Matrix Time: PART 2
Dear Erin,
Well, I thought this post would go up mid-last week, but no go. As it happened, seems like last week both you and I were caught up in some people-work, involving volunteers, job descriptions and making sure people are set up for success - which, coincidentally is what this matrix post is about. I guess if I’m being honest, the post is probably more reflective of what’s on my mind lately than some kind of cosmic coincidence.
Last week I showed you the 2x2 matrix construct as a way of boiling rather complex issues into the relationship between two variables that most impact performance or outcome. In the BCG Growth-Market Share Matrix from last week’s post, the framework sets up “business/product growth” vs “current market share.” A low growth product for which you have a large market share is the proverbial “cash cow.” This means you don’t have to do much or invest much to reap a nice annuity of profits as competitors are unlikely to enter the market and challenge your position. High Growth / Large Market Share is an area to invest. And so on.
Given where we are in our own business growth cycle, my own team has been focused on people lately. The buzzword phrase is “getting the right people in the right seats.” We’ve also been paying attention to our management styles and how they are working (or not working) for various learning styles. Complicating matters - and I know this is what you’ve been experiencing - is the role of volunteers.
If it seems foolish to you to summarize human resources management into two variables and four quadrants, you are right. It is. People are beautifully unique and deserving of total respect for their individuality. And yet, having a framework in place is a nice place to start. It offers some directional suggestions while identifying trends that often hold true. You can always customize the framework for the individual.
So here goes:
What is a person good at? What does a person like to do?
When you array those two questions against each other, the quadrants show four very common sets of tasks relevant to the person:
Bottom Left (Off Limits): don’t like doing it / not so good at it. If you have a team member, paid or volunteer, or even yourself, assigned tasks in this quadrant, you’re in for a world of hurt. Now someone like you might do the work here anyway if there is absolutely no one else to do it - but you aren’t going to be happy doing it and you aren’t going to be pleased with the result. These tasks are best delegated or outsourced to someone else.
Bottom Right (Team Player): don’t like doing it / good at it. I call this the “team player quadrant” because hey, it’s a job. Sometimes you have to do stuff you don’t want to do. If you are an employee, expect that some of your job is going to fall into this quadrant. You should work with your manager to try and limit the amount of this kind of work, however, or you just may have to get another job if there is too much of it. Sure, you’re good at it, but are you happy?
This quadrant is particularly dangerous for volunteers. If you are assigning volunteers work they don’t like, regardless of how good at it they are, I can tell you from experience that nine times out of ten they are not going to do it. Volunteers are wonderful - but tricky. They came to do what they LIKE to do even if they say “I’ll do whatever you need.”
Similarly, if you are the volunteer, and you get assigned tasks you are able to do - even really good at doing - but don’t want to do or at least don’t want to spend all your time doing, BE CAREFUL! Other people probably don’t want to do these tasks either. Or can’t. Set boundaries. Be clear as to exactly what you’ll do and how much time you’ll spend. Otherwise, you risk putting yourself in a situation of having to do more and more of something you don’t want to do as the project shifts, or changes are made, or “leaders” push you to commit more time and energy as the project progresses. (I think this may resonate with you given a recent experience you shared.)
Top Left (Danger Zone): like doing it / not good at it. I call this one the “danger zone” because it demands some management. That said, this is also the quadrant where significant, exciting growth can happen. If someone likes the work, a little training might be all that’s needed to make this a win-win. Everyone should spend time thinking about things they like doing and want to get better at doing, and share that with their management. Management should dedicate time and resources to giving team members the opportunity to learn grow and develop. Training is more likely to be successful when the student in interested in the subject!
Here’s why it’s a danger zone. Left to their own devices, team members often will gravitate towards either the top left or top right quadrants: the things they like to do. If they wind up on the left side, working on things that they aren’t so good at, whether they know they aren’t good at it or not, that’s going to bog things down. When you have a tight deadline, you have to move the newbies out of there, with a promise to train them for next time. Or, at minimum, you have to get someone in there who knows what she’s doing to keep things on track. You also may need to offer some tough feedback, letting the person know that’s/he isn’t the right person for this task just yet. More often than not, whoever wandered into this quadrant will say s/he wants to “be helpful,” when the person just prefers doing this to whatever s/he is supposed to be doing.
We find this happening often at my work. Team members migrate to whatever tasks they like doing, or believe are high profile tasks, regardless of whether they (a) were assigned or (b) are even capable of doing it well. That sounds harsh, but think about your recent meetings when a bunch of non-technical people spent a good deal of time dictating how they want the technical work done. Gosh, don’t you wish you could press pause on those zoom meetings?? In my world, we often find the close cousin: people doing work that maybe they aren’t terrible at doing, but they aren’t great at it and regardless, the tasks are not necessary. They just like doing it, or perhaps like using the work to hide from other tasks. E.g., someone might put hours and hours into perfecting a spreadsheet to avoid making a phone call.
In my experience, this top left quadrant is crowded with people who want to talk about (1) marketing or (2) direct service / programming. To be fair, everyone has been marketed to, and everyone has been on the receiving end of service, so everyone has some experience with both. But the production end is worlds apart from the participant end.
Top Right (Sweet Spot): like doing it / good at it. You said the other day that you got back into the studio after days of meetings and computer work and realized once again that you are meant to dance. That’s the magic of the top right quadrant; it’s your Sweet Spot. You are good at doing what you love to do. To me, getting the “right people in the right seats” means getting everyone into his/her top right quadrant. It improves efficiency, it improves morale and it creates energy rather than draining energy. Each of the other three quadrants drain energy in one way or another.
BTW, this is the quadrant is they only place volunteers should live, unless you have that unicorn who really is willing to take one for the team and hop down to the bottom right quadrant and do some work s/he doesn’t like doing. Trying to get volunteers to do something they don’t want to do is an enormous energy drain; trying to get them to stop doing work they aren’t good at but like doing (because they want to “help the cause” or worse, don’t know that they aren’t good at the work) is a nightmare.
Life doesn’t fit neatly into a little 2x2 matrix. We all have to do things we don’t like to do, and we have to learn new things. The Sweet Spot doesn’t always pays the bills, at least not immediately. Sometimes to dance (top right), you might need to write grants (bottom right) or even get trained in lighting and tech (top left) until you’re good at that too. You happen to be good at numbers, so this is just an example, but if doing the finances is in the bottom left, barter with a friend who is a bookkeeper!
For me, we’ve got a team of employees who need encouragement to identify and focus on their top right talents. We’ve got some “Midwestern Nice” that I’m fighting through, with folks saying “I’ll do anything to help.” Yeah, I’m sure they would, but that won’t work over the long haul. As I said, it drains energy. I don’t need people “helping” on tasks they are drawn to without training and I don’t want people slotted into jobs they are good at but don’t like. And, let’s share the burden of bottom right as a team. We all should take on a bit of the work any of us can do but none of us like.
Right people | right seats.
Like to do | Good at doing. Get into the Sweet Spot.
People are complicated, as are projects. This matrix is way too simple. But, like most business matrices, it’s a good start.
Keep dancing!!!
Love, Mom