FACTOR II: OPERATING SKILLS CLUSTER E: GETTING ORGANIZED

39 Organizing Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. A.A. Milne – American writer, playwright, and poet

Section 1: Your Development Need(s) Unskilled  Doesn’t pull resources together effectively  May not know how to find and arrange people, materials, budget, etc.  May be a poor delegator and planner and not very motivating to work with  Performance decreases as the number of simultaneous activities increase  May rely too much on self  May scramble at the last minute and have to work long hours to finish  May not anticipate or be able to see how multiple activities come together Select one to three of the competencies listed below to use as a substitute for this competency if you decide not to work on it directly.

Substitutes: 9,18,20,25,36,47,52,60,62

Skilled  Can marshal resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done  Can orchestrate multiple activities at once to accomplish a goal  Uses resources effectively and efficiently  Arranges information and files in a useful manner

Overused Skill  May not be tolerant of normal chaos  May too often want to do things his/her own way  May not be open to suggestions and input  May lose his/her effectiveness when things don’t go as planned Select one to three of the competencies listed below to work on to compensate for an overuse of this skill.

Compensators: 2,11,12,26,32,33,36,40,46,52,60

Some Causes  Don’t delegate  Inexperienced  Not motivating to work with  Not resourceful COPYRIGHT © 1996–2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL M. LOMBARDO & ROBERT W. EICHINGER

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 Poor negotiator  Poor planner  Too self-centered

Leadership Architect® Factors and Clusters This competency is in the Operating Skills Factor (II). This competency is in the Getting Organized Cluster (E) with: 47, 62. You may want to check other competencies in the same Factor/Cluster for related tips.

The Map It is easier to get things done when everybody is pulling in the same direction. It is easier to perform when you have all the tools and resources you need. It is easier to get things done when everyone you need in your corner is supportive and pulling for you. It’s fun to be able to work through others even when you don’t have direct authority over them. Unless you prefer things to be hard and not much fun, organizing is an essential skill to have.

Section 2: Learning on Your Own These self-development remedies will help you build your skill(s).

Some Remedies  1. Got a goal? Set goals and measures. Nothing keeps projects on time and on budget like a goal and a measure. Set goals for the whole project and the sub-tasks. Set measures so you and others can track progress against the goals. More help? – See #35 Managing and Measuring Work.  2. Have a plan? Lay out the work. Most resourcefulness starts out with a plan. What do I need to accomplish? What’s the time line? What resources will I need? Who controls the resources—people, funding, tools, materials, support—I need? What’s my currency? How can I pay for or repay the resources I need? Who wins if I win? Who might lose? Lay out the work from A to Z. Many people are seen as disorganized because they don’t write the sequence or parts of the work and leave something out. Ask others to comment on ordering and what’s missing.  3. Resources tight? Bargain for resources. What do I have to trade? What can I buy? What can I borrow? What do I need to trade for? What do I need that I can’t pay or trade for?  4. Shared your goals? Rally support. Share your mission and goals with the people you need to support you. Try to get their input. People who are asked tend to cooperate more than people who are not asked. Figure out how the people who support your effort can win along with you. COPYRIGHT © 1996–2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL M. LOMBARDO & ROBERT W. EICHINGER

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 5. Big projects? Delegate. Getting long, complex or multi-tracked projects done involves accomplishing a series of tasks that lead up to the whole. One clear finding in the research is that empowered people work longer and harder. People like to have control over their work, determine how they are going to do it, and have the authority to make decisions. Give away as much as possible along with the authority that goes with it. Another clear finding is to pay attention to the weakest links—usually groups or elements you have the least interface with or control over—perhaps someone in a remote location, a consultant or supplier. Stay doubly in touch with the potential weak links.  6. Lots of complexity? Manage multiple tracks. Many attempts to get complex things done involve managing parallel tracks or multiple tasks at the same time. It helps if you have a master plan. It helps if you delegate some of the work. More help? – See #47 Planning.  7. Limited resources? Manage efficiently. Watch the budget. Plan spending carefully. Have a reserve if the unanticipated comes up. Set up a funding time line so you can track ongoing expenditures.  8. Flustered? Manage coolly. Some get flustered when a lot of things are up in the air at the same time. A plan helps. Delegation helps. Goals and measures help. Getting frustrated seldom helps. More help? – See #11 Composure.  9. Experiencing success? Celebrate. Get in the habit of sharing the successes and spreading the wealth. It will make it easier for you to go back to the well the next time you need resources.  10. Need a model? Seek help. Find someone in your environment who is good at organizing people and things. Watch what he/she does. How does that compare to what you typically do?

Section 3: Learning from Feedback These sources would give you the most accurate and detailed feedback on your skill(s).

