Getting coffee used to be a very different experience for Stephen Pagano. A jaunt to get his morning joe could result in a chat with employees, and by the time he returns to his desk, he has learned something about customer needs or service issues.
Back when he oversaw fewer people at Time Warner Cable, he had the time to manage by walking around. Plus, because more of his employees worked in the same building, he was more likely to bump into them during his rounds.
But it’s not that easy anymore. As the executive vice president over the West Region of the media giant — which has 7,000 employees sprawled across Southern California, Hawaii, Lincoln, Neb., and Kansas City, Mo. — Pagano has to find more creative ways to reach his people.
“When the customer service department’s right in your building, you can get your cup of coffee in the morning and just sort of wander down there and pull people aside. It can be a much more informal operation,” says Pagano, who shares Los Angeles office space with mostly management and back-office positions now, instead of customer-facing employees. And whether you are moving up the ranks or are already in the top spot dealing with a growing organization, it’s not easy to communicate.
“It’s more challenging when you’re removed from that environment to stay in touch. You really have to work at it harder,” he says. “I had to do a lot more reaching out and actually organize more formal events like lunches or breakfasts and carve out portions of the day to have these meetings.”
It’s been a challenge for Pagano to shift his style without sacrificing the time he likes spending with his reports — or the valuable input it elicits. He’ll have to keep adjusting his techniques now as he transitions into another executive role, where he will be overseeing customer care, original programming and other national initiatives at the company, which posted 2008 revenue of $17.2 billion.
No matter what changes face Pagano — whether it’s a new office that’s even farther away from the communal coffee pot or just more employees and, therefore, less time to spend with each one — he keeps his priorities straight. And at the top of his list is listening.
“The challenge is putting yourself out in front of the employees and listening, making the effort and spending the time,” he says. “Don’t spend your life in an office. Most of it should be spent with the people you’re leading.”
Here’s how Pagano overcomes the obstacles of time and space to stay in touch with his employees.
