It is clear that every time we make a promise, regardless of how big or small it may be or to whom we make it, we give our word.  It is probably less clear, however, that we also give our word every time we accept a promise.  When we accept a promise, we give our word to the person making the promise to receive whatever has been promised by the time it has been promised.

Making and accepting promises creates occasions for honoring our word and raises an important issue: “Where do we keep track of our promises so that we might honor them?”  We cannot reliably honor the promises we have made, or reliably hold others accountable for the promises they have made to us, if we do not have a record of the promises made.

Many people keep “To Do Lists” in which they record the things they want to do, but few of us keep “Due Lists” in which we record the promises we have made or accepted.  Unfortunately, too many of us keep our promises in our memory, which is notoriously unreliable.  The result is that we forget promises, making us look incompetent, political, or inconsistent.

By keeping our promises in something like a “Due List”, we increase the likelihood of remembering what we have given our word to and the chances of honoring our word.  This, in turn,  increases our credibility, trustworthiness, and effectiveness.

Agreements Make Organizations Work

An agreement is an arrangement between two or more people in which both participants concur on an arrangement, or consent to do or deliver something.  If you agree to go to lunch with someone, the two of you have concurred on a lunch date, time, and location. If you agree to take a job with an employer, you consent to (accept) the job description as a definition of your job responsibilities.

Agreements exist “in between” the parties involved.  If you and I have an agreement with each other, then the agreement is “between” the two of us, i.e., it belongs to you as much as it belongs to me.  This also means that if the agreement is broken, no matter which one of us fails to show up for lunch, it involves both of us: one of us broke the agreement, and the other is left waiting at the agreed location.

There are benefits for keeping agreements and consequences for breaking them.  Some are more significant than others: benefits of keeping agreements might range from an increase in trust to gaining valued personal or professional rewards. Consequences of broken agreements could extend as far as losing a job, a promotion, or a valued relationship. There are several negative byproducts that almost always accompany broken agreements, however, including resignation, cynicism, and resentment.

What makes agreements particularly important is that they are the basis for performance, results, and accomplishment in organizations of all kinds.  Two quite simple observations:

1. People make agreements all the time, sometimes with a formal and explicit contract and other times informally with a nod of the head or an “OK, will do” message on their Blackberry, and
2. When people keep their agreements, meetings happen, results are produced, and services are delivered – on time, accurately, and completely.

In other words, when people keep their agreements, things work. When they don’t, they don’t.

Managing People vs. Managing Agreements

What gets done in an organization depends on people keeping their agreements. So, it is not surprising that much of management theory and research has focused on trying to get people to do what they have agreed to do.  This has shifted the focus of management to the people themselves, asking: What makes people keep their agreements?

Management theorists have asked, “What will get people to do the high-quality job they committed to when they accepted the position, the project, or the assignment?” One answer has been to develop compensation packages that will “motivate” people to do their jobs well. Another answer is to use various performance management systems to support people in honoring their agreements. Both answers focus on managing the people, through compensation or performance systems.

An alternative and more direct way to getting things accomplished is to manage the agreements, not the people. You may not have any control over compensation systems, or performance management systems, but you can always manage the agreements that are critical for your own success. The point is to focus only on changing the agreements, not the human beings involved. (This is good news, since changing people is a specialty that is not a strong suit for most of us.)

Step 1. Make Your Agreements Explicit

Most of our agreements in the workplace are invisible or transparent. We only notice them when they are broken, i.e., when we have a problem. Job descriptions that are vague, or assignments given hastily, often leave questions about exactly what the agreement really is. Many managers are clearer about making their lunch appointments than they are about turning over a project to a staff member or colleague.

To make agreements explicit, take the time to specify:

a)   What results and outcomes are required or expected,

b)   When they are due,

c)    Why it matters to you, or the goals of the team or department,

d)   Who else could be involved in some way,

e)   Where resources and results could or should be obtained or delivered, and

f)    How the work should be performed, in the event that there are specific requirements for processing.

In other words, answer the “journalist questions” as clearly as you can. This makes it possible for everyone involved to know, at the end of the day, whether an agreement has been kept or not.

Step 2. Track Your Agreements

Peter, a manager I know, was frustrated by the lack of progress on a change he was managing.  He complained that things weren’t getting done as expected and that he was at risk of falling behind on the schedule his manager had given him.  When I asked him, “Which people are not doing the things you asked for, and what exactly are they not doing?” he could not answer the question. He said, “I don’t keep track of all the things I ask people to do. I just don’t have that kind of time!”

The lesson: Maintain an up-to-date “Agreement Tracker” – a list of all the agreements you have with people who have promised to deliver results to you, and people to whom you have promised to deliver results. If your agreements:

1. Are important to your success,
2. Involve results that will happen over time, i.e., are not resolved with a simple email or phone call, or
3. Include interim results that are critical to long-term success,

then they belong on your Agreement Tracker. You do not need a complex spreadsheet. Your Agreement Tracker should include (or refer to) the agreed specifics on What-When-Why and Who-Where-How for each important agreement.

