Are you doing real OD work?

Maria was GM People & Culture and we were discussing the organisational development work her area was delivering over the next three years.

“OK, I’ll bite.  So what is ‘the organisation’ Maria asked.

“Try this on for size” I answered.  “The organisation is made up of the principles and practices in play that determine who gets to work here, and how they are expected to work together'”.

Maria was silent for some time.  After a while she looked up:

“I’m not sure what you mean”.

“Another angle” I replied.  “The organisation is the internal rules of the game on how people are supposed to work together, whether explicit or otherwise.”

“What sort of rules” Maria asked.

“Things like how you determine how many organisational layers are needed, who gets to make decisions about what, how processes are run, what minimal practices are expected from every manager and/or team, how people are expected to work out issues of priority, and so on.  But what we’re talking about fundamentally is your concept of what needs to be in place in a healthy organisation such that anyone who has the capability, is willing to learn and can get along with others will be able to deliver results.”

“My concept?”

“Yep, your concept, your underlying theory of your organisation, your basis for comparison should any organisational issues arise.” I said.

“And not the people themselves?”

“The organisation that the people are effectively dropped into”.

“Sounds impersonal to me.  Taking the ‘H’ out of ‘HR'”

“You’re seeing ‘impersonal’ and ‘caring’ as opposites, but that’s not the case.  Adjusting the temperature of a room to make it comfortable is not a ‘personal’ act, but it looks after people.  The same applies to working on the internal ‘rules of the game’ to make sure that they are allowing people use their capability in the direction of the organisation.   OD needs to stop doing the equivalent of teaching people how to not shiver in a cold room, when the real issue is a broken heater”.

The fundamental (missing) OD question….

“Run me through what you’ve asked Adrian to do.”  I was grabbing lunch with Maria, GM of People & Culture.  Adrian was her Senior Manager Organisational Development.

“I’m asking quite a bit” said Maria.  “I need him to roll-out a number of programs to get our people better across the board”.

“Give me the top three” I asked.

Maria laughed; “I knew you were going to make me focus on priorities.  OK, the top three are….

One, all managers will be going through difficult conversations training,

Two, all staff will undergo workshops to design to improve resilience…”

I must have raised my eyebrows or some other ‘tell’, as Maria paused for a second.  Then she went on…

“and thirdly, we’re going to do targeted productivity workshops to lift the amount of work we can do in certain areas”.

I nodded.  “Sounds like a fair bit, as you said.”

“But……” Maria asked.

“But…Adrian is your Senior Manager of OD right?”

“Yep”

“And the ‘O’ stands for Organisational”

“Yep”.  Maria frowned.

“So what are you going to ask Adrian to deliver that will actually develop the organisation?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what do you consider to be ‘the organisation’.”

“The people” she replied quickly.

“I know what you mean, but I can’t get past the fact that people come into the organisation, people leave the organisation, yet the work mostly just keeps going.  So we can’t just say ‘the people’.”

Maria started to answer then stopped.  She stared at me, not moving, then after a few seconds started slowly stirring her coffee.

“You know” she said, “after more than 20 years of working in this field, I’ve never actually considered what ‘the organisation’ is.  What I’m actually asking Adrian to help ‘develop’.  Is that bad?”

“Maybe.  But I know one thing for sure.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re not alone.”

Why managers exist (really!)

The group of Senior Managers had their heads down, writing.  I’d asked them to put down, in a sentence, the purpose of management, why it exists.

“One more minute” I called out, going over to the whiteboard and checking that the marker I had picked up wasn’t permanent, a holdover from a workshop some seven years earlier that will never leave me!

“OK, what have we got?  Let’s call out some of the key words.”

After a brief silence, the more talkative in the group spoke up, then gradually everyone.  I wrote furiously on the board:

• Provide direction
• Inspire
• Set context
• Ensure performance
• Deliver results
• Create teamwork
• Reward performance
• Hard conversations

A stepped back, and moved into the group so we could view the board together.

“Not a bad list” I offered.

I let the silence hang, then asked; “But what is this actually a list of?”

Again, silence.  Then Kuldip, who had gone first earlier called out; “it’s what you asked for – why management exists”.

“Thank you for speaking up” I said smiling.  “To me, however, it’s this….” and I went over to the whiteboard and wrote the word ‘ACTIVITIES’ on the top of the list.  I continued…

“It’s a list of things managers do.  And they all make perfect sense!.  Who could disagree?”

I looked around the room.  Some nods, some slight frowns, and a little bit of intrigue.

“But let’s go back to the question.  What’s the point of it?  What is the purpose of management, why does it exist?  Why do this stuff?”

More silence.  I’ve never been natural at what these days they call ‘holding the space’, but have learned over years of workshops.  I stayed still, then slowly went to the board and wrote

‘THE PURPOSE OF MANAGEMENT IS……TO MAKE YOUR PEOPLE MORE VALUABLE TO THE ORGANISATION….’.

