Attention Flow Tms and TL..need tips on driving for results

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Flow Big Dog TL

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Apr 13, 2013
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I recently got turned down for a Senior TL position, STL said I have to get my flow process on point and my opportunity was drive for results..He says cracking the whip. I have done some driving with my team and trying to get them to move faster but the feedback is I bark out orders and walk away which I do not think is true. Any tips on helping me drive my team to crush trucks everyday fast to save hours for the store. The team at my store is very sensitive, I need help in getting them to go faster, and not move at average speed. Team Leads and team members feel free to respond.
 
If you're giving proper direction and they're still not performing up to par then you need to take a step back and look at how you respond. You need to start implementing true consequences for failing to meet a goal and at the same time provide some sort of incentive for being on the ball.
 
Jump in and start throwing the truck so that you set the pace. On other days you can jump on the line and help sort out the pushall. If all they see is you coming into the backroom and maybe pushing the line whilst telling them to go faster, and then walking away, it is going to hurt their morale and their respect for you. So unless you're unlocking the doors to let in team members, you need to be on that line with them. At least that has been my experience. Also an ULV.
 
Flow Big Dog TL said:
I recently got turned down for a Senior TL position, STL said I have to get my flow process on point and my opportunity was drive for results..He says cracking the whip. I have done some driving with my team and trying to get them to move faster but the feedback is I bark out orders and walk away which I do not think is true. Any tips on helping me drive my team to crush trucks everyday fast to save hours for the store. The team at my store is very sensitive, I need help in getting them to go faster, and not move at average speed. Team Leads and team members feel free to respond.
Click to expand...

I say this with years of experience both as a TM and former TL.....

There is only so much you can get out of a TM. (particularly flow, no offense to flow....) The fact is, your store has what it has. They have the best TMs that near minimum wage can buy for your area. It takes years for most TL's to realize this, and most rarely do, but this what it all boils down to.

You take a group of people, pay them poverty wages, sh**y benefits, have them work like dogs at weird hours, you can only get some much. Period. End of story.

Let me tell you the real reason you didn't get Sr TL - your STL simply doesn't like you. You might not "see that" from him, but I promise you, behind your back he doesn't like you. It's not your teams fault, and probably not even your fault - it is that your STL truly never had any intention of promoting you, and now he is trying to use the hope of promotion to get you to bleed your team dry. Problem is, it sounds like your team is already at that point. Do as your STL suggests, and you will probably see most of the best flow TM's you have quit.... then the next step is your STL blaming you for that too, and blaming you for the drop in performance once your best walk out the door.

My advice to you? Tell your team you appreciate their hard work and forget about Sr TL. Do the best you can for yourself as a TL and your team, and stop playing your STL's mind game. Hate to tell you this, but it's not happening. Your STL has no intention of promoting you to Sr TL regardless of what your team does. Don't make your teams life (and yours) miserable because you think doing so will lead to a Sr TL position. It won't.
 
Last edited:
Jack of all Workcenters said:
Jump in and start throwing the truck so that you set the pace. On other days you can jump on the line and help sort out the pushall. If all they see is you coming into the backroom and maybe pushing the line whilst telling them to go faster, and then walking away, it is going to hurt their morale and their respect for you. So unless you're unlocking the doors to let in team members, you need to be on that line with them. At least that has been my experience. Also an ULV.
Click to expand...

I agree. If our team leaders aren't occupied with something else they are usually in the back helping on the line. Even when they are occupied they still swing back and help clear it when it gets backed up sometimes. Not too often but sometimes our etls will be on the line helping as well.
 
In my store, there's only 1 Flow TL (me) and 1 ETL. We both take turns inside the truck, helping out on the Line, and if the pallets are filling up quicker than the bowlers can get back there for their next pallet, then one of us will take a pallet out to bowl (as long as the other is in the Backroom to help on the Line or in the Truck). Once the truck is unloaded, I'll assign the team where to go and jump in to help push the merchandise. Once I finish an aisle, I'll check on the team, then get back to work, jumping in with a TM who's aisle has a lot of push. This has helped me build a relationship with the team because they see me as a Leader who is willing to roll up her sleeves and work instead of just delegate, delegate, delegate. On shifts where my ETL and I are on together, after break is over, I'll jump into the Backroom to help with backstock if needed while my ETL focuses more on the floor.
 
