I have gone against the advise here and am wondering if my justifications make sense and if anyone else has this issue.
I manage 18 reports. Half are sitting next to me and the other half are spread across the city. My boss demands about a day a week of my time, I am pulled into many project meetings and even though I am ruthless at eliminating unnecessary meetings, I still don't have any time to meet with staff individually on a regular basis. I have tried and I end up cancelling which I found even worse. I would get trapped in my bosses office while my report waited for me patiently. My boss doesn't care about my schedule (or anyone else's).
I have a daily 9am meeting with my staff where we go through daily issues and updates. It is a daily tailgate to ensure we are all on the same page. Remote people video conference in. I have told them about my lack of time and apologized for numerous cancellations. My motto now is, don't wait for me to book a meeting. As soon as you need my time, come get me and I will sit down with the person. Also, if I see a coaching opportunity I book the person right away or just sit down with them. I have told them not to wait a week or a month to meet with me.
The result is we can easily go a month without meeting but when there is something important, we meet right away. No waiting.
Of course there are pluses and minuses with this model but due to time constraints, it's all I got. In the future I expect they will either split my team or provide me with some assistant managers.
I would be interested to get feedback and suggestions on this model.
Thanks!
18 is big
A group of 18 is definitely on the large side, but since O3's will save you net time, this is all the more reason to use them.
I fewer direct reports, but with all the associated groups that I need to stay in contact with in our virtual organization I am having 15 O3's per week.
They work. Make the investment. Get over the McGuire (sp?) hump in the Horstman curve ;-)
Phone, Skype, ... You Have Options
I have done O3 meetings while traveling for business. Doing your O3 meetings via the phone or Skype works and it is worth the investment.
*Your* activity and efficiency sets the tone for the team.
certainly not ideal
One of my associates manages a group similar to yours. His policy is the same, "my door is open, let me know when you need me." Many of his reports come to me to vent their frustration with this model. They never know when something is important enough to bring to their manager. So, to avoid appearing incompetent, they only go to him in a crisis. Of course, that makes things even worse, but they're left with little choice.
I don't mean to minimize your struggle, 18 people is a lot. Just be aware of what they are likely to do when given the responsibility to decide when, and when not, to involve you.
Thanks!
Thanks for the quick replies!
Okay so you are convincing me to try and make this work somehow. I just need to try and find the time. I cancel all the meetings I can - anything without an agenda in the invite, any meeting that is booked less than 24 hours in advance and any meeting that does not clearly indicate why I am there (cast of thousands). I am still going to have a tough time getting these done. Do you think it is acceptable to reduce these to 15 or 20 minutes?
We do use Skype a lot for remote reports so I can defiantly do that.
Thanks!
Rob
Alternate and / or Delegate
If you must, schedule them to occur every other week rather then trying to cut down on the time. That would bring the total time you spend on O3s to just 4.5 hours a week. While you're looking at your calendar, also ask if you really need to be the one attending these meetings. Sending a delegate to some of the standing meetings can help get your directs exposure / growth and gets you time back for other things like O3s. Hope that helps - Sam
There are no excuses
When I started one-on-ones (10 years ago) I had 35 direct reports. It was a lot! I scheduled 1 day a week, did 30 minute one-on-ones with 1/2 of the staff each week. So, I had a one-on-one day per week, they had one-on-one time every-other week. There were some hiccups along the way - mostly because I was making excuses about why I didn't have time - but once I got a little traction I was sorry I took so long to commit. These are, by far, the most effective management tool you've got. My ability to get my work done increased so much that I started going home at 5:00 pm some days! I went from putting out fires all day to actually working between 8 and 5. It was like magic.
A come-to-me-when-you-need-me approach only works for you, not your directs. They could be left feeling indecisive about when to approach you and perhaps with a sense that you're delegating your management role - one of the few things you CAN'T delegate. When my boss is committed to me, I'm committed to my boss and to helping him with his tasks and projects. When my boss shows me that the time is optional, used poorly or is showing me I'm not worth his time, I have to spend too much energy convincing myself to support my boss and too much time trying to figure things out on my own. If a one-on-one is done right, I can be more efficient and so can my boss because we're sharing knowledge and information. I'm also assured that I'm prioritizing appropriately.
Perhaps you could have less frequent one-on-ones but don't cancel them. Maybe every other week or every third week? If you have a direct that's part time or on an as needed basis, you could meet once per month.
Over the years, the number of directs I have has changed but no matter what, I've had one-on-ones. Anyone who reports to me will tell you how valuable the time is - the funny thing is, the time is just as valuable to me. You're losing out by not having one-on-ones........trust me.
Success - Sort of
Well first of all, thanks for all the great advice on not only what to do but how to get it done with my large team.
I scheduled one on ones with my field support group this morning and ran them back to back with 20 minutes each. All the reports were remote (except for one) and so we did it over Skype.
I apologized for not doing these very much in the past and that I was dedicated to doing these NO MATTER WHAT in the future. I was no longer going to be a slave to other people's meeting requests.
Well, I should have known better than to temp fate that way...
I just finished the morning group tailgate when the first power outage hit. A whole facility shutdown (several hundred people). As I went into the first one on one I asked the work leader to begin communications out to the company (normally I would stick around to ensure it was done okay).
My phone bounced on the table and the emails poured in as I went through the first four one on ones. Managers began calling me about their applications that were impacted by the power outage and my boss was sending me emails asking for status on various tasks.
Then the second power outage hit. The entire executive tower just went dark due to the high winds....
At that point I almost called it quits but instead I just sent a quick email to the work leader and asked for her to ensure communications went out okay.
I finished the one on ones and it was a great experience. I got a ton of good feedback and my reports said they preferred this. There were errors in our communications and some of these escalated up to me. My boss got one email and sent it back to me to deal with. Lots of coaching opportunities and damage control but I got through it.
My Mondays are now my one on one days, hell or high water (or gale cast winds such as today). Bring it on fate!