I stood back and surveyed the room.  Nods, some smiles.

I wrote up ‘….WHICH MAKES THEM FEEL….‘

This time Kuldip nailed it:

“VALUED’.

Executive accountability

“Wow, that felt like some real work!”.  Gareth had just put the finishing touches on planning the work of his area with a true focus on results.  He was GM of an Operations Division.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Because you made me not only take each 3-year result and write down where it needs to be in 18 month’s time to be on track, you then made me write down where it needs to be in 9 months, then where it needs to be in 3 months!”.  Gareth looked both exasperated and pleased.

“How did you find that?”

“Annoying!” he replied.  “I kept thinking ‘surely a GM doesn’t have to go down to 3 months’.  Then I remembered your two points – that I’m the only one accountable for the whole Operations Division, and if we’re going to use the natural timespans that work organises into, we have to be serious about it and let our people know where the Division needs to be each quarter”.

“Exactly!” I said.  “Same applies to CEOs – they might set results for the organisation out 7 years, but if they can work these results down through the timespans to the 3 month organisational results or milestones that would show we’re on track…..things really get moving”.

“That would be some serious alignment!”

“It is.  If you’re willing to do the work.”

“So….am I done?” Gareth asked.  “I think I know your answer” he continued with a wry smile.

“You know me well.  The answer of course is no!”

“Of course it is.  So what’s next?”

“Now we write down the results you’re going to need each of your Senior Managers to deliver by 30 June 2017, that is, 18 months away”.

“But isn’t that their job to work out? Gareth asked.

“No.  It’s their job to advise, suggest, recommend.  But in the end, it’s your call.  And you know why?”

“Because I’m accountable”.

“Yes..but for what?”

“For their results”

“What else?”

Gareth looked at me quizzically.

“Every manager is accountable for ensuring that the efforts of their people are put toward delivering results that create true value for the organisation. That their efforts are not wasted.  Which ultimately means that they are valued.   You were picked by the CEO to run the Operations Division because she thinks you’ve got the capability to do that, to determine which results will create the most value.  It’s what you’re actually…..”

“It’s what I’m actually paid to do.”

How to Align the Work of the Division

“You’re not going to like the next thing”.   Gareth was the General Manager of the Operations Division.

“Go on” he said.

I pointed to his whiteboard, where across the top was written ‘By Christmas 2018 we will have delivered or be capable of delivering…‘  and underneath were five clear results he intended to deliver by then.

Gareth pointed to the second one down “I see what you mean about real results now.  I originally had written ‘Expanded Production Capacity’ but that means nothing, I can achieve that by approving just one extra hour of overtime.”

“So why does this work better?” I asked, tapping the whiteboard where it said ‘Northern plant constructed, stable, shipping 1.4m units, 20% less cost per unit than current.’

“Because I can do this” Gareth said, and drew a box next to it.  “And if by Christmas 2018 I can’t do this….” and with a flourish ticked the box, “then my Managing Director is not going to be happy.  I have clarity.”

“Great.  So now you need to break this work down into shorter timeframes.”

“But isn’t that the job of my directs?”

“Why would it be their job?” I asked.

“Well that Levels of Work training you gave us made a lot of sense on how work naturally organises, and I thought the shorter timeframes were what my people were accountable for.”

“True in a way.” I replied.  “But tell me this; are any of them accountable for the whole Operations Division landing where it needs to in 3 years?”

“No, that would be me.”

“So who is therefore the person who needs to decide the steps required to land the whole Operations Division there in 3 years?”

“Me” Gareth replied with a nod.

“Exactly.  So…for each of your results you have on your whiteboard, write next to it where it needs to be by 30 June 2017 in order to be on track for Christmas 2018“.

“Why 30 June 2017?”

“Because that’s 18 months away, which puts it right in the middle of….”

Gareth finished the sentence: “…my direct report’s timeframe of accountability”.

“Which means they will be able to….”

“…see how their own 18-month results for their departments are part of the 18-month results of the overall Operations Division”.

Write up 5…planning made simple

“This is a bit tougher than I thought” Gareth said.  He was a General Manager of a large operational area and was putting together his plan.

“How so?” I asked.

“I keep looking at what I’ve written, and all I see are the usual platitudes.  Words like ‘strategic’, ‘develop framework’, ‘review…’.  Those ones that I know drive you nuts!” he said with a smile.

“What about the work?” I enquired.

“The work?”

“You know, the work.  The actual results.  The ‘what-by-when?”

“Well that’s pretty obvious.”

“Good.  Do you need that?” I asked, gesturing to his whiteboard.  He shook his head.  I cleaned off the board and continued…

“It’s now November 2015.  Christmas 2018 is 3 years away, and as a General Manager, that’s in your timeframe of accountability”.