Target has many people in STL and DTL posirions now who have the idea that leadership is all about coachings, write ups and termination as showing you are doing something or leading. This is a result of a decline leadership starting at the top of Target has made its way down to the stores where you are faced with lack of payroll, unrealistic goals, lack of support from above, and no leadership from the levels above you.
 
stateoftarget11 said:
Flow Big Dog TL said:
I recently got turned down for a Senior TL position, STL said I have to get my flow process on point and my opportunity was drive for results..He says cracking the whip. I have done some driving with my team and trying to get them to move faster but the feedback is I bark out orders and walk away which I do not think is true. Any tips on helping me drive my team to crush trucks everyday fast to save hours for the store. The team at my store is very sensitive, I need help in getting them to go faster, and not move at average speed. Team Leads and team members feel free to respond.
Click to expand...

I say this with years of experience both as a TM and former TL.....

There is only so much you can get out of a TM. (particularly flow, no offense to flow....) The fact is, your store has what it has. They have the best TMs that near minimum wage can buy for your area. It takes years for most TL's to realize this, and most rarely do, but this what it all boils down to.

You take a group of people, pay them poverty wages, sh**y benefits, have them work like dogs at weird hours, you can only get some much. Period. End of story.

Let me tell you the real reason you didn't get Sr TL - your STL simply doesn't like you. You might not "see that" from him, but I promise you, behind your back he doesn't like you. It's not your teams fault, and probably not even your fault - it is that your STL truly never had any intention of promoting you, and now he is trying to use the hope of promotion to get you to bleed your team dry. Problem is, it sounds like your team is already at that point. Do as your STL suggests, and you will probably see most of the best flow TM's you have quit.... then the next step is your STL blaming you for that too, and blaming you for the drop in performance once your best walk out the door.

My advice to you? Tell your team you appreciate their hard work and forget about Sr TL. Do the best you can for yourself as a TL and your team, and stop playing your STL's mind game. Hate to tell you this, but it's not happening. Your STL has no intention of promoting you to Sr TL regardless of what your team does. Don't make your teams life (and yours) miserable because you think doing so will lead to a Sr TL position. It won't.
Click to expand...

This is some prolific posting, my friend.
 
Jack of all Workcenters said:
Jump in and start throwing the truck so that you set the pace. On other days you can jump on the line and help sort out the pushall. If all they see is you coming into the backroom and maybe pushing the line whilst telling them to go faster, and then walking away, it is going to hurt their morale and their respect for you. So unless you're unlocking the doors to let in team members, you need to be on that line with them. At least that has been my experience. Also an ULV.
Click to expand...

The Unload portion is not an issue. I am with my team the entire unload, pushing the line, help bringing pallets out, and float over to the line if it is getting backed up. We always crush the unloads and they are getting faster by the day. Its when we get to the floor they said the issue is..Based on feedback from chat sessions I have been jumping in wit my team more to push and maybe I should jump in more. I was coached by my ETL saying that the new seasonal team members who started two days are moving too slow and the old team members are rubbing off on them which i dont see. I think its all about keeping the intensity up after break which is where we seem to lose momentum. My best team members work with me to help out, I think it just I have to get the rest of the team members to move faster which they are capable of.

As far as the senior team lead, I can agree wit that based on the fact only 2 people applied. The other only being with the company for a month and he was promoted over me, I think this was already planned out. My ETL always said i was ready for that position, but when there was an opening the support stopped
 
Fully agree with SOT.

You're just going to make it worse and you're the one who's going to get screwed.

You're just thinking about yourself and not your team. Guess what? Without a team, you're nothing. You can't even accept the feedback from your team.
 
Flow Big Dog TL said:
Jack of all Workcenters said:
Jump in and start throwing the truck so that you set the pace. On other days you can jump on the line and help sort out the pushall. If all they see is you coming into the backroom and maybe pushing the line whilst telling them to go faster, and then walking away, it is going to hurt their morale and their respect for you. So unless you're unlocking the doors to let in team members, you need to be on that line with them. At least that has been my experience. Also an ULV.
Click to expand...

