Back in yesteryear, I recall the first time I had a management job big enough that my team was too large for line-of-sight from my desk and location.
Momentary panic: "What are they doing? How will I know if they are doing anything? What if I get asked what are they doing? How will I answer any of these questions?"
Epiphany: What I thought were important metrics now become less important; outcomes rise to the top
- Activity becomes not too important. Where and when they worked could be delegated locally
- Methods are still somewhat important because Quality (in the large sense) is buried in Methods. So, can't let methods be delegated willy nilly
- Outcomes now become the biggie: are we getting results according to expectations?
In any enterprise large enough to not have line-of-sight to everyone, there are going to be lots of 'distant' managers, executives, investors, and customers who have 'expectations'. And, they have the money! So, you don't get a free ride on making up your own expectations (if you ever did)
At the End of the Day
- I had 800 on my team
- 400 of them were in overseas locations
- 400 of them were in multiple US locations
- I had multiple offices
- It all worked out: we made money!
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