Middle Managers Behaving Badly ? How To Stop This Damaging Your Results
More and more I hear and read about a looming crisis of leadership at the middle management level and the inevitable resulting increase in, poor performance, accidents and production mistakes and hence declining profits. I'm afraid to say these observations are not just rumours. In my own work as a management consultant I've noticed a distinct increase in negative behaviours in many middle managers in all sorts of companies. In this short article I'll explain what I mean by "negative behaviours" offer suggestions on what senior managers can do about it. Over the past four years I've noticed the following kinds of behaviours from many middle managers: · Increasingly using harsh, abrupt language: "Don't be so stupid". "I don't care what the problem is just get it fixed" · Becoming more dictatorial (unwilling to listen) "Yes, I know all that now do it this way" · Putting time pressure on people by continually asking when jobs will be completed and why things are taking so long · Losing tempers and insulting others when things go wrong · Unwilling to take the time to read, seek advice and think things out carefully · Creating a them and us culture: "We decide and direct and you do". · Using more of the fear factor: "Perform or you're out". If you're a senior managers reading you'll be disappointed and even shocked. The tragedy is that the middle managers I meet are excellent people ? they are not behaving like this on purpose. When you point out the danger and destructiveness of these behaviours they acknowledge it and change for a few days. However, in a few weeks they forget and go back to unhelpful behaviours. Why? In a nutshell, middle managers are under more pressure to perform than I have seen in a long time. For example,
· In the past five years, levels of management have been stripped out resulting in middle managers doing more and more.
· The constant downsizing, having to apply "for your own job" and frequent relocation have numbed many people. Some just don't care anymore.
· Many middle managers are now forced to be contractors and work in a culture where "you are only as good as your last job" and loyalty and long-term thinking is not seen to be valued. Middle management is now overstretched to breaking point both physically and mentally, hence the behaviours listed above. This is having an adverse effect on the supervisors they manage and in turn on al their people. Another tragedy is that most middle managers won't own up that they are under this pressure. So senior managers don't know about it. For me it's the effective leadership of senior managers that will prevent the coming crisis. Here are just six straightforward steps senior managers should take now. 1. Initiate a short, anonymous survey to measure the extent of pressure on middle managers. 2. Take even more time to discuss in detail the workload and targets of direct reports. Probe to see if people are accepting unreasonable workloads just to please you as the boss. Make sure your direct reports do this with their people too. 3. Deliberately create situations where you as a senior manager can admit that you can't cope and need help. People will not own up if you don't do it first. 4. Find ways to show middle managers that you value them as people not just a resource. Especially when they are non-core staff. Yes, short-term contracting as a mode of employment is increasing but that doesn't mean we should treat managers who are contractors as less valuable than full time staff. 5. Provide the time for management training. 6. Here's the toughest of all. When the Board trims the budget for a project and you've struggled to find ways to do more with less and you realise you can't, you should tell them. This is the ultimate source of unreasonable pressure. Don't allow it to flow down hill. Yes, we need a leaner business model for the modern competitive and fast-paced economy. Yes, we must keep pushing for better performance from everyone. But does lean have to be mean ? do we have to lose the human touch? Indeed, doesn't success in this era require senior managers to be even more human? Copyright (c) 2004 Dr William Robb. Electronic distribution to ezines, friends and colleagues permitted but publication in print prohibited without written permission Dr Bill has spent 20 years helping people and organisations improve their performance and get outstanding results from their time, effort and expenditure. http://www.mytimemanagementsecrets.com/
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Enhancing the Motivational Climate of Your Workplace
It has been well documented that employees' productivity and job quality increase when we are made to feel welcome at work. In other words, when the motivational climate is enhanced to meet their needs they produce quality work at the 100% rate.
The Significance of the Mundane
This article begins with a tip of the hat to a scholarly publication called the Journal of Mundane Behavior. Unlike other publications, which herald important issues, this one trumpets everyday, but rarely noticed, behaviors. It sees what the rest of us overlook because that stuff is so, well, mundane (my dictionary defines 'mundane' as being ordinary or common).
The Dog That Didnt Bark
A few weeks ago, after consultations with others in an association I represent, I made a partnership pitch to another organization with similar interests. If the idea comes to fruition, it will radically change our organization.
Micromanagement and Delegation
Micro-Management and Delegation
Recently I had a long discussion with a friend of mine about Managers and managing. She is a former HR Manager for several major companies and was bemoaning the fact that training for managers has been cut back so significantly in recent years and that managers no longer receive the type of help, guidance and assistance that they received just a few short years ago. My background has been in retail and telecom. Hers was neither. Yet the same problems and issues seem to rise in every industry. Of course, this is exactly the reason that I got into coaching. Coaching allows those managers who want to improve a very personalized venue to do just that.
We went on to agree that the common pattern these days seemed to be for the department star performer to be promoted from contributor, to team leader, to manager in seemingly record time. We agreed that new managers have difficulty moving from the contributor to the manager role because no one is willing to spend the time and energy to coach them through the various hurdles that new managers and leaders face. We agreed that this lack of training never seemed to lower the expectations of the manager, just the performance.
Then we disagreed, strongly. What caused the disagreement? The
concept was micro-management. My friend explained to me that she has "coached" many employees recently and that many of them complained about one particular manager who was micro-managing them. She told me that she helps the employees understand and come to grips with "their problem". "You're not going to be able to change that manager, she explained to me, "so you've got to change the employees". She explains to them that if they are being micro-managed, there's probably a reason for it. They are probably doing something wrong. If they just identify that problem and improve, their manager will stop the micro-management. "The employees need to improve themselves. It's as simple as that."
