Develop a Sense of Urgency in Your Team (Part 1 of 2)
December 11th, 2006You know you’re a manager - really, truly in a role of managing others - when you get frustrated that things don’t happen as fast as they used to. “Gosh, why don’t they GET IT? Can’t they SEE what kind of pressure we are (I AM) under?” What is taking SO *(@((&$^*@^Q@*#% LONG?”
That’s what all that extra pay is for. 
If you’ve wondered whether it’s just YOUR team, it’s NOT. We find a lack of a sense of urgency to be pandemic. Most managers spend time complaining about this very thing when we coach them. Executives quickly forget how easy it is to stop draining the swamp as a manager when you keep getting bitten by alligators.
What can you do about it?
Well, rest assured, it’s NOT about “firing your team up” with speeches or exhortations. It’s certainly not going to happen if you “light your team up” with a shotgun blast of “you people have no sense of urgency!!!!”
You know why?
Because most managers are one of the core causes of the problem.
In this cast we tell you why, and how you can solve your problem within two weeks.
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December 11th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Excellent podcast, guys. I’m looking forward to the second half.
I have a question around asking your directs “when can you get this to me?” I often ask this question, and I get the response “it depends on when so-and-so gets me the information I need”, or “I won’t know until such-and-such a decision has been made”. How should I be responding to those types of answers? In other words, what if the deliverable has dependencies that need to be satisfied first?
December 11th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Great podcast! As an IT manager, I look forward to the second half.
I have a question about something you referred to briefly at the beginning - a thing called (I think) the “one third, two thirds rule”. What is this? I’ve been searching the internet to no avail.
Thanks!
December 11th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
The manager sets the deadline — is it just me or does that sound somewhat pointy-haired to anybody else?
After all, the guy who actually does the work needs to say “I need that much time”. How many managers do a) have the technical skills to assess the effort needed and b) are that deep in the details of the current project to estimate the time required in the project’s context?
I’d appreciate if you could clarify this in the second part.
Thanks,
Robert
December 12th, 2006 at 1:43 am
“Why can’t IT get projects done on time.” I just finished a meeting where I felt that exact same way. Being a new manager (five months) I find your podcasts a wealth of knowledge ans the skills I have learned are literally invaluable.
I have not even finished listening to this podcast I was so excited that I had to comment!
Keep up the great work!
Rodney
December 13th, 2006 at 5:09 am
Great podcast! I liked it mostly because I actually love it when my boss states an actual deadline. The best part is when I can get the project turned in before that deadline. To me it works two ways. 1-Managers state expectations up front (and hopefully get it) and 2-If I meet or complete the task/project earlier (w/o compromising quality) I know my boss knows it too simply because he/she stated the deadline. Looking forward to next week’s conclusion.
Darrah
December 15th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Yet another great podcast. You made me smile when you were discussing someone avoiding giving you a firm deadline. I worked for boss several years ago that would go into long discussions to avoind making decisions. This behavior was recognized throghout the organization and peaked when his boss made a statement during a full staff meeting (about 40 people) “Bill, I don’t want the story, just the answer.”
keep up the good work, you’ve had a positive impact on how I’m managing people.
Jeff
December 17th, 2006 at 1:01 am
Robs-
Why, yes, the manager does set the deadline. Sure, we assume some rationality, and we never implied that the manager should randomly crack the whip. Good managers always ask for input. When we said not to ask, we were talking about sitautions where a sense of urgency has been lacking.
But yes: the manager (ultimately) sets the deadline. That’s not pointy-haired boss territory. That’s the way organizations are run.
Mark
December 17th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
Drinkcoffee-
The answer is, with a smile, “Thanks for helping me see the dependencies. When can you get this to me?”
The fact that one of your directs has to rely on others doesn’t change the fact that they’re responsible for their work.
If they come back with, “well, I’ll do my best, but I can’t guarantee that they’ll do what they’re supposed to…”, I address the point directly.
“Just to be clear, I won’t consider them not doing what they’re supposed to as a reason for you to be late. What this means is that your work, like everyone else’s here, requires teamwork and reliance on others. That makes it harder…and welcome to the crowd. I’d love to help you with those relationships, so that you’ll get better responsiveness, and I’m holding you accountable. If you want help there, think about the dependencies you’ve got, and come up with a plan for reducing your risk. Once you’ve done that, I’ll give you some help with it and then we’ll put it in motion.”
I see this a lot, and a lot of the times, it’s just an excuse, but I don’t treat it that way. I see it as a lack of an expansive enough view of someone’s job description, and I use this as an opportunity to help them hone their skills. Almost every job description I’ve seen has some bit in there about working as part of a team, and being responsive and responsible.
No excuses, just hard work, as part of a team.
Mark
December 17th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
“One third, two thirds?” What?
Just kidding.
Yep, it’s a great planning tool, and we’ll do a cast on it next year.
Mark
December 17th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
Yes, I am the problem. I have a project where 3 direct reports need to meet and make a decision. They have have been dragging their feet because I haven’t said “get it done!” Tomorrow, at our standup meeting, I am using your technique. I will let you know the result. Can’t wait for tomorrow!
December 18th, 2006 at 12:49 am
Neither can I. Please do let us know.
