we in business for?
2. How does your work directly contribute to this goal?

Ask, then listen.

Depending upon what you hear you can educate, coach and inform the team as necessary.

What do you think?

Are the over-arching goals of your company really important to your day to day work?

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When you are working and following the path to complete your task and an obstacle to your progress happens, how you navigate around that obstacle is what you are paid for.

You are not paid to follow a rote path, A machine can do that

At a coffee shop to meet a coaching client, arrived early to drink some coffee read some emails and prepare.

Order coffee & sesame bagel toasted with butter, sit to eat. Open my iPad and cannot get on the internet.

I’ve been to this coffee shop many time before and never had a problem. I try again nothing…

Walk up to the cashier (at this place they always act like they just woke up and your question is weird, and I kind of like that) and ask, “Is there some sort of trick to the wifi I cannot connect?”

She stares at me, vacantly…I ask again, “The internet I cannot connect, usually I have no problem, this morning it’s not working.”

Her, “Yeah we’re having problems with that.”

Me, “So, anything you can do?”

Her avoiding eye contact, “No”

Me, “Is there anyone here who can?”

Her, “We have been having problems and most people just wait and sometimes it fixes itself.”

Me, “Alright then, it will fix itself you say, thank you.” I walk away…

You might be thinking Mike it’s a coffee shop and you don’t need the internet. Yes, and this apathetic behavior is endemic of your work also.

Right now someone that you manage or your manager is telling someone “Yeah we’re having problems with that.”  NOT offering a solution, an alternative, an attempted solution.

You are paid to make decisions and solve problems

When you are working and following the path to complete your task and an obstacle to your progress happens, how you navigate around that obstacle is what you are paid for.

You are not paid to follow a rote path, A machine can do that

What do you think?

When does your accountability to solve problems stop and your managers begins? What about your work requires you to make decisions and solve problems, how do you measure that?

michael cardus is create-learning

image by LaPrimaDonna

All of us and our companies are in constant change, and we know this. Different people need different levels of information and motivation for the change to happen. As a manager YOU NEED the wisdom and ability to manage the process and add value to peoples decisions and work.

Contact Mike to make your Organization, Team and Leaders – plan for change better.

Planning a Change

When planning for a change you need reflective and purposeful steps. This change may be personal and or professional.

By setting a model for you to place objective thoughts into. As a leader you will be better equipped to determine areas of success and which areas to proceed into next with planning and decisions.

• I don’t know the original source of this model.

Below are questions (by no means comprehensive) that will serve you in thinking through, planning, and making successful action steps for a change.

Planning a Change Question Sheet

Vision

• What is the purpose?
• Who will it affect? How?
• Why is it important to your team? The organization/business/community?
• What made you decide that this is important?
• Did you ask your team for input? If so how and what was their input? If not, why not?
• How will this change affect the staff? Those you serve (clients, customers, vendors, suppliers, supervisor(s), etc…)? You as a leader?
• Describe the ideal state…Describe the current state…How will you achieve the ideal state?

Skills

• In what ways might the staff and your existing skill set be useful for the change?
• What new skills will be needed?
• How will you accomplish training these new skills?
• Explain, in detail the necessary skill set for completion of change (if multiple people have/need multiple skills, list the key responsibilities of the change and the necessary skill sets for success)
• What skills will you as leader(s) need for implementation of the vision?
• How can the Leadership team partner with you to enable completion?

Incentives

 Explain your plan to move your team and yourself towards completion of this change

• Why should we work towards this change?
• How is this change relevant? Now? In the future?
• Identify the resistors to the change.
• Identify the champions of the change. 
• What will keep you, as the leader motivated?
• How will you continue to keep the team focused?
• How will you measure success and failure?
• What steps will you take to reward success and re-direct unmotivated team members?

Resources

Explain what you have and what you need

• What kind of budget will be available?
• How much time is needed?
• Explain how this change will be delegated to staff members.
• What will be the steps for follow-up and accountability?
• What resource do you currently have available (list everything from paperwork to people to machines to policies – the more explicit you are in what you have the better your completion will be)
• What resources will you need (list everything from paperwork to people to machines to policies – the more explicit you are in what you need the better your completion will be)
• In what ways may you secure these needs?

