BuiltEnvironment

Management style

I have a five-part philosophy that informs my management style:

First—get the right people on the bus (hire the right people).

Second—to the extent possible, give each an assignment (or assignments) in line with their skill sets and interests.

Third—give them the best equipment possible and show them where their resources are.

Fourth—help them feel secure enough to fail occasionally, as long as they learn something useful from every failure.

Last—get out of their way and let them do the job(s) for which you hired them.

I always figured that if I was smart enough to recognize that I couldn't do everything myself, and to hire people who have the required technical knowledge to do the job, who are passionate about what they do, who are motivated to succeed, and who are committed to excellence, they will each star in their respective roles.

And, incidentally, I will come off looking like a hero for hiring all these top quality folks in the first place.

General George S. Patton, a recognized manager of people, once said:

"Never tell people HOW to do things. Tell then WHAT to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

I believe him.

After all, if I have to tell someone HOW to do their assigned task, then I haven't hired someone with the necessary technical knowledge.

In my 45+ year work life, I have heard (and witnessed) a number of things about managers. For instance:

• A first-rate manager hires people who are smarter than he or she is.
• A first-rate manager hires people who have knowledge and/or skills he/she lacks.
• A first-rate manager hires people who are so good that if he/she went on vacation for three weeks, nobody would realize he/she was gone.
• A first-rate manager is not afraid to hire people who are talented enough to replace him/her.

I have written recently about my desire to share my accumulated knowledge, to give those coming up behind me the benefit of my experience as an A/E/C marketer.

But I also like being around people who can teach me new things. And given the rate at which technology changes, most younger people have a lot to teach me.

So I try to hire, and recommend that my clients hire, people who have great technical skills, who are committed to their own excellent performance, who have a strong desire to keep learning, and who have a strong passion for accomplishing the things to which they are committed.

Such young people will succeed at virtually any task you set them within the range of their technical knowledge and skills, and they will continually extend that range as they continue to learn on the job.

Getting everyone to contribute

As an A/E marketer with more than 20 years of experience in a variety of management roles, I have developed a management style that tries to make all team members comfortable enough to offer their own ideas.

The fact is that every team member has a contribution worth considering, if the team leader can get them to open up and share. Everyone has a "horse of a different color" idea that can take a team out of the box to an original solution.

Recently, I had the fortuitous accident of running across a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson, a writer, researcher, advisor, teacher, and speaker with a strong focus on creativity. In this TED talk, he said:

"The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it's to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they are valued."

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, it's always sweet when someone I respect makes a statement that validates something I've believed and/or been doing for a while. When it's a person who has worldwide respect in that area of thought, it's even sweeter.

So let me talk a bit about how I go about getting all team members to contribute their ideas.

I start by defining three ground rules for the discussion:

1. Every legitimate suggestion merits discussion.
2. No suggestion (or person making the suggestion) can be ridiculed.
3. A thought we dismissed in the past could be the right course of action today.

Once I have opened a subject for discussion and defined the parameters of the issue, I stop talking and listen to the discussion. I work to be aware of who is contributing and who is not. I try to limit my own talking to moderating the discussion and keeping it on track.

Once I know who is not contributing, I watch those people for clues that signal they have had an idea but need to be coaxed a bit, made comfortable with the idea of speaking up, before they will open up and share that idea.

When I spot someone like that, I recognize them, mention that they look like they have a comment, and ask them specifically what they think of the current idea. They may suggest a small tweak or even an alternative to that possibility, or they may just say they think it's fine.

If they simply agree with the idea, I will ask specifically if they have another alternative to offer. Most of the time, once they have heard their own voice answering the first question, they are less timid about answering my second question.

As I make sure that every person gets to hear his or her own voice, they become more confident each time they are called upon. After varying lengths of time, each of these folks will become so used to contributing that they won't need coaxing.

At that point, I sit down with that person in private and talk about how pleased I am with their progress. Then we talk about another set of measurable goals that can be built upon this new success.

Public sector marketing: horse of a different color

 

Have you heard of people who take a client to lunch three or four times, and on the next lunch the client brings a contract?

Have you heard of people who call a client and ask, “what’s next?” and the client gives them a new project?

Have you asked yourself, “Why them? Why not me?”

The answer is: those stories are probably about firms marketing the private sector.

But the public sector doesn’t work that way; it’s “a horse of a different color!”

Public sector procurement for A/E services is governed by law or local ordinance. At the federal level, the Brooks Act (PL 92-582) governs. Section 902 of the Act states:

“The Congress hereby declares it to be the policy of the Federal Government to... negotiate contracts for A/E services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualification...”

The basic steps in pursuing federal A/E work look something like this:

1. The agency publishes a solicitation;
2. Firms submit SF330 forms or proposals demonstrating experience on projects      similar to that described in the solicitation;
3. The agency evaluates submittals;
4. The agency develops a “short list” (at least three qualified firms) to interview;
5. The agency interviews and ranks the short-listed firms;
6. The agency negotiates a scope and fee with the top-ranked firm.

If an agreement on scope and fees cannot be reached, the agency will end the discussion and open negotiations with the next-ranked firm.

Many states, counties, regional transportation and planning entities, and cities have adopted similar processes, although some still require an SF254/255 submittal. Some require only the SF255, because they are only concerned with qualifications relative to the current project.

In most cases (as of this writing), printed submittals are still required.

Contrast this with the private sector, where the client can give you a new project just because you did a good job on the last one!

Standard forms are intended to “level the playing field” for consultants, and make it easier for agency personnel to be objective in evaluating and ranking proposals. But your job as a marketer is to tilt the playing field in favor of your firm or client. Your relationship with the client helps you do this.

“Best value” is a concept developed to let agencies consider the intangibles of the client/consultant relationship in evaluating SOQs and proposals. When consultants have already worked with the agency, and know the agency’s staff, procedures, standards and quirks, benefits can include cost-effectiveness, timeliness, and freedom from headaches and distractions.

When the consultant team has already worked together, additional benefits involve internal communications, sharing of drawing/design standards and conventions, and ease of working together.

In controlling client expectations, we want to influence the personal filters through which written and spoken communications pass, in order to affect how a client reads our proposal or hears our presentation, leading to selection of our team.

When you visit a client or prospect, you get to meet their staff, build relationships, develop professional credibility, and learn how the agency works, and what it needs and wants (often two different things).

You can also learn about upcoming projects and the client’s expectations and fears for those projects. Thus, you can ensure the person making the selection knows what they need to know in order to select your firm – long before the solicitation appears. When the proposal due date arrives, the client will expect your proposal to be the “best value.”

There are many ways to build and strengthen client relationships, but this post is too short to discuss all the ways public and private sector marketing differ, or all the subtly different colors these “horses” can be. If your firm wants to make a first move into the public sector, don’t be afraid to call an outside consultant like The Siben Consult, LLC, to help you.