My observation is that keeping a current record of agreements is actually a time-saver, not a time-waster. Your Agreement Tracker allows you to see what agreements you have with other people and groups are currently outstanding, and when the next action or result is anticipated.

Step 3. Follow Up, Early and Often

Why keep an Agreement Tracker? It’s so you can stay alert to the progress of performance on each agreement. You owe something to someone? Someone owes something to you? Your Agreement Tracker shows you Who to talk with, When to talk with them, and What result you need to reference. Manage your agreements by knowing what they are, who they are with, and when to talk to them.

Communication about your key agreements is the lever that will ensure your successful performance.  Follow-up conversations don’t wait for the due date to arrive – they anticipate the due date, and confirm whether the agreement is on track. This serves three purposes. First, it reinforces the importance of the agreement; Second, it lets you know if things are going as planned or if there are issues that need someone’s attention; Third, it lets you update your Agreement Tracker to alert you to the next time communication will be needed.

Follow-up: Are things going according to plan? Are there problems on the horizon? You want to know early. Touch base on your most important agreements early – and often – to take the pulse of progress and perils. The purpose here is not to micromanage anyone, but to support accomplishment for everyone involved.

Here are some ideas on the kinds of things you might say in some of your follow-up conversations:

• The next project due date is approaching and I want to be sure that you have everything you need in order to get everything done on time.
• I know that I have a report due to you at the end of this week, and I thought I would check to see if there is anything else you’d like me to include before I finalize it?
• The IT manager had a delay in deliveries this week, so I would like to talk with you about whether that might impact our agreement for the system upgrade.

Managing agreements is about working with people – after the agreements are made – to fulfill the agreements successfully. It includes getting and giving alerts regarding potential problems, and updates on any necessary modifications. Follow-up conversations are the opportunities to work with people to ensure their success as well as your own.

Conclusion

The primary difference between managing people and managing agreements is where you focus your attention.  When you shift your attention away from the characteristics and attributes of people, and toward the state and condition of your agreements with them, you are paying attention to performance, not personality or preferences.  Are the agreements alive and well, or have people forgotten about them?  If people have forgotten, what needs to be done to put the agreement back into effect?

Managing agreements means that you establish clear agreements, keep track of them, and have periodic follow-up conversations to learn how things are going. It is a way to avoid unpleasant surprises, and it also works well to develop other people in being more accountable, more aware of the importance of their agreements, and better attuned to their role in overall workplace performance.

This was reprinted with permission from The Great Managing Newsletter, vol. 9, no. 23, published by Critical Path Consultants.

What is a “sufficient period of time”? It is the amount of time it takes to get something done given (a) the nature of the work required and (b) the productivity of the person (people) doing the work.  In general, the more complex and involved the work, the longer it will take to get done compared to work that is less complex or involved.  Similarly, the more productive the person (people) doing the work, the less time it will take than someone who is less productive.

Example

One of the jobs I perform several times each University quarter is grading exams.  How long it takes me to grade an exam depends first on the nature of the work required. Are there 50 exams to grade, or 150? Just as important, what type of exam is it? An exam that has all objective questions – multiple choice and true-false questions – is much faster to grade than an all essay question exam.

And in addition to the nature of the work, what are the factors that influence my productivity?  One is my reading speed, which is influenced by the writing quality of the student answers on essay questions. A second is my writing speed, for making comments that will give students feedback on both types of exam. And a third is my sitting tolerance – how long I can stay focused on the grading task. I find my tolerance is higher when student writing is good, and lower when it’s not.

A sufficient period of time for me to grade exams, therefore, depends on what type of exam I give and my productivity while grading. The only two ways I can reduce the time it takes to grade an exam is by (1) changing the design of the exam (more objective, less essay) and/or (2) improving my productivity.

As an example, if it takes 1.5 hours to grade one question in a short-answer essay exam for a graduate class of 25 people.  If there are four questions on the exam, I will need a total of 6 hours in order to grade the entire exam for the whole class. I can choose to break it up into four segments of 1.5 hours, or two segments of 3 hours, etc. But if I schedule less time than that, I will not complete grading the exam.

Like the Law of Gravity, we must account for the First Law of Accomplishment.  In order to accomplish something, you must have a sufficient period of time in which to get it done.  If you don’t allocate the time, it won’t get done. Of course, you can get something done in less time if you do a sloppy job. Doing incomplete work, however, damages people’s credibility and reputation.

Steps to Obeying the First Law of Accomplishment

There are four things that will help you obey the First Law of Accomplishment.

1.       Record Your Promises.  You can’t accomplish what you can’t find or can’t remember.  Keep a record of everything you have agreed to do. Write your promises and commitments down somewhere – preferably in one place, like a promise log – and then refer to it regularly until the promises are completed.

Ideally you record (a) What is due to someone, (b) Who it is to be delivered to, and (c) When it is due – plus enough particulars about the “deliverable” so you can determine how much work will be involved. Be sure to consider the different types of work that may be involved – the desk and computer work, phone and email work, research, writing, getting approvals, etc.