Action Plan

Explain in detail what you are going to do and how it will get done

• Re-visit your Vision – and break the change into steps.
• What are the steps for completion?
• Goal (Quality, Quantity, Time Frame, Resources) – What is the 1^st step for completion?
• Strategy – In what ways might you implement a strategy for completion of the 1^st step?
• Objective – How will you know that you have completed the 1^st step?
• Responsibility – Who’s going to accomplish the objective?
• Timeline – When is the implementer going to accomplish that objective?
• Feedback and Evaluation – Who and how is the implementer going to know if they accomplished good or bad work on their objective?

Final Thoughts:

• How do you plan for a change?
• What existing processes do you / team / organization have in place for reflective thought?
• Would this system work for plans outside of change? what would be different?
• Describe how this applies to your current practice / life?

Having the Model is Easy, Making Change Happen is NOT…

I have successfully led change and solution focused efforts for organizations, teams and managers of all sizes and structures. To make change happen CLICK THE BOX below, and be the reason that change is successful and people love the work they do.

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Sitting in the office of the Dean of Students for a High School, talking about a Scholastic-Leadership program I am leading with the Administration, Faculty and students, he said “Mike we need to return, for lack of a better word, back to basics.” He said this almost apologetically.

That made me wonder –

What is so wrong with going back to basics?

People fear the that as they become managerial-leaders the idea of ‘The-Basics’ is something they should have already established.

But you see time and time again…that these basics are horribly described and defined within the organizational structure.

For example Goal-Setting, you cannot get more basic than that. Companies and individuals collectively spend millions of dollars a year on Goal-Setting tools, training, coaching, development, etc… Plus which basic Goal-Setting is the ‘basics’ of that organization? Perhaps your manager uses SMART while my manager uses QQT/R while the CEO was trained in some other method.  Just google goal setting method and you get over 13million results.

Like Elliot Jaques wrote in Requisite Organization

In this conceptual Babel, our field is like alchemy in the 15th and 16th centuries. Our gimmicks are like the search for the philosopher’s stone which would change dross to gold.

 What’s the point?

My point is that we need to focus on defining what the basics are. When we identify what they are, create a shared organizational knowledge base of training, coaching, and access to these basics. Then actually use these basics as they are intended to be used.

My argument is that instead of going ‘Back-to-Basics’ we need to ‘Define what the basics are’ then we can get back to them.

Most organizations, managers and employees don’t even know the basics you are talking about, so they have no idea how to get there.

What do you think?

How do you define ‘Basics’ of your organization, teams and management? When some-one says “We have to get back to basics here.” Do you know what that means? Really? How might you create solutions to the problem outlined above?

michael cardus is create-learning

image By JD Hancock

• Click on the image to enlarge.

This image above explores the differences between an Organizational Structure that has NO managerial-leadership coaching and an Organizational Structure WITH managerial-leadership coaching.

The image on the right reflects the ‘Cascade-of-Planning’ model or in Lean Manufacturing the Hoshin Kanri used in the Toyota Production System. The difference is where the manager and subordinate interact.

WITH OUT Coaching

• Interaction happens in limited time-frames and generally only when something goes wrong.
• Accountability is forced down the hierarchy and the idea of failure, development and growth is often frowned upon.
• Management is quick to blame employees and see the ‘people as broken’.

With Coaching

• Interaction is regular and expected, once the manager is accountable for the output of the subordinate, then give-and-take must happen in task delegation and work being accomplished.
• Accountability is on the Manager to ensure that subordinates are working to their effectiveness. Improvement in decision making and problem solving leads to improved innovation and work of the team.
• Management is able to examine the process-system that the work is being done in and determine what is stopping this person from doing their best.

What do you think?

Is this point of interaction amongst management and employee important? Have you ever had a manager who was great at coaching you to add value to your work?

Interested in enhancing and developing a Managerial Coaching Process within your organization and team? Looking to improve your existing managers coaching skills? Click the Box Below.

michael cardus is create-learning

Inspired by Toyota Kata