Mark
December 18th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
As usual, great stuff. I suffer from a bit of niceguyitis and tend not to be firm in this area of my work. One of my commitments in 2007 is to make a course correction in this area and this cast is just what I needed to help formulate a concrete plan.
I think the resistance to operating this way is larger as the organization size grows. I work in an IT department of 15k people globally and our human and team dependencies to deliver are complex. On top of that, there is a well entrenched excuse culture, where it is easy to slip a deadline due to “some other team” not doing what they were supposed to. Mark’s example response to the “well… I may not be able to deliver if so and so doesn’t deliver to me” statement is beautiful. It’s what I want to say but my niceguyitis has kept me from actually saying.
Thanks for the great cast, the inspiration and all the great comments from fellow readers/listeners.
Terrence
December 18th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Terrence-
Thanks for the kind comments.
You’re right about org size, but I coach an owner of a 100 person company whom I regularly tell, “Who does what by when?”
Stay with us!
Mark
December 20th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
Mark — thank you for your excellent and insightful response to my question.
December 21st, 2006 at 11:59 pm
Well, it worked. I did make a mistake though. I said, look we have been working on this for awhile and I asked you three to develop a recommendaion. I need it before tomorrow at noon. Then I saw one of them start to write down the assignment. I said to him “would you take charge of getting your group together?” He agreed and we went on. So, what did I do wrong? I didn’t say “are we agreed on that?” That will come with practive - the next time!
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:28 am
Well done anyway!
Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
Good, Better, Best.
Never Let Me Rest.
Until My Good Is Better.
And My Better Best.
(Army Ranger slogan - only three words with more than one syllable.)
Mark
December 26th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
(Appreciate you guys!)
Here’s the response I get. “it is logically impossible to schedule an unkown”. Programmers, they typically face a problem that they don’t know the answer to. Getting a commitment on a date is very difficult in this case.
?
David
December 27th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
David-
(Feeling’s mutual!)
I hate it when technical people try to impress others with words like “logical”, and the creme-de-la-creme: “impossible.”
The statement is patently false. ALL scheduling deals with unknowns… and yet they seem to work fine for me.
Further, there’s a part of me that bets that someone ELSE has the experience I need, so that this part of their job would NOT be unknown.
The answer to this is to give them one after they refuse. For those who would say I’m being dictatorial, I would say something polite like, “our customers tend to vote with their pocketbooks, and we don’t want to lose the next election.”
And I don’t even feel terribly motivated to answer those issues anyway. The organization has deadlines, welcome to the modern world.
Set some deadlines, listen to them complain, and then hold them accountable. The ones who are good will comply more often than not. Give lots of feedback, affirming and adjusting, about all deadlines made and missed. Those who repeatedly complain and suggest that scheduling is impossible get low grades for teamwork and professionalism on their reviews, and low bonuses/raises, and they decide to go elsewhere.
You’re going to be wrong some, and so are they. But being wrong on both accounts is NO reason to ignore the fundamental reality of being in a time-based business.
If you have to do some homework to figure out what’s reasonable, do so. if you need to ask a peer/boss for some sense of the scope of work/timeline, do so… but I’d bet that you’re already constrained.
The fact that this is a Dilbert reply to a pointy haired boss question just makes it sad, to me. “Logically impossible.” Pathetic.
Mark
September 30th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Hmm, I enjoyed the podcast, but what happens when the top officer dictates a deadline for the corporation for a very hard project, and NO ONE believes that is even possible? We all keep pushing pretending that we will, but we know that the day of to face the music will come, and then what? Is he trying to raise the sense of urgency, even though he knows it cannot be done?
October 1st, 2007 at 12:23 am
Joe-
It’s a tough predicament, no question.
First of all, nothing’s impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself.
Second, I’ve known plenty of leaders who drew from a team or group or company more than anyone believed possible.
Third, there was nothing in this cast to suggest that we were telling you how to deal with deadlines from your boss. This cast’s intent was clearly to increase a sense of urgency from your directs. If you’re suggesting that this cast wouldn’t work for the CEO, well, it’s not a panacea, that’s for sure. On the other hand, what I think would happen in that situation is that he’d give you deadlines, and you’d not meet them, and he’d give you feedback, and perhaps progressively tougher feedback.
And, yes, worst case “…then what?…” he could fire people if they didn’t do what he wanted…or, some could choose to quit because they don’t want to work for someone they believe is that off base.
It’s harsh when written, but it’s certainly nothing out of the ordinary.
Mark
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Mark:
Thanks and I understand. The point of the cast from what I was able to infer, is that it is important to set deadlines and hold people to them. AND that I should set deadlines that push a bit, to get more. I guess with my post I was giving the example of perhaps someone trying to do that, but going to far. If I set a dead line that none of my directs to a person believe is even possible, wouldn’t people just give up?
One thing is to get on TV and say “in 10 years we will land on the moon” –JFK, bold but believeable, right? Another is to say, we will time travel, cure the common cold etc…you get my point.
You guys are great, I love the podcast.
joe
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:17 am
Joe-
I get your point. Alas, it’s really hypothetical at its heart. Everything can be overdone. What you’re suggesting is a lack of good judgment…and we just can’t seem to teach that in 30 minutes once a week. Experience can, but we can’t.
On the other hand, if we do figure out how to teach it in one cast, we’ll charge a billion dollars a head and die happy!
Mark