2.       Determine the time periods needed to complete the accomplishment.  Given the nature of the work to be done and your level of productivity, determine how much time will be required to complete the assignment.  Bear in mind that most people are overly optimistic about how long something takes to get done, and as a result they often grossly underestimate the amount of time they will need.  If something takes six hours, don’t assume you can get it done in five.

I have learned that most people do not know how long it takes to do the many jobs they have, even the ones they do on a recurring basis.  It took me several University quarters to determine how long it takes to grade different types of assignments.  And grading is only one part of my work!

Determine whether your promise for a particular “deliverable” (a promised product, service, or other result) will take four hours, or fourteen hours. And decide if it would be best to do it all at once, broken up into two or three – or more – steps, i.e., the number and size of specific “periods of time” you will require to accomplish the promised result.

3.       Determine the time available in your schedule to do the work. If you are like most people, you have far less time in which to do the work you have promised than you realize.  The reason for this is because of meetings, appointments, recurring events (including lunch and breaks), and interruptions.  When you are engaged in any of these things, you are not available for working on the other things you have promised – the “accomplishment work” that will fulfill your commitments.

In order to determine when you can work on the things you have promised, start with a blank schedule, then put in all the appointments and meetings you plan to attend, the recurring events like meals and coffee breaks, and an estimate of when you are most likely to be interrupted (and for how long). NOTE: Most of us have more control over interruptions than we think we do, and we know something about our typical patterns of timing and duration of interruptions too.

So what’s left? The time that remains after all these things are accounted for is your unscheduled time.  That is the time you have available for working on everything else – including your “accomplishment work”.  Pause a moment here to allow yourself to be shocked at how much time you are giving to appointments, meetings, recurring events, and interruptions, and how little you are giving to your “accomplishment work”.

4.       Schedule your work, then follow your schedule. Now that you know how many time periods are needed to complete the work you have promised (#2 above) and how much time you have available for doing that work (#3 above), you can schedule the work.  Put the periods of time necessary to accomplish your promises into your calendar.

One trick here is not to schedule yourself too tightly (i.e., back-to-back with no space in between), so that when unexpected events occur, you have some flexibility to deal with them.  Another trick is to use your schedule when people ask you to do things: when someone wants you to do something, pull out your calendar and look to see when you will be able to do the work required.

Remember, the First Law of Accomplishment says, “The accomplishment of anything requires a sufficient period of time in which to accomplish it.”  When your schedule is full, you will be unable to make new promises without modifying or revoking existing promises. Use your schedule as a guide to when you can say yes, and what conditions you must apply to the agreements you make.

This will put your all of your communication skills to work. You can make requests for resources and support, decline to take on something you know you cannot deliver, and make requests to change agreements on due dates for promises you have made with other people.

Conclusion

The biggest challenge to our personal performance is finding ourselves overcommitted because we have (1) failed to keep a good record of everything we have promised, (2) underestimated the amount of time a job will take, and/or (3) overestimated the amount of time available.  When we say yes to more things than we have time in which to do them, we are in an argument with the First Law of Accomplishment. This argument is stressful and unwinnable.  The integrity of your scheduling process is what produces your calendar, establishes the validity of your promises, and provides the foundation for your personal effectiveness. It’s best to make friends with the First Law of Accomplishment.

[This article is reprinted from The Great Managing Newsletter, Vol. 9, Issue 22, November 30, 2010 by permission of Jeffrey and Laurie Ford. For additional information, visit www.laurieford.com or www.professorford.com]

Escape hatches, however, can undermine our success. When it comes to the promises we make, it helps us keep them if we cultivate a “no alternative” attitude in which failure is not an option.  One way to do this is to root out any talk about “I’ll try”, or “I’ll do my best”, or “I’ll see”.  I have a friend Blair who has a habit of saying “No problem” in response to the requests made of him.  When I first heard Blair say that, I asked, “How can you say ‘no problem’ when you don’t know if it can be done?”  His response was “If I go into something with that point of view, I am much more open to what is required and willing to take it on because I was the one who said it wan’t going to be a problem.  This doesn’t mean it won’t take work or that there won’t be setbacks, there almost always are, it’s just that it gives me a different context in which to work than ‘I’ll try.”  For Blair, saying “no problem” was a way of burning the boats.

Another way to create a “no alternative” attitude is to make promises to people you would never consider not keeping it.  Stephanie, a manager, wanted to hire a staff person.  Her boss, however, was unwilling to commit the additional resources.  Undeterred, Stephanie promised that if the goal for which the staff person was being hired was not achieved, then her boss could not only assign the staff person to someone else, but also reduce her development budget (a big deal in this organization).  By making this promise, which her boss accepted, Stephanie was burning the boats.

If you’re serious about making and keeping a promise, take a tip from Caesar: he wasn’t interested in trying, he was interested in conquest.  As Yoda, the Jedi master in Star Wars said to Luke Skywalker “Do or do not.  There is no try.”   If you want more than half-hearted efforts from people, find a way to help them burn the boats.