Published August 29th, 2008
If you need a lawyer, you need the best lawyer, not the best you can afford, but the best lawyer. Coming in second in litigation is like coming in second in a gunfight. Don’t enter into litigation unless you are going in to win. Anything less and you will waste your time and money. Then, when you are winning, settle. Don’t wait for a decision from a judge or jury.
Some years ago I encountered a business that was trapped between a long-standing, one-sided legal agreement and a business that wanted to use that agreement against them. The new owner of the business was desperate to get the situation resolved or lose his investment and his livelihood. The rest of the details of the scenario are not important, but the lesson learned is meaningful.
I assisted the business in selecting one of the top legal firms in the state. They had experts whose reputation was unexcelled in the area we needed to address. Negotiations were fruitless, so litigation was begun. The other party hired the cheapest lawyer they could. The first appearance in court was telling. Our attorney presented a professional case that clearly impressed the judge. Their attorney acted like an amateur and did not address our claims. The judge chastised their attorney and rescheduled a date for them to be prepared. It was embarrassing to watch. Our legal team was confident of a win, but it was just a matter of convincing the other lawyer they had no chance. When they figured it out, we negotiated a settlement. We got what we wanted and they were off the hook for what was potentially a huge cash settlement.
Later, I met with one of the attorneys for lunch, his treat. He told me that settling litigation was always preferred to going for a decision, either with a judge or jury. His logic was clear. You never know what a judge or jury will decide. If you are winning, give the loser a way out that will give you what you want and not leave you in a bad situation. If you are losing, do what it takes to get it settled before the consequences are too big to deal with. He said that following our lunch, he had an appointment with a judge, a judge that said he had spent his day listening to stupid attorneys, that is attorneys who had not counseled their clients to negotiate a settlement.
Litigation is costly. Get your money’s worth.
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Published July 21st, 2008
Q: I was just promoted to be a manager over a problem team. Where do I start?
A: Initially, you need to become more familiar with the situation before just going in and changing things. If you start by arbitrarily changing policies or procedures, you may only be treating the symptoms of a bigger problem.
Take time to track and analyze problems that you find. Be very specific with what they are and who is involved. This will help you avoid unnecessary changes or even layoffs. Get to know the employees better. When it comes time to make changes, they will respect your decisions more.
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Published July 1st, 2008
Employees often need help to achieve goals. Many years ago, I was asked by my boss to interview several of the employees where I worked. It was his way of training me how to be a supervisor. It went well as I reviewed the questions they had answered on the form from the personnel department.
One lady responded to the question about her 5-year goal with an answer that was unexpected. She said that she wanted to go back to school and become a nurse, so she could take care of her aging mother. I related this to my boss as I reviewed the worksheets with him. My boss chuckled and let me know it meant nothing. He had known her for thirty years and she had the same goal for thirty years. The problem was that she did nothing about it.
When employees have goals, whether they be about going to school or being to work on time, we need to help them. That doesn’t mean helping with their homework, it means helping them lay out the steps to accomplishing their goals. Sometimes, it may mean that they report to us about their classes, what they are gaining that will benefit them at work, etc. For employees with tardiness issues, it may be that they report to us every Friday how many times they were on time. Notice, I didn’t say how many times they were late. The behavior we want to increase is the one we should be measuring. That’s an old axiom. Employees want to excel. Give them a chance to show off a bit. Then, when they do well, congratulate them. Be careful not to give accolades that are premature or unearned because that will cheapen the effect when they are earned.
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Published June 16th, 2008
Q: A key employee is leaving the office. I know he won’t be able to completely train a replacement on everything he knows within the next few weeks. How do I get as much information from him as possible before he goes?
A: There is no perfect way to get all of the information you want. Some things can only be learned by firsthand experience. However, there are some things that can help:
- If he is using a procedure manual, have him update it with the latest changes.
- Get a daily log of his activities.
- Have him write a job description. It will most likely contain things that are not in the official job description, and it will be much more specific.
- Job shadowing is an effective way for the replacement to run through as many day-to-day scenarios as possible.
There will always be things that cannot be learned during the transition period. There are problems that only arise occasionally, but the best way to learn about those is through dealing with them yourself. Don’t stress too much. Just get the essentials, and be supportive to the replacement.
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Published June 1st, 2008
I once met a man that claimed to have invented the personal computer. No, he wasn’t Al Gore. He was, in fact, a creative genius. To prove his claim, he took me to a warehouse and to a shelf filled with what looked like a lot of junk. There in the mess was a small computer. He turned it around. It said Model 00000001 Serial No. 00000001. Then, he handed me a copy of Byte Magazine and showed me an article on the history of the personal computer. Sure enough, there was a picture of the dust-covered computer sitting on the shelf in front of me. He was what he said he was.
My friend should have been wealthy. Instead, he was living on welfare. What was the problem? He was a creative genius, but not a manager. Had he teamed up with a manager, they would have both been rich. My friend died without an estate. He left nothing but a reputation.
Managers aren’t necessary evils in a business. They are essential to the success of every venture. Entrepreneurs that ignore their management duties often end up broke.
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