 1. Direct Boss Your direct boss has important information about you, your performance, and your prospects. The challenge is to get this information. There are formal processes (e.g., performance appraisals). There are day-to-day opportunities. To help, signal your boss that you want and can handle direct and timely feedback. Many bosses have trouble giving feedback, so you will have to work at it over a period of time.  2. Direct Reports COPYRIGHT © 1996–2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL M. LOMBARDO & ROBERT W. EICHINGER

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Across a variety of settings, your direct reports probably see you the most. They are the recipients of most of your managerial behaviors. They know your work. They can compare you with former bosses. Since they may hesitate to give you negative feedback, you have to set the atmosphere to make it easier for them. You have to ask.  3. Internal and External Customers Customers interact with you as a person and as a supplier or vendor of products and services. You’re important to them because you can either help address and solve their problems or stand in their way. In customer service and programs such as TQM, ISO and Six Sigma, clients and customers become a more prominent source of feedback.

Section 4: Learning from Develop-in-Place Assignments These part-time develop-in-place assignments will help you build your skill(s).

 Integrate diverse systems, processes, or procedures across decentralized and/or dispersed units.  Manage the renovation of an office, floor, building, meeting room, warehouse, etc.  Plan a new site for a building (plant, field office, headquarters, etc.).  Plan an off-site meeting, conference, convention, trade show, event, etc.  Manage the visit of a VIP (member of top management, government official, outside customer, foreign visitor, etc.).  Manage a temporary group of ―green,‖ inexperienced people as their coach, teacher, guide, mentor, etc.  Manage a group of low-competence or low-performing people through a task they couldn’t do by themselves.  Help shut down a plant, regional office, product line, business, operation, etc.  Manage liquidation/sale of a business, products, equipment, materials, furniture, overstock, etc.  Work on a team that’s deciding whom to keep and whom to let go in a layoff, shutdown, delayering, or merger.

Section 5: Learning from Full-Time Jobs These full-time jobs offer the opportunity to build your skill(s).

 1. Change Manager

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The core demands to qualify as a Change Manager are: (1) Leader of a significant effort to change something or implement something of significance. (2) Success and failure will be evident. (3) Always something new and unique to the organi-zation. (4) Must get many others to buy in and cooperate. (5) Involves cross-boundary change. (6) High visibility sponsor. (7) Exposure to significant decision makers and key stakeholders. (8) Resistance is expected and near-universal. (9) Cost of failure is significant. Examples include: (1) Total Work Systems like TQM, ISO, or Six Sigma. (2) Business restructurings like a move away from a core competence and into a new product space or industry, i.e., American carmakers move into smaller, more fuel-efficient products. (3) Installing major systems (like an ERP or HRIS) and procedures for the first time. (4) M&A integrations, responding to major competitor initiatives that threaten the organization. (5) Extensive reorganizations. (6) Long-term post-corporate scandal recovery.  2. Scope Assignments The core demands for a Scope (complexity) assignment are: (1) Significant in-crease in both internal and external scope or complexity. (2) Significant increase in visibility and/or bottom-line responsibility. (3) Unfamiliar area, business, technol-ogy, or territory. Examples of Scope assignments involving shifts: (1) Switching to new function/technology/business. (2) Moving to new organization. (3) Moving to overseas assignment. (4) Moving to new location. (5) Adding new products/services. (6) Moving between headquarters/field. (7) Switches in ownership/top management of the unit/organization. Examples of Scope assignments involving ―firsts‖: (1) First-time manager. (2) First-time managing managers. (3) First-time executive. (4) First-time overseas. (5) First-time headquarters/field. (6) First-time team leader. (7) First-time new technology/business/function. Scope assignments involving increased complexity: (1) Managing a significant expansion of an existing product or service. (2) Managing adding new products/services into an existing unit. (3) Managing a reorganized and more diverse unit. (4) Managing explosive growth. (5) Adding new technologies.  3. Small Entrepreneurial The core demands for qualifying as a Small Entrepreneurial assignment are: (1) Founder or core team member of a company or brand. (2) Personal financial stake in the business’s success or failure. (3) Success and failure will be evident. (4) Build business case and secure funding from investors. (5) Chart new market strategy for new product line. (6) Manage all aspects of the business—from product design/development, supply chain, marketing, sales, finance, HR. Examples of Small Entrepreneurial jobs would be: (1) Small business owner. (2) Among the first employees of a growing company. (3) Starting an incubator business or a new business line. (4) Launching a new brand or new product line. (5) Entering a new market. (6) Responsible for a new product/system through entire cycle.  4. Start-Ups COPYRIGHT © 1996–2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL M. LOMBARDO & ROBERT W. EICHINGER

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The core demands to qualify as a start from scratch are: (1) Starting something new for you and/or for the organization. (2) Forging a new team. (3) Creating new systems/facilities/staffs/programs/procedures. (4) Contextual adversity (e.g., uncertainty, government regulation, unions, difficult environment). Seven types of start from scratches: (1) Planning, building, hiring, and managing (e.g., building a new facility, opening up a new location, moving a unit or company). (2) Heading something new (e.g., new product, new service, new line of business, new department/function, major new program). (3) Taking over a group/product/service/program that had existed for less than a year and was off to a fast start. (4) Establishing overseas operations. (5) Implementing major new designs for existing systems. (6) Moving a successful program from one unit to another. (7) Installing a new organization-wide process as a full-time job like Total Work Systems (e.g., TQM/ISO/Six Sigma).

