Irony Of Middle Management

One of the common concerns of any scaling team is that while the stakeholders ensure  themselves  with a great set of leadership and they in turn recruit a battalion of teams  under them to do the work,there is one lacuna…

The chaos and confusion in the middle management!

The frozen middle management scenario is a result of widening  gaps in communication and connection between the  managers and themselves.

Often great work done by the team goes without credit buried under the hierarchy structure and lack of appreciation.

Second inspite of ability in the teams and readiness to  accomplish  good work there is a lot of confusion about what to do as there is no clarity passed on to them from their managers.

It’s clearly indicative of how important it is for the leadership team to share the purpose of why they are doing what they do…and how the message needs to be passed on with the same passion to every member of the teams no matter the number of layers adding up in the middle.

This is how you reinstate ownership  and accountability which is paramount  to the efficiency  of the teams.

Unfortunately  much of what is conveyed to the managers from the top in terms of the purpose is often withheld from teams, for the manager may not personally value the significance of the message for teams reporting to them to understand. It becomes less and less important in their discussions.  And that is where a gamut of internal  communications issues show up.

What will you do

When you do not have a purpose

You stop steering ….

As there is no winds of  motivation to sail your course.

In  the case of the middle  managers  sandwiched in between, they soon have no sense of purpose,  they are often found working in circles without direction.

They may seem busy doing mundane chores to fill their work days and go back home every day a little more disengaged and disconnected with the system. 

In my professional career as a Consultant & having been involved in the organisational development up close, I have encountered such scenarios where the value of transparency in teams in their shared work as well as the vision & purpose of the leader is often lost in the daily rut of routine. Between filling forms and answering  mails  much of the work today has become impersonal.  

I believe the role of the middle management is crucial  in managing change for they can bridge the gap between  expectations  from the strategic  objectives and key results set from the top to match with the speed and efficiency actual day to day activities integration .

An  engaged, informed, and  knowledgeable  middle  management  would mean a lot to  the stability of a growing  organization. It is a huge  balancing act between manging to sustain  through  the changes and managing policies practices  and procedures  ensuring  compliance and come away stronger.

It is important  for the key stakeholders to have conversation that sets clarity on the value for the middle management  in the system and expectations  from  them.

They need to know how much interweaved  they actually  are in driving changes. They also need to become more self aware and understand  the intricacies  of working beyond biases and  prejudices that may come along while they understand the power structure of their respective organization.

Beyond good communication  skills they will need to develop  their expertise in networking with their seniors  as well as their teams.

The responsibility on the middle management is demanding as the role is expanding to include the implementation of changes in the system as well as managing the cultural changes.

This can happen best when the senior management is aware of the challenges faced by the middle management, like time in planning to execution. They can best help fasten this process by direction support and feedbacks while realizing the strategic value of the middle managers.

Every level of management is intrinsically interweaved and important to the whole. In recognizing their individual strengths as well working in the spirit of collaboration, teams begin to evolve.

What do you think of the prevailing practices at work?

Savvy Raj