Football Lesson for Managers

Football season is almost here. This reminds me that managers can learn something from watching the game. Football teams that are good do a great job at making clean exchanges or hand-offs between players. When it works, there is no hesitation or breakdown. The center snaps the ball and the quarterback gets it just the way he wants it. The quarterback turns and hands the ball off to the running back who also gets the ball where he wants it. The blockers block and there is a big hole exactly where it is supposed to be.

This is a HUGE lesson for managers – manage the exchanges or handoffs. Too many times people complain about being micro-managed. These really are managers who do not get it. Instead of managing the exchanges, they are managing the people and the jobs.

Consider these two questions for a minute. How often do you try to do your job correctly and accurately, and how often do you get things from others correctly and accurately; meaning the exact way you need it to do your job?

If you are like most people, the answer to the first question is near 100 percent and the answer to the second question is less than 50 percent. This shows that most people are trying to do their job correctly, but that work falls apart in the hand-offs. This is where the work of the managers should come in.

Instead of managing the people doing each job, we need to manage the exchanges and interactions between the various jobs. This is called managing the seams. This is true internally with the exchanges between the various jobs in an organization or externally with the exchanges between multiple organizations. The better we manage the exchanges the better the organization works, just like the football teams.

This sounds like an easy task, but in fact, it is hard work. It means you have got to listen to the various people involved in the processes, you have to help all parties understand the requirements of others and you have to continually look for better ways to help everyone make better hand-offs. This is really how you become an effective manager and how organizations become winners.