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Business Rule #50:
Provide Incentive and Instill Pride
May 15, 2006
by Caroline Pfouts
A team may be simply a group of people working together to achieve a common goal, but making it happen can be a bearcat.
The task this week was to design a retail display in a Wal-Mart store for the new Microsoft Xbox 360 videogame console.
Sean Yazbeck and Lee Bienstock on Gold Rush got along great. They agreed on everything, from choosing a design concept to hiring outside help to execute it. Between Lee and Sean, it was positively a love fest.
Gold Rush, however, had some serious problems with their vendors. Their plan was to create a floor and ceiling with the Xbox logo and then stretch a plastic wrap around them. They hired one vendor to supply the round floor and roof—and another to create the custom-printed wrap. With the tight deadline, they put the entire success of their project in the hands of their suppliers.
It might have been a different dynamic if Gold Rush had an ongoing relationship with their vendors and their future business was valuable to them. As it was, Sean and Lee were too trusting in their newfound suppliers’ willingness to work overnight on their behalf. Most workers want to go home at the end of the day, see their families, sleep in their own beds, etc. The guy in the printing shop who was actually doing the work apparently felt no sense of urgency to deliver it by midnight. He may not have even known his rep promised it by then.
One way Gold Rush could have communicated the importance of prompt delivery would have been to build some monetary incentives into the deal. Gold Rush could have promised their vendor a bonus if the floor and ceiling were delivered by midnight. Or they might have structured the payment so that the price dropped ten percent for every hour the delivery was late. Or one member of the team could have followed each of the vendors to their workshops to keep tabs on how the printing was progressing. If they had understood more about the printer’s approach to the job, they might have decided that having the logo on the floor and ceiling of the display didn’t matter as much as having something the walls could wrap around. Instead, Sean and Lee kicked back, ever trustingly, and did some shopping in the hardware section of Wal-Mart.
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The Synergy team, in contrast, suffered from dissention in the ranks. Project Manager, Tammy Trenta, had her work cut out for her when her team disagreed with her approach so much that they only begrudgingly helped out.
One of the primary challenges of management is getting people to commit to a common goal. At one company where I consulted, there was a sales rep, named Jeff, whom everyone thought was lazy. Talking about his performance, his boss said, “It’s the least he can do, and I know how he likes to do the least.” My assignment was to bring up the departments sales numbers. I was keenly aware though that if Jeff didn’t improve, he would lose his job.
When I worked with Jeff one-on-one, he was not only very diligent but willing to implement new systems and try new things. The problem though was he wasn’t confident in his abilities, and it came through to everyone with whom he spoke. Then when we were doing a workshop exercise, it also became clear Jeff didn’t close his prospects. The poor guy didn’t even know he wasn’t asking for the deal. Once he realized what he needed to do, his confidence increased dramatically. The last time I spoke with Jeff, he had become one of the top sales performers for his entire company. Something to be proud of, indeed.
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One of the primary challenges of management is getting people to commit to a common goal.