Section 6: Learning from Your Plan These additional remedies will help make this development plan more effective for you.

Learning to Learn Better  1. Study People Who Have Successfully Done What You Need to Do Interview people who have already done what you’re planning to do and check your plan against what they did. Try to summarize their key tactics, strategies, and insights; adjust your plan accordingly.

Learning from Experience, Feedback, and Other People  2. Learning from Bosses Bosses can be an excellent and ready source for learning. All bosses do some things exceptionally well and other things poorly. Distance your feelings from the boss/direct report relationship and study things that work and things that don’t work for your boss. What would you have done? What could you use and what should you avoid?  3. Learning from Observing Others Observe others. Find opportunities to observe without interacting with your model. This enables you to objectively study the person, note what he/she is doing or not doing, and compare that with what you would typically do in similar situations. Many times you can learn more by watching than asking. Your model may not be able to explain what he/she does or may be an unwilling teacher.  4. Getting Feedback from Bosses and Superiors Many bosses are reluctant to give negative feedback. They lack the managerial courage to face people directly with criticism. You can help by soliciting feedback and setting the tone. Show them you can handle criticism and that you are willing to work on issues they see as important. COPYRIGHT © 1996–2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL M. LOMBARDO & ROBERT W. EICHINGER

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 5. Getting Feedback from Direct Reports Direct reports often fear reprisals for giving negative feedback about bosses, whether in a formal process, like a questionnaire, or informally and face-to-face. Even with a guarantee of confidentiality, some are still hesitant. If you want feedback from direct reports, you have to set a positive tone and never act out of revenge.  6. Getting Feedback from Peers/Colleagues Your peers and colleagues may not be candid if they are in competition with you. Some may not be willing to be open with you out of fear of giving you an advantage. Some may give you exaggerated feedback to deliberately cause you undue concern. You have to set the tone and gauge the trust level of the relationship and the quality of the feedback.

Learning from Courses  7. Supervisory Courses Most new supervisors go through an ―Introduction to Supervision‖ type course. They are designed to teach the common practices a first-line supervisor needs to know to be effective. The content of most of those courses is standard. There is general agreement on the principles of effective supervision. There are two common problems: (1) Do the students have a strong motivation to learn? Do they know what they don’t know? Is there any pain? Because motivated students with a need for the knowledge learn best, participants should have had some trying experiences and some supervisory pain and hardships before attending. (2) Are the instructors experienced supervisors? Have they practiced what they preach? Can they share powerful anecdotes to make key points? Can they answer questions credibly? If possible, select supervisory courses based on the instructors, since the content seems to be much the same for all such courses. Lastly, does the course offer the opportunity for practicing each skill? Does it contain simulations? Are there case studies you could easily identify with? Are there breakout groups? Is there opportunity for action learning? Search for the most interactive course.

Don‘t agonize. Organize. Florynce Kennedy – American lawyer, activist, Civil Rights advocate, and feminist

Suggested Readings Allen, D. (2003). Getting things done: The art of stress-free productivity. New York: Penguin Books. Byfield, M. (2003). It‘s hard to make a difference when you can‘t find your keys: The seven-step path to becoming truly organized. New York: Viking Press. COPYRIGHT © 1996–2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL M. LOMBARDO & ROBERT W. EICHINGER

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Cramer, K. D. (2002). When faster harder smarter is not enough: Six steps for achieving what you want in a rapid-fire world. New York: McGraw-Hill. Crouch, C. (2005). Getting organized: Improving focus, organization and productivity. Memphis, TN: Dawson Publishing. Davenport, L. (2001). Order from chaos: A six-step plan for organizing yourself, your office, and your life. New York: Three Rivers Press. Hedrick, L. H. (2002). Get organized in the digital age. New York: New American Library Trade. Hemphill, B. (2006). Taming the office tiger. Washington, DC: Kiplinger Books. Herman, S. (Ed.). (2002). Rewiring organizations for the networked economy: Organizing, managing, and leading in the information age. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer. Koch, R. (1998). The 80/20 principle: The secret of achieving more with less. New York: Currency/Doubleday. Mann, S. (2006). I hate filing: Everything you need to get organized for success and sanity at home, on the run, and in the office. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. Nelson, M. (2002). Clutter-proof your business: Turn your mess into success. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press. Sköldberg, K. (2002). The poetic logic of administration: Styles and changes of style in the art of organizing. London: Routledge. Smallin, D. (2002). Organizing plain and simple: A ready reference guide with hundreds of solutions to your everyday clutter challenges. Pownal, VT: Storey Books. Wheatley, M. J., & Kellner-Rogers, M. (1998). A simpler way. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Winston, S. (2001). The organized executive: The classic program for productivity: New ways to manage time, people, and the digital office. New York: Warner Business. Winston, S. (2004). Organized for success: Top executives and CEOs reveal the organizing principles that helped them reach the top. New York: Crown Business.

COPYRIGHT © 1996–2010 LOMINGER INTERNATIONAL: A KORN/FERRY COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MICHAEL M. LOMBARDO & ROBERT W. EICHINGER

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