Hiring the Right People
March 8, 2015
DESIGNING EMPLOYEE REWARD PROGRAMS
March 10, 2015
Focus and Edit
Most bureaucracies with more than two levels of management consistently suffer from having too much to do, and too many people wanting to do too many things.
I once had a boss who had three simple rules for his subordinates framed on his wall:
Rule #1 – Make your boss happy.
Rule #2 – Read rule #1 again.
Rule #3 – Do what you want to do.
These three rules served as a constant reminder that no matter what an employee feels is important, what the boss wants is always more important.
Though I feel that in most organizations the manager-employee relationship works this way, the critical factor is the amount of control the boss wants or needs to have. The more control, the less of rule #3 the employee gets to do.
If you remember, one of the major premises of my management philosophy is that people will do what they think they ought to do, how they think they should do it. When a major conflict arises between the boss and the subordinate, it ends up determining the level of freedom and participation people feel is allowable in the work environment. I believe that the most motivated organizations are the ones in which the bosses get what they want because the employees perceive it as something they want to do. So their goal becomes not merely to make the boss happy but to add their personal intensity and creative enhancements to the projects and tasks at hand.
The gap between just getting the boss’s priorities accomplished and a more participatory system of involved employees, calls for a process of focusing and editing. A creative environment can spawn many ideas and concepts, but if there is not a quality Focus and Edit process, then a lot of hard working, energized people will force the manager to become more autocratic, thus destroying all efforts to involve them.
The challenge and fine line of balance is having a process that facilitates the subordinates’ involvement, while allowing the boss to be comfortable with a clear Focus and Edit approach that directs their energy. The most important element of developing a focused and edited list of priorities is a strong base concept of what your business is and the key strategies you are counting on to deliver success. There is an old adage that a poor plan, well executed will always beat a great plan that no one follows. Great companies have global plans that integrate all areas of the business with a clear idea of how each area enhances the whole. No matter what part of the organization you are in charge of, if you can’t articulate your area’s strategies, and define how the completion of your tasks fits into the company’s overall strategy, you have a problem.
Often, the best way to avoid a lack of focus in your area is to use calendars showing six month’s worth of tasks at a time: When are the planning periods? When do the weekly reports become due, and what amount of time does it take to accomplish either the compiling of the reports or reacting to them? When do all the meetings take place and how do the meetings affect planning and reacting?
You should look at your job description to determine what tasks must be accomplished to meet the requirements of your job. When do you focus on personnel issues? When are the reviews done? Have you left enough time or do you expect that they will be done right and with thought within your normal schedule? The calendar helps you understand what constitutes your people’s priorities, and occupies their thoughts. In order to focus and edit you must have a big picture, and you must know what is needed to complete it. A manager cannot take charge of their area and be pro-active in managing their portion of the business without understanding the tasks to be accomplished, the timing required, and the effect on the overall company strategy.
The alternative to this is that each day you and your people walk into the office and wait for the phone to ring. It is your boss and whatever is asked for becomes the immediate priority of the day. Your constant focus is to react, react, react. The whole organization is limited to the ability of one person — your boss. Whatever is on their mind that moment is the company’s priority. This answers rules number one and two. Your boss is happy, and in making him happy, you secure your job. But what happens when the boss is fired, which is inevitable in the long run?