The Unload portion is not an issue. I am with my team the entire unload, pushing the line, help bringing pallets out, and float over to the line if it is getting backed up. We always crush the unloads and they are getting faster by the day. Its when we get to the floor they said the issue is..Based on feedback from chat sessions I have been jumping in wit my team more to push and maybe I should jump in more. I was coached by my ETL saying that the new seasonal team members who started two days are moving too slow and the old team members are rubbing off on them which i dont see. I think its all about keeping the intensity up after break which is where we seem to lose momentum. My best team members work with me to help out, I think it just I have to get the rest of the team members to move faster which they are capable of.

As far as the senior team lead, I can agree wit that based on the fact only 2 people applied. The other only being with the company for a month and he was promoted over me, I think this was already planned out. My ETL always said i was ready for that position, but when there was an opening the support stopped
Click to expand...


I'm saying that on occasion jump in the truck, if all you're doing is pushing the line people will just start seeing you as an enemy. Push with them as much as you can. For this particular job and position, delegating is not your friend.
You also need to partner up with your STL and meet with your DTL anytime they visit, if you don't get support from your immediate bosses than those are the ones you want the support from. When you have your STL backing you it becomes amazing how fast you can be pushed through the system. This is just from my experiences. YMMV
 
Jack of all Workcenters said:
Flow Big Dog TL said:
Jack of all Workcenters said:
Jump in and start throwing the truck so that you set the pace. On other days you can jump on the line and help sort out the pushall. If all they see is you coming into the backroom and maybe pushing the line whilst telling them to go faster, and then walking away, it is going to hurt their morale and their respect for you. So unless you're unlocking the doors to let in team members, you need to be on that line with them. At least that has been my experience. Also an ULV.
Click to expand...

The Unload portion is not an issue. I am with my team the entire unload, pushing the line, help bringing pallets out, and float over to the line if it is getting backed up. We always crush the unloads and they are getting faster by the day. Its when we get to the floor they said the issue is..Based on feedback from chat sessions I have been jumping in wit my team more to push and maybe I should jump in more. I was coached by my ETL saying that the new seasonal team members who started two days are moving too slow and the old team members are rubbing off on them which i dont see. I think its all about keeping the intensity up after break which is where we seem to lose momentum. My best team members work with me to help out, I think it just I have to get the rest of the team members to move faster which they are capable of.

As far as the senior team lead, I can agree wit that based on the fact only 2 people applied. The other only being with the company for a month and he was promoted over me, I think this was already planned out. My ETL always said i was ready for that position, but when there was an opening the support stopped
Click to expand...


I'm saying that on occasion jump in the truck, if all you're doing is pushing the line people will just start seeing you as an enemy. Push with them as much as you can. For this particular job and position, delegating is not your friend.
You also need to partner up with your STL and meet with your DTL anytime they visit, if you don't get support from your immediate bosses than those are the ones you want the support from. When you have your STL backing you it becomes amazing how fast you can be pushed through the system. This is just from my experiences. YMMV
Click to expand...

Oh yea I occassionally jump in the truck and I help run full flats or pallets off the line to the floor and occassionally help bowl. We work great together on the unload. I have one of my team members auditing backstock through the entire push process so I feel I am to push as much as possible with my team and coach that way. They can see how fast I move pushing and it should rub off on them. Lead by example
 
Our TL is with us every step of the way on the floor, not sure I'd expect any different. You should be one of the team, not a supervisor that walks around and picks up empty cases. Set the pace and destroy some kids. Help improve your star players and weed out the people who don't care. But make sure you practice positive reinforcement. You don't have to be a dick but people should know you expect them to perform at a certain level and that there's real consequences for their apathy.

There may also be a problem with your process on the floor, who knows.
 
I inherited a slow flow! The first thing you really have to do is set the expectation. As simple as it sounds, count boxes and give each team member a goal. 1 box per minute. Make it fun, recognize those who do make the goals with a soda, candy etc and just plain old fashioned but heartfelt recognition. If you have someone who continually misses the goal, jump in the aisle with them and set the pace. Figure out why that person is unable to get it moving. I found one team member who was front facing all of the canned goods even 4 rows back. He was also zoning as he was going. I don't mind occasional straightening, but if an area is a disaster I let the closing leaders know which areas are being missed. I have a few mentally slower team members that are hard working but do get confused easily. Those team members have specific areas they work in daily. This way they get to know what goes where and have a real sense of pride in a job well done. I use pets, chemicals and paper for those team members. If you have a few older team members that are also hard working but the sheer weight of some items are getting to be an issue have them work H&B or baby. For me it worked really well to get the truck unloaded have the 2 bowlers finish up bowling and have the rest of the team knock out seasonal before we take our first break. After lunch the pace does slow down, its just the nature of the beast. Don't focus on the promotion. Focus on your process, the rest will fall into place.
 