I wish my life was as simple as that.
She acknowledges that with that many employees complaining that
it's likely the manager is the problem. But changing the manager is too much trouble, she says, so let's tell the employees it's their fault.
While it is true that it is sometimes necessary to micro-manage
people, her explanation makes little sense to me. You might micro-manage an employee if their performance is lacking. Or because the project they are working on is very high visibility and any chance of error must be minimized. But when a number of employees are complaining about the same manager micro-managing them it implies one of two things.
Either this manager:
1. Has a lot of problem employees and needs to start weeding them out, or
2. This manager does not know how to let go and properly
delegate to their staff.
Excessive micro-management is not the sign of a healthy manager.
When someone is constantly micro-managing their staff it's generally their problem, not the employees.
If you are micro-managing your staff, refusing to delegate routine, and not so routine tasks to them for completion, then you are setting yourself up for trouble. Have you ever heard yourself say, "I would delegate this to someone else, but it's just as easy to do it myself"? Or maybe you say, "This task is too complicated to delegate. I have to make sure it's done right."
If so, I hope you like your job. Because you aren't going anyplace higher. Delegation can be difficult to learn because it looks like a huge risk and a huge leap of faith. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are techniques that you can learn that will help you delegate and get you out of the detail. And you have to get out of the detail if you really want to be an executive.
Creativity and Innovation Management: Generating Better Ideas
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. There are other useful definitions for both, for example, creativity can be measured according to the number of ideas produced, the diversity of those ideas and the novelty of those ideas.
Balancing Power in Outsource Contract Agreements
The practice of outsourcing business processes has long been subject to the discussion how best to ensure optimal benefits for both parties involved in the outsource agreement.
Managing Group Meetings
MANAGING SMALL MEETINGS: Keep the size of the meeting as small as possible. The larger the group, the more complicated communication becomes and the more garbled the purpose may get. For example, with a group of two, there are two communication channels, add a third person and six channels have been created. With each additional person, the number of communication channels increases exponentially. When selecting participants for the meeting, consider the following criteria: -- expertise in the topics -- contribution to the discussion -- pre-existing personal conflicts -need for new information.
Is It Worth To Outsource? How One Can Outsource Wisely
Recent trends in software development market show that it is no longer the most efficient way to work onshore. Competition is too high and in some particular cases, US or European IT people even go farming rather than admit the situation and adapt themselves. This article is mainly for those who are going to stay straight in the industry whatever surprises it keeps bringing.
Innovation Management ? Selecting Good Ideas
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.
What To Do When Your IT Project Is Late, Over Budget, and Looks Like It?s Never Going To Work
Here's a scary statistic. According to four prominent research firms, only around 20% of all IT projects are finished in a timely manner. By "timely" the researchers mean without loss of quality or being over budget. They go on to say the average project runs approximately 200 percent late, roughly 200 percent over budget, and contains only 2/3 of the original functionality.
Boost Your Leadership Skills Simply By Answering The Question, What Does Our Organization Really...
The difference between leaders is ears. Good leaders not only ask good questions, but they actually listen to the answers.
Leaning Toward Change
Seduced by the publicity surrounding the impact of Lean on organizations, it's no surprise that people new to Lean, upon hearing or reading such information, are anxious to implement a continuous improvement initiative in their organizations.
The Professor Makes A Minus Power Move
If you think the power move has costs, consider the alternative. We are talking -- four friends -- bringing one another up to date on our personal and professional lives.
Employee Orientation: Get New Hires Off To a Great Start
The good news is that a new hire orientation program offers an opportunity to build a lasting impression of the new company. The bad news is that that is going to happen whether you plan it or not. So why not get new hires off to a great start? Here are seven ways.
Being a Great Boss
Are you one of those bosses that people just love to hate? Maybe successful, maybe very intelligent, maybe organized and moving forward but just can't get along with people. Communication and other people skills are as important to the success of your business as your talent, knowledge and entrepreneurial drive. After all, you cannot do it all by yourself and you need good people.
Can A Business Still Be Profitable When People Skills Are Absent?
In our current world of rapid and amazing technological advances, many entrepreneurs have managed to dramatically limit the need for staff in highly profitable operations of all kinds.
The Fairness of Office Politics... Integrity and Political Motivation!
I hear many complaints daily about the "unfairness" of politics in corporate America. Employees say that their managers "lie" or issue "personal attacks" against them. Indeed, based on the pure ideals that we are taught as a child, this might appear to be the case. However, the corporate culture is not the "real world" in which we live out our personal lives. Each corporate culture is its own world with its own rules and reality. To understand this, one must understand the directions and desires of this world and learn how to best adapt to achieve the vision and mission of the corporation.
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Coworker and Caretaker
This article relates to the Coworkers competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of a coworker whose performance consistently facilitated effective cooperation, collaboration, and communication between the employees within one organization. While the Team Dynamics competency focuses on relationships within a single group, this competency targets coworker topics spanning the entire organization over multiple work units. This competency investigates your organization's ability to successfully work in partnership on projects with one another and between groups to reach the common goals of the organization.
Minimising Conflict With Effective Communication
Let's look at them...
Definition of 'Conflict'
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines:Choosing an Effective Employee Recognition Program
This article relates to the Recognition competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of how one company found the right recognition program by paying attention to employee feedback. This competency also explores what type of behavior is appreciated and rewarded within your organization. Studies show that employees who receive regular recognition and praise are more likely to increase their individual productivity levels, increase engagement with their colleagues, and stay longer at the organization. Evaluating this competency can be especially useful if your organization is experiencing low productivity levels or ineffective teamwork.
|
