Top Story: The Missing Link

Task Management: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

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The Missing Link

by Sanjeev Gupta

It is our pleasure to recommend EXECUTION, co-authored by Honeywell ex-CEO Larry Bossidy. The book is a much needed, departure from contemporary management literature. Instead of big ideas and strategies, it focuses on the importance of getting things done. Here are some bullet points from the book that we thought you will find useful:

1. Execution is the missing link between aspirations and results. The reason for many conspicuous failures is not lack of a solid, logical and even bold strategies, but the failure to execute. At the same time, the best performing companies from Dell to Wal-Mart thrive because they execute well.

2. Execution is the discipline of getting things done. It is a systematic process of rigorously discussing what's and how's, questioning, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability.

3. Execution is the major job of a business leader. The job of CEOs and other top managers does not end with setting a direction, or even planning. No more can they rely merely on vision to get from goals to results; to survive and thrive, they must get more involved in the details of execution.

4. Execution must be a core element of a business culture. Execution must be embedded in the reward systems and in the norms of behavior that everyone practices.

5. A culture of Execution can be established by following a simple formula. You do not need sophisticated theories to effect cultural change - just set clear expectations for people; provide them the tools and skills to meet those expectations; reward those who perform; coach non-performers; and if they still don't perform, move them out.

At Realization we couldn't agree more. We think so highly of the book that we will even provide complementary copies of the book to the first five people who send us an e-mail to execution@realization.com.

The next article by Ajai Kapoor, talks about the discipline of getting things done on the frontline.

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Task Management: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

by Ajai Kapoor, VP Services

We know that the rules of Project Flow help increase project speed and throughput by containing work interruptions and Parkinson's Law. This write-up explains the essential role of Task Management in getting value from Project Flow.

What is task management

• It is making sure that tasks are done in the right priority; interruptions during execution are minimized; and tasks are completed in a timely manner.
• It is also making sure that people doing the work get appropriate instructions to do the work, as well as feedback when the work is done.

Why it is required

Uncertainties in projects are what make active management necessary. If there were no uncertainties, plans would be put into the software, people would get their tasks from the computer, and once they finish the work – their performance would be measured against pre-established time standards.

However, due to uncertainties, managerial decisions and support become necessary. For example:

• Design documents are never precise enough that no interpretation is required. Task managers have to clarify assumptions and help guide trade-off’s for work to be completed in a timely manner
• Interruptions are a fact of life in most project environments: support issues come up, something else becomes important, emergencies happen. Task managers have to shield resources from interruptions and help them stay focused on doing one task at a time to completion
• Resources have varying skills and work requires different levels of competence. Without active management intervention to ensure that the right resource is working the right task based on impact on buffers, time and capacity can be wasted
• Scope of work has to be bounded by managers at the time of execution when the impact of the task on the buffers is best understood. Sometimes it is appropriate to take longer to mitigate risk in future projects, while at other times the right scope of work is to do what is essential only for this project.

Tips for good task management

• Hand out only one or two tasks at a time. Discuss and set expectations regarding what needs to be done, how to do it and how long it should take
• Get regular updates on remaining duration. Remaining durations tend to increase when people are faced with issues that they cannot resolve. This helps the first line manager identify the issues and resolve them proactively
• Get issues resolved as soon as they come up. An effective mechanism to do this is to set daily issue resolution meetings at the start of the day. Limiting the time of the meeting to 15-20 minutes ensures that extensive discussions do not take place in the meeting, but decisions are made that help individual contributors stay productive.
• Act as a gatekeeper to keep interruptions from outside from stopping execution of the tasks. Some interruptions might be necessary (to take care of emergencies), but most are harmful.
• Provide feedback. Since there are no task level metrics it is important that people get constant feedback on performance. Once-a-month feedback meetings are most effective.

We have found that Task Management is often weak, or even absent, in organizations. Instituting and strengthening task management requires active involvement of senior managers - from defining the task management role, to training and coaching task managers as the transition happens.

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