PricingMaster said:
In my store, there's only 1 Flow TL (me) and 1 ETL. We both take turns inside the truck, helping out on the Line, and if the pallets are filling up quicker than the bowlers can get back there for their next pallet, then one of us will take a pallet out to bowl (as long as the other is in the Backroom to help on the Line or in the Truck). Once the truck is unloaded, I'll assign the team where to go and jump in to help push the merchandise. Once I finish an aisle, I'll check on the team, then get back to work, jumping in with a TM who's aisle has a lot of push. This has helped me build a relationship with the team because they see me as a Leader who is willing to roll up her sleeves and work instead of just delegate, delegate, delegate. On shifts where my ETL and I are on together, after break is over, I'll jump into the Backroom to help with backstock if needed while my ETL focuses more on the floor.
Click to expand...

This is kind of like my situation except instead of my ETL working, he supposedly starts scanning for loc accuracu first thing in the morning while he leaves me to supervise the unload by myself. In reality, he watches stuff on YouTube and Netflix on his phone. During the floor process, you can find him in the bathroom or scanning, even though there's never an exf batch in the gun. Must be nice to have the kind of support from your etl.
 
tellmeaboutatime said:
I inherited a slow flow! The first thing you really have to do is set the expectation. As simple as it sounds, count boxes and give each team member a goal. 1 box per minute. Make it fun, recognize those who do make the goals with a soda, candy etc and just plain old fashioned but heartfelt recognition. If you have someone who continually misses the goal, jump in the aisle with them and set the pace. Figure out why that person is unable to get it moving. I found one team member who was front facing all of the canned goods even 4 rows back. He was also zoning as he was going. I don't mind occasional straightening, but if an area is a disaster I let the closing leaders know which areas are being missed. I have a few mentally slower team members that are hard working but do get confused easily. Those team members have specific areas they work in daily. This way they get to know what goes where and have a real sense of pride in a job well done. I use pets, chemicals and paper for those team members. If you have a few older team members that are also hard working but the sheer weight of some items are getting to be an issue have them work H&B or baby. For me it worked really well to get the truck unloaded have the 2 bowlers finish up bowling and have the rest of the team knock out seasonal before we take our first break. After lunch the pace does slow down, its just the nature of the beast. Don't focus on the promotion. Focus on your process, the rest will fall into place.
Click to expand...

I inherited a very much broken flow process. The backroom team didnt even set the line at night. They have come a long way in a year and we are gettin close to where we need to be. How your flow team now? Did you have any problem performers that improved? My issue is they like to talk and work, but not very good at multi-tasking. I was not really focused on the promotion, it was just the fact it was dangled in front of mme and everybody expected to be me and they gave to someone that just started. I think its time to not worry about that, just worry about my team
 
Food recognition
Rwt goal times for individual bottom performers
Pace the truck and learn the rythem and opportunities that your line has.
Draw the friend/boss line.
Treat everyone with respect and have decent patience for all team members. They'll care if you show you care.
Face time with team. Try to stay with your main wave for most of the night. Push with the team in there isles not your own separate one. Talk to the team.
Suggest ways to improve productivity to your team. Things like saving footsteps by tossing your cardboard to the front and finding easy more convienient ways to out there back stock away wll shed minutes off of every isle they push.
Have huddles and recognize the team and not just the same people everyday. Also make them recognize each other.
And finally, isolate your "problem tms" you know, the guys that talk up a storm and slow he team. Have them become branders or put them in there own depts with goal times.
 
It sounds like you yourself are unaware of where the opportunities are at. Do you struggle getting out of the truck on time? Managing bulk/pallets? Post-truck clean up? Repacks? Clean up as TM's finish an aisle?

First you need to identify what's keeping you from achieving your goal. Tackle each opportunity one at a time. Simply saying "go faster" isn't going to cut it, especially when you aren't saying WHAT needs to go faster.
 
Lol. I think when I joined tbr, I didn't care for SOT, but this post was spot on!
 
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