Managing Down

Managing Down and Across, Speaking to your Teams

Return to Personality

Lead your team and use this opportunity to speak in more technical terms. Now is the time to get down in the weeds. But also don’t allow yourself to “lose sight of the forest for the trees”. Use a priority matrix to keep your eyes on the big goals, while making sure your team is taking care of the smaller details.

Priority Matrix

Over the years, I have developed my own version of the Eisenhower Matrix. And it works well when things are running smoothly, but is even more important when things are crazy busy. If circumstances require you to do hard core triage, it can help keep you focused.

Lead Across the Organization.

Make regular time to work with other leaders and managers around the organization.

It may vary, depending on your particular organization - the size, cadence and seasonality, etc. But generally, could mean regular 1 on 1 meetings with department leaders, and monthly / quarterly / bi-annual / annual meetings with larger groups and departments.

This will allow you keep a pulse on how things are going. And see if your IT department is working well with these various groups. While also finding out if these departments or groups have initiatives needing technology or process improvements, that IT can help with.

For me, this takes several forms. And has been evolving as we grow. We have had some interruptions in the normal cadence, when M&A - Mergers and Acquisitions, come up and supersede in priority the normal flow.

Regular annual reviews of processes and source code are essential whether the company is at a stable growth pattern or upward trajectory. Even when processes and source code aren’t undergoing much change, by reviewing it each year, you can cross-train, improve efficiencies, and stay current with what is going on and how things might be affected by up and coming technology advances.

But especially when a company is on an M&A path, you should regularly go over your “Order to Cash” and “Procure to Pay”, as well as other major business processes (BP), to understand how various companies coming together affect the most fundamental BP. You can put together the best technology in the world, but if you don’t have corresponding operational procedures around them, it won’t work well.

Because of working for a tax related accounting firm, bi-annual department meetings in spring and fall are ideal. In Spring, it is a good chance to do a retrospective on how the previous tax season went. And in Fall, a good check-in to make sure we accomplished objectives, and are ready to complete any last minute User Acceptance Testing (UAT) leading up to the next tax season. When the firm was smaller, we would include the entire department, to make sure each employee had a voice. But as we have grown, these bi-annual reviews are moving towards just the Department head, managers, and leads.

And don’t neglect to make time on a regular basis, for 1 on 1 time with other leaders across the organization. This gives an opportunity to identify and resolve any problems that can’t be discussed with a wider audience. As well as providing time to talk at a big picture, strategic level.