“OK….”

I grabbed a blue marker and wrote on the top of the whiteboard ‘BY CHRISTMAS 2018 WE WILL DELIVER, OR BE CAPABLE OF DELIVERING…..’

Gareth caught the blue marker that was headed toward his chest.

“Your turn.  Write up your top 5.”

What about the business plan template?

Gareth was serious about getting his whole department focussed and delivering.

“OK, so I’ve got the input from my team on the future of the area, so now I need to actually write the plan”.

“Yep” I replied.

“The Strategy area sends us a template each year, should I use that?”

“I’ll ask you this.  When was the last time you got out the most recent plan you wrote using that template?”

Gareth laughed.  “The day I sent it in.  So about 8 months ago.”

“Exactly.  But that’s not the Strategy area’s fault.  We often don’t understand the purpose of that template.  It’s to allow your CEO and anyone else to see all the work occurring in the business in a consistent format.  The Strategy guys help her with this by collating, making sure there’s a similar look and pointing out any inconsistencies.”

“So it’s not for figuring out the actual plan?”

“No.  That’s what whiteboards, walls and post-it notes are for.  The template is what you submit at the end for the purpose of corporate integration.”

“And what about the plan that my people see, what they actually use?”

“Well that needs to be something that they’ll actually see, and that they’ll actually use!”

That’s not a plan….

“That was a good day”.  Gareth was pleased.  We’d just finished a session on the future of his area.

“I’m glad.  What did you get from it?” I asked.

“Well, the team have now all worked on the three themes for the area, and the format you used was great.  Breaking it up into what we’d be providing in the future for who, how we’d do it and what would need to change worked well.  And I liked how we spent time on the obstacles and hassles as well, didn’t back away from them”.

“It’s a useful format.  So what did you get from it?”

Gareth frowned.  “I see what you’re asking.  What did I actually get?”  He stared down, for him always a sign of serious thinking.  After a while he looked up;

“You know what I’ve got?” he said.  “I’ve got a plan!  And it’s from the team itself, so they’ll be on board”.

“Not quite” I replied.

“What do you mean?  Today was great.”

“What we did today was to collect a bunch of input.  Valuable input.  About what the future can look like.  But what we don’t have are the steps required to get there.  The actual work.”

“I see what you mean” said Gareth, nodding.  “So do we need another session?”

“No”  I replied.  “Your people have been great.  They’ve done their part for now.  It’s time for you to do your part.  Its time to write down what results are required to be delivered, by who, to make this future we described today come to fruition.”

“So what you’re saying is….”

“It’s time to actually write your plan.”

The Art of Normal

The Art of Normal – advice for those in organisations from a great manager I had many moons ago:

1. Treat people how you would like to be treated
2. Most people want to do the right thing… let them.. maybe even help them
3. If you have a question… ask it
4. If you’re unsure of a task / process… ask someone to explain it
5. Be honest
6. If you get the chance.. lead from the front (by example).  It’s an honour to be asked to lead…. don’t forget that ! Work twice as hard to be worthy…
7. Do your best.. if possibly cheerfully
8. Work hard
9. Life is short, if you’re convinced you can’t improve things… go somewhere you can
10. They pay you so they get to ask you to do things.. you always have a choice if you can’t convince them of other priorities or uses of your time
11. If something doesn’t look right… it probably isn’t… fix it or tell someone

How do I work out a reasonable efficiency target?

“OK” said Danni, GM of Operations with about 600 people under her.  “So I’m accountable for the work of each of my Senior Managers, which means I’m accountable for how efficiently each of their areas runs”.

“In the end” I replied.

“And their work is about making and implementing decisions that will make their areas reach the level of efficiency that we need”.

“Yep.  Outputs per input.”

“I know you like to talk about results” Danni went on.  “So how do I work out what’s a reasonable result in terms of efficiency for each of my Senior Managers?”

“How do you do it at the moment?”

“Well…….if I’m honest, I guess I pretty much agree with what the Senior Managers say is possible.”

“And they may well be spot on” I answered.  “But tell me this” I answered.  “When you were getting those renovations done on your house last year, how did you work out what was reasonable?”

“I guess I had a think about what I thought was possible, asked some builders, then asked some friends who had been through a similar thing.  Then I asked for what I wanted.”

“And what are the equivalents for deciding a reasonable result to expect for efficiency?”

“My Senior Managers of course.  But also I suppose conferences, consultants, colleagues, seminars, workshops, books.  All of those things.”  Danni was thinking hard now.

“So that meeting with the improvement consultants last month that three of your Senior Managers went to…..” I let it dangle in the air….

“I should have been there with them.” said Danni.  “I needed to listen, learn, then make my own judgement on what to expect over the next 18 months from my Senior Managers”.

“Exactly.  That decision is the work of a General Manager.”