Exceptions!

´Exceptions´ are multi-headed monsters that all of us detest or love (depending on whether we benefit from it or not) but none of us can avoid in our work lives. 

We create processes and quality systems and focus on their reliability but sooner or later an exception always does come up. 

A few manifestations of exceptions I’ve come across:

• Management by Exception: I used to work at a factory at a point of time. I found some managers managing only exceptions. They used to find exceptions only through excel sheet trackers or when a workmen raised a hue and cry.  If there was no escalation, everything was running ok and the manager was doing his job.

• Setting Precedent or Going Against Established Precedents:  A boss says ´Should I make an exception for you? Well! I can but then I would be setting a precedent that I might have to follow for others or go against a precedent already in place.´

• Policies for Exceptions: A boss says ´What´s policy for making exceptions? J I can´t act without a policy.´

• Feedback by Exception: This is another manifestation of management by exception. A boss says ´If an exception gets bubbled up to me; my reportee is not doing his job. He obviously would get dinged in performance appraisal for this. ´ Reportee responds ´Well! I´ll ensure you hear of no exceptions/escalations.´

I feel dilemma around exceptions comes from our discomfort with feeling ´we are standing out´ and with anything/one that ´stands out´.

Decision to be taken always is ´what´s correct response here?´.  Response to processes should be ´how will these aid me? ´ and not ´how will these replace me?´.

Exceptions can never be eliminated because our processes/policies/excel sheet trackers would only be for a specific set of general circumstances. Whenever a unique circumstance arises, an exception might be required.

What has been your experience with exceptions?

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Sourav

Intentions!

Some time back I was watching webcast about launch of Annual Performance Review process.

Head of HR was addressing Managers. She took a lot of time to explain the ´intention´ - single line message - behind the shape of curve and review process.

 

Like many others, I was struck by power of her words.

I have been wondering what happened. What did she do that left it´s mark?

 

I have heard many a times objective or metrics of a process but I´ve never found an objective/metric/goal so powerful.

 

First, I think word ´intention´ has more elements of a verb than words objective/metric/goal. It makes me realize that I am the executioner of the intent.

 

Second we associate a value judgment with intentions. ´If my intention isn´t in place, then either something´s wrong with me or I’m at wrong place!´ We mayn´t associate such judgments with other 3 words.

 

I´m sold on figuring out the intention behind the HR processes we manage. Let me illustrate. What´s intention behind:

·         recruitment/selection processes? Some options are – to make any participant a brand ambassador, to reinforce uniqueness of working here, to find a role/culture fit, etc.

·         compensation processes? Some options are – we´re best paymasters & we´ll do everything to retain you; you´re best judge of your money (take it in whatever way you want), etc.

·         learning processes? Some options are – you´re a ´talent´, it´s your responsibility to identity and drive learning needs; we value role based learning & personal development is your concern, etc.

·         role designs? Some options are- we value specialization/generalization; empowerment/centralization, etc.

I´m not sure if, in this post, I´ve chanced upon anything new. But I do feel I´ve found a way to see existing processes more powerfully.

 

What do you think?

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Sourav

Feedback

What role does feedback play in Performance Management?  To answer this question, we´l l have to first answer a more fundamental question ´How does a manager arrive at a proposed rating for an employee?´

A Manager relies on his own judgment & employee´s self assessment– that´s what I have been used to seeing for a long time.

But in new context, I find that a manager additionally relies heavily on feedback received from others. There even is a feedback framework in place – employees use a feedback tool to request feedback and to give feedback.  Tool sees heavy 2 way traffic.  

So why do I see this change?

I think 2 primary reasons are:

·         Ecosystem -  I frequently hear here word ecosystem being used to describe number & variety of stakeholders one works with.  The circle of interaction and influence is not only within your team and teams/leaders you support. It is a matrix structure. Number of stakeholders potentially impacted is fairly higher than in a functional role based setup.

·         Manager´s role description– Most Managers here have a healthy mix of People Management and Individual contributor responsibilities. A Manager is accountable for his own performance and his team´s performance. Hence need for a Manager to balance his time.

Given these 2 realities, a feedback tool seems relevant to provide a manager more holistic visibility about his reportee´s performance.

Would such a tool be relevant for setups where above mentioned 2 realities are not so prevalent?

Manager´s judgment is paramount. But feedback is necessary to enable manager to take a better decision. So a feedback tool may not be necessary, but a feedback framework – on how employees request, give, & receive feedback – does make sense for all setups.

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Sourav

Startlines!

So by when do i need to complete this work?

Deadlines is what we live by! We need to complete something and by a certain time. I find we (atleast I) usually tend to overestimate my ability to meet deadline. Invariably, i land up having to burn the midnight oil.

During childhood and college days, i used to get a kick out of meeting a deadline. I accept that i still do get a kick.

A few months back i came across a concept called 'Startlines´. By when do you plan to start a work.

I had found the concept powerful & relevant. A few weeks back, i experienced its relevance. I was, as usual, had started late for a project. I realized i was up against it. For remainder part of project i fixed 'Startlines´ - by what time would i start remaning different parts of project. 

By time i had completed the first part i had by far overshot the startline for 2nd part of project. I worked straight through - with no breaks. The approach helped because i always was cued on to 'when should i have started this part of project'.

In end, I finished project comfortably within deadline.

I am experiencing that to meet deadlines, we need to freeze our Startlines!

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Sourav