Case Study: One Minute Goal Setting

For the past decade, Joe Williams has been a productive and valued employee at Ranger General. Until recently, he managed one of the companys smaller departments. His duties included the day-to-day managing of six employees, two of whom are equal in seniority to Joe but have less formal education. Under Joes leadership, the department was looked upon as one of the best.

Late last night Joe was promoted and given direct responsibility for one of Rangers largest divisions. The division includes five departments, one of which Joe previously headed. Each department consists of a department head and three employees.

During his promotion interview with the President of Ranger General, Joe was specifically charged with getting his new division organizeda division that, with the exception of Joes former department, has a history of poor performance. The President also directed that a team spirit be created amongst Joes management team. He further stated that the managers had not been getting along for some time.

Upon beginning his new assignment, Joe was introduced to his five department heads: Kim Stark, Accounting; Brenda Montgomery, Marketing; Ray Guy, Production; George Ramirez, Administration; and Leona Washington, Quality Control. Prior to making any major interventions with his managers, Joe observed their individual performance and the performance of their department for 30 days.

This is what he saw:

Accounting:

Outdated equipment, manual procedures, reports three to five days late, commission checks inaccurate, department manager always sick.

Marketing:

Several contracts recently lost due to sloppiness, no update on market research report for the last two years, excessive number of expense reports, very little client contact, failure to meet sales projections for 3 of the last 5 years.

Production:

Manager new, production up, quality down, 50% increase in on-the-job injuries, high turnover, extended coffee breaks, drinking while on the job.

Administration: Well-organized, understaffed, employees working 12-hour days, outstanding leadership, all reports on time, no vacations taken for past three years, no promotions for the last two years.

Quality Control:

Returns are up, just experienced a major recall, QC manager has requested transfer, new equipment being installed in 30 days.

Questions:

Now it is time to create One Minute Goals. If you were Joe Williams, what would you do?

1. If you were Joe, what goals for your division would you establish with the President?

Answer:

2. What would be your top three priorities?

Answer:

3. How would you build a team through the goal setting process?

Answer:

4. What goals would you establish to improve communication among the five managers?

Answer:

Anything else?

Answer: