Pitched Unfairly

Bob&Bob Advisory

Initech can run leaner, and the interviews show where.

Restructuring readout · Initech · 1999 · Confidential

TPS REPORT COVER SHEET MEMO > UPDATE 99 > TO 2000 > 0 OF 1,000,000 8 bosses memo!! BOB BOB
Prepared for Bill Lumbergh, Division Vice President Draft for discussion
  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Executive summary

Initech should run leaner, and its most candid engineer should lead.

  1. SSituation

    A software division racing the year 2000

    Initech's engineers are updating bank software for the date change. Leadership asked us where the division can run leaner.

  2. CComplication

    Too many bosses, too little work, one ghost on payroll

    One engineer reports to eight bosses. His week yields about fifteen minutes of real work. Payroll still pays a man let go years ago.

  3. RResolution

    Promote, release, fix, and review

    Promote the most candid engineer. Release three roles. Fix the payroll glitch. Review the management layers next.

The storyline test: a readout works when its titles alone tell the story.

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Scope and method

We interviewed every employee and asked each one the same question.

The question

“What would you say you do here?”

Who
Every employee in the division
How
One-on-one, two interviewers
Also
Org chart, memos, payroll file

Tom Smykowski

Customer liaison

Release

What we heard

Takes the specifications from the customers and walks them down to the engineers, because, he says, engineers are not good with customers.

Our read

A hand-off between two groups who could talk directly.

Peter Gibbons

Software engineer

Promote

What we heard

Has eight bosses. Does about fifteen minutes of real work in a week. Says the problem is not laziness; he has stopped caring.

Our read

The clearest diagnosis anyone gave us. Straight-talking, management material.

Michael Bolton

Software engineer

Release

What we heard

A capable programmer. Shares a name with a famous singer and would rather not discuss it.

Our read

Capable. His role is on the reduction list.

Samir Nagheenanajar

Software engineer

Release

What we heard

A capable programmer. Nobody at the table, us included, said his surname right the first time.

Our read

Capable. His role is on the reduction list.

Milton Waddams

Not on the employee list

Fix payroll

What we heard

No interview was scheduled. He has a desk, a red stapler, and a paycheck, but no record of employment.

Our read

Not an interview finding. A payroll finding: see Finding 3.

Source: Interviews by Bob and Bob Advisory with Initech software division staff; Initech org chart, memos and payroll records. Office Space (1999).

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Approach

Initech's cost problem splits into three questions we could answer.

The question

Why does the division cost more than its output?

A

Too many managers per engineer?

B

Too little output per paid hour?

C

Paying for work nobody does?

How many bosses does one engineer answer to?

Finding 1

How often is the same work corrected twice?

Finding 1

How much of a week is real work?

Finding 2

What eats the rest of the week?

Finding 2

Is anyone paid who no longer works here?

Finding 3

Which roles only pass work along?

Interviews

Source: Bob and Bob Advisory issue tree, agreed with Initech leadership at kickoff. Each leaf is answered on the slide named beside it.

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Finding 1 of 3 · Branch A

One engineer answers to eight bosses, so every mistake is corrected eight times.

8:1

Bosses per engineer, by his own count

Visits about one mistake

8of 8

Lumbergh

Division VP

Portwood

Manager

Boss 3

Manager

Boss 4

Manager

Boss 5

Manager

Boss 6

Manager

Boss 7

Manager

Boss 8

Manager

Peter Gibbons

Software engineer, one

Corrected ×8

Source: Interview with P. Gibbons, software engineer. Bosses 3 to 8 are unnamed in the record. Office Space (1999).

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Finding 2 of 3 · Branch B

A forty-hour week yields about fifteen minutes of real work.

Left in the week

0:15

hours : minutes

Illustrative split

40h20h0
40h
~1h
~10h
~9h
~20h
15 min

Paid week

Late in, by the side door

Spacing out at the desk

Bosses, memos, cover sheets

Looking busy

Real work

Source: Interview with P. Gibbons (fifteen minutes of real work a week). Intermediate hours are illustrative, not measured. Office Space (1999).

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Finding 3 of 3 · Branch C

Payroll still pays a man who was let go years ago, and nobody told him.

INITECHEarnings statement
Employee
M. Waddams
Role
Not on file
Status
Active
Check
Issued

Paid every period, no end date

Four records, one person

  • HR fileLaid off, years ago
  • PayrollPaid, every period
  • FacilitiesHas a desk, and a red stapler
  • Anyone told him?No

Implication Fix the glitch and the paychecks stop. No meeting required.

Source: Initech HR, payroll and facilities records for M. Waddams, reconciled by Bob and Bob Advisory. Office Space (1999).

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Options considered

The biggest saving is the layer that hired us, so we start with quick wins.

  1. A

    Flatten the eight-boss chain

    The biggest saving. Needs sign-off from the layer it removes.

    Defer
  2. B

    Release three roles

    Two engineers and a liaison. A meaningful saving this quarter.

    Recommend
  3. C

    Fix the payroll glitch

    Pure saving. Nobody has to be told.

    Recommend
  4. D

    Retire the TPS cover sheet

    Small and easy. The memo has already gone out.

    Defer
  5. E

    Promote the candid engineer

    Costs a little. Puts the diagnosis in charge.

    Recommend

Source: Bob and Bob Advisory assessment. Positions reflect team judgment, not measured savings.

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Recommendation

Promote one engineer, release three roles, and fix the glitch quietly.

  1. 01

    Promote

    Peter Gibbons to the management track

    Owner
    B. Lumbergh
    Answers
    Interviews

  2. 02

    Release

    M. Bolton, S. Nagheenanajar and T. Smykowski

    Owner
    HR
    Answers
    Option B

  3. 03

    Fix

    The payroll glitch for M. Waddams, without a meeting

    Owner
    Payroll
    Answers
    Finding 3

  4. 04

    Review

    The eight-boss chain, in phase two

    Owner
    Leadership
    Answers
    Finding 1

Source: Bob and Bob Advisory recommendation to Initech leadership, based on Findings 1 to 3 and the option assessment.

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Implementation roadmap

The changes land in two weeks, with every notice on a Friday.

Workstream
M
T
W
T
F
M
T
W
T
F
Phase two
Week 1
Week 2
Payroll
Correct the glitch
People
Draft three notices
Org
Set up the promotion
Layers
Review the boss chain

Milestone: notices delivered, promotion announcedFriday

Source: Bob and Bob Advisory implementation plan. Dates are proposed, pending leadership approval.

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Risks

Three risks could undo the plan, and one has no mitigation.

RiskLikelyImpactOwnerMitigationWhat happened
Word of the cuts reaches the engineers before Friday Med High Bob and Bob Keep the list to leadership until notices go out Peter told them. The three wrote a virus to skim fractions of a cent.
The payroll fix reaches its subject with no conversation High Med Payroll None proposed. Monitor. He lost his desk, then his stapler. Then the building burned down.
The promoted engineer does not want to be promoted Med Med B. Lumbergh Revisit in phase two He took a construction job instead.

Source: Bob and Bob Advisory risk register. Red-pen notes added after the fact, from the events of Office Space (1999).

  1. Summary
  2. Approach
  3. Findings
  4. Options
  5. Recommendation
  6. Risks
  7. Next steps

Decisions and next steps

We need three decisions from leadership, all of them by Friday.

  1. Approve the four moves as one package

    Decides: B. Lumbergh

  2. Approve the payroll correction without notice to the employee

    Decides: Leadership

  3. Sign off the promotion and its start date

    Decides: B. Lumbergh

Then, this week

  1. MonBrief HR on the three noticesBob and Bob
  2. WedConfirm the glitch is correctedPayroll
  3. FriDeliver notices, end of dayHR

Source: Bob and Bob Advisory. Decisions requested at this readout; dates are the proposed plan.