The very nature of middle management is being in the middle—caught between the direction of company leaders and the needs of employees. There’s often a disconnect between the two.
Growing Demands in a Changing Environment
Managers today are especially feeling the pinch from a combination of growing demands for flexibility and work-life balance from employees, higher expectations from leaders in a competitive global environment, and the impacts of rapidly advancing technologies.
To paraphrase Marshall Goldsmith, “what got them here, won’t get them there.” The problem is many don’t have the current training, development, and knowledge they need to thrive in a work environment that has changed significantly over the past few years.
Yet, despite these massive changes, many of the basics of management remain the same.
The Basics of Management Remain the Same
Managers need a variety of soft skills to effectively do their jobs. They achieve their goals through others so they must be able to influence and motivate others toward shared goals. To do so effectively, they need:
- Effective communication skills. This involves a broad range of competencies including the ability to listen actively to understand team members’ and others’ needs and concerns, giving constructive feedback, delivering clear and concise instructions, and facilitating open and transparent conversations between team members and others.
- People management skills. Because managers get their work done through others, they need to be able to influence others. This involves motivating and developing team members, coaching and counseling, managing a mix of diverse personalities, and setting clear expectations and goals. Importantly, managers need to be a resource for employees, removing barriers and providing the support they need to be effective.
- Time management. Managers must be efficient in their own work and by effectively directing and supporting the work of others.
- Performance management. Manager’s feedback drives employees’ performance. Managers must be adept at setting and aligning department and individual goal with organizational objectives, conducting effective performance reviews, providing regular feedback and recognition, and addressing performance issues directly and constructively.
- Change management. This is an essential skill because that old saying is true: “change is a constant.” Change can be challenging—and frustrating. Managers set the stage for their employees’ reaction and adaptation to change through their own behaviors. They need to be positively supportive while also realistically aware of the challenges that change presents.
Despite the rampant changes around us, the basics of effectively managing people draw upon timeless soft skills that successful managers can use to meet their own, and their organizations’ goals. Management, after all, is about working with and through others toward common goals.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.