It is within performance levels that clusters become a primary form of organization, and questions of alignment, coordination, and control arise. Some top executives work with their division managers in a performance cluster, but other executives prefer to deal one on one with their divisional subordinates.

Six areas of weaknesses experienced by organizations are dependence on quality of leadership, fragile motivation, loss of some managerial control, volatile earnings, loss of some specialization, and a shift in loyalty from boss to team.

Our company prides itself on giving generous fringe benefits. We try to promote from within, while confining our recruiting to young, talented people from high schools, colleges, and military service.

Results indicated that invoices from $10,000 to $70,000 were listed. The invoice numbers included 1938734 to 1938798.

The two teams met on July 14, 2000, to discuss how the transition from a hierarchical organization to self-managing teams was especially difficult for former managers. It was decided that the transition, begun in September 1999, did not give them the training they needed to help them cope with their changing role from manager to decision maker. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 13, at the home of Brad Stevens, 1709 Morningside Drive.

However, not everyone has been so fortunate. For those who became coordinators, the requirements to delegate responsibility did not come easy. Even after all they accomplished, it still didn't seem fair for everyone. The coordinators agreed that, despite their growth as a team, there were areas where they still had difficulty.

A manager who puts off a decision that will affect the work of other people is waffling. The waffling manager, who may also be suffering from depression, can have virtually unlimited negative impact. In any case, the waffling is hard to counter.

Notice that "who puts off a decision that will affect the work of other people. . ." is necessary to describe which manager is a waffling manager. If the words had not been necessary to understand the noun preceding them, you would use commas, as in the second sentence.

In practice, however, if all goes well, routine meetings will take care of maybe 80 percent of the problems that arise. The remaining 20 percent, on the other hand, will still have to be dealt with in mission-oriented meetings. Remember, Peter Drucker stated that if people spend more than 25 percent of their time in meetings, it is a sign of bad organization.

Charles, a young computer analyst, remembers his first year at the Harvard Business School. Initially, he was engulfed by a fear of the class material, of his professors, Dr. Dean and Dr. Mills, and of failure, or flunking out. When the entire class formed study groups, known as "sections," Charles finally felt a sense of belonging because, at last, he had a feeling of affiliation among his section members.

Grouping the paragraphs, supervisors and subordinates worked their way through the appraisal. By noon, interest in the project was waning.

To: All Executives

From: Brenda Paulsen, president

Executives, if you are wondering how much you can learn about a job candidate from a short interview, consider this. A face-to-face, or one-on-one meeting, is helpful in judging a candidate's appearance, verbal skills, and presence, but remember, the applicant is typically on guard. He or she is dressed carefully and on his or her best behavior. Be a good interviewer, however, and probe the candidate's basic mental and emotional patterns to determine whether he or she will fit into our company, Delinear Designs.

To do this, of course, it is essential to understand the professional, long-range requirements. Success in interviewing requires knowing what and whom you are looking for. But don't reveal the background and personality traits needed for the job; otherwise, the applicant will give you the answers he or she thinks you want. Don't provide inadvertent, needless clues by writing down answers that appear significant. A better technique, a more discreet technique, would be to wait until the candidate, Joann Smith, for instance, is answering another question, and then write down the significant note.

Does the applicant seek power, for example, or achievement, or does he or she primarily need to be liked? In judging past performance, analytic skills, and certain forms of intelligence, it's important to combine a careful, well-planned interview with a battery of objective tests and extensive reference checks.

(This memo supersedes the October 5, 2000, reminder I sent about interview techniques. bp)