managing managers

8/7/2019 Managing managers

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From Managing Others toFrom Managing Others toManaging ManagersManaging ManagersGroup.3

Parvathi.S.Unni

Suja.S.Chandran

ShobhaViswanath

Sreekala.A 1



IntroductionIntroductiony

Managers of managers- greatest number of people in the company

y Responsible for the most hands-on work jobs

y They are in charge for getting the work done in

an organizationy Directly linked to the quality, productivity &

performance of an organization

y Chance for missing skills and values- if

promoted to high positions.

y High opportunity to imbibe & implant crucial

leadership qualities.

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Signs of a Misplaced Manager of Signs of a Misplaced Manager of

ManagersManagersy

Difficulty delegating Includes not only being unable to delegate but also

delegating improperly

As people move up the leadership levels the inability to

delegate has a negative effect

As first-line managers think they have increased decision

making responsibility they get frustrated when a work is

forced upon them

Work gets slow as too many decisions have been

centralized and delayed

These managers are much hassled and complaining about

too much work and no competent direct reports to help

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y Poor per f ormance management

One who provides poor or little feedback to

managers, who is not good coach, doesn·t offer clear

direction, and whose people are unclear of goals

i. e, These managers are unable to communicate

productively with his direct reports

y Failur e to build a strong team

They works with their direct reports as individuals

but doesn·t organize them into a productive team

This prevents the synergy that comes when a team

of managers share ideas.

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y A single minded focus on getting the work done

Demonstrates little or no capacity for taking fulladvantage of his new position, still operates with the

values of first-line manager Doesn·t recognize his role as a coach and developer of a

managerial talent

Do not exhibit interest in strategic or cultural issues

y Choosing clones over contributors

These people have opportunities to select their first-linemanagers

They are not trained in this and tend to choose one

resembling to them or choose friends and former directreports over people who are truly best qualified

This is harmful as they(friends) are often unwilling tochallenge boss and don·t bring fresh perspectives to thejob

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What Managers of Managers ShouldWhat Managers of Managers Should

Do«Do«1) Selecting and training first-line managers

2) Holding first-line managers accountable for

managerial work

3) Deploying and redeploying resources amongunits

4) Managing the boundaries that separate units

which report directly, and with other part of

the business

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y Finding individual contributors who are likely

candidates capable of assuming a first-level leadership

y Need to know individual contributors well enough

to select them for a managerial positiony The risk of indulging in a relatively new task of

selecting a proper set of individual contributors

y Giving them the opportunity to see if they like, and

are good at managerial skills which can beaccomplished by two ways:

Team assignments

Project-leadership assignments

About Selecting and training first-line managers

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Main goals«Main goals«

y Training first-line managers-the art of creating asupportive environment that allows mistakes but

not failures

y An environment where there is great enthusiasm

for learning techniques, performance appraisal

writing, and constructive criticism

y Need to develop a sensitivity about power which

will motivate and instruct rather than demean and

demoralize

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y Becoming to the use and abuse of power is

necessary at this level.

y Need to make individual contributors

responsible of reporting to not more than twosuperiors, thus avoiding them to have a feeling of

´powerless or unimportantµ to the organization

recognizing the best time to deliver negative

feedback and, more importantly, how to deliver

it

ContdContd««..««..

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The Flaw«The Flaw«

Managers do not value selection responsibilities and

as a result brings out many cronies and clones:

Devote less time and seriousness for the selection

Hate to differentiate their people. Feel

uncomfortable giving not so good comments like ´

You are not good enough for us..µ

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About Holding firstAbout Holding first--line managers accountableline managers accountable

for managerial work for managerial work

y Need to be competent enough at holding people

responsible for individual contributor work

y Shift their accountability focus thus giving them an

opportunity to value a different type of work

y Realize how to set stretch goals that allow room forgrowth, avoiding a failure

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y Develop a different framework for judging results

from the individuals· direct reports. This provides:

to evaluate people based on the quality of their

selection decisions

the frequency and quality of their performance

feedback

their ability to team with other units and theirskill at producing results through a team

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y Need to remove first time managers at a

proper time, who do not make the level

one grade, which calls for a huge amount

of courage, emotional fortitude, and self-confidence

y Allowing under-performing managers to

remain, clogs the leadership pipeline at itssource

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About Deploying and redeployingAbout Deploying and redeploying

resources among unitsresources among units

y To reallocate money, technology, and supportstaff to improve the results

y To determine whether the teams are using

resources effectively, one can ask questionslike:

Can each unit deliver the required output ontime at the right quality level and for theappropriate cost? If not, what additionalresources are needed?

Do we have the right mix of external and internalquality resources? How should the mixture beadjusted, if needed?

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Are any units wasting or missing resources?

If yes, what should be done?

Is this the right configuration of units giventhe total requirement? What resources

should be redeployed?

Which people should not be working here?

How quickly can they be replaced with

more productive people?

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y In case of the units required, following questions can

be raised:

Which unit is the most effective and should be

given the most difficult project?Which unit deserve more than their fair share of

support resources as they would use them more

effectively?

Who, if anyone, should receive the biggest raise?

Who needs the most coaching and the most of

my time?

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Managing the boundariesManaging the boundaries

y Must be a silo buster- avoid boundaries that

impede the flow of work and information between

the different functions and groups

y

Transitioning from a purely functional mindset thatvalues a specific function to one that embraces a

more egalitarian view

y Must inculcate this egalitarian value among both

first-line managers and individual contributors sothat work, information, ideas and technology flows

freely among the units

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y Calls for a specific workflow management skills

that includes:

Monitoring the workflow between his unit andothers in the organization

Asking questions and recommending

improvements

y Require a more subtle form of boundary

management that helps in achieving business goals.

It includes:

Understanding and conveying functionalstrategies, business strategies and the corporate

mission

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An addAn add--on leverage«on leverage«

Effective cross-unit collaborations which wouldaccelerate work processes which would lead to gaining

competitive advantage

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How to help Managers of managersHow to help Managers of managers

through this leadership passage.through this leadership passage.

y Make them aware of the difference between being amanager of individual contributors and a managerof managers.

y These two managerial levels are closely aligned inpeople·s mind·s and the differences have to spelledout.

y Bosses must clearly communicate the new requisiteskills, time applications and values that shape howthey apply these skills.

y Simply describing new leadership role won·t work,goals and measurements must be put in place thatcreate accountability for new managerial behaviors.

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Appropriate measurements include:Appropriate measurements include:

y Amount of improvement in efficiency

y Degree of improvement in quality

y

Frequency and impact of coaching sessionsy Number of first-line managers promoted to

bigger jobs or moved laterally for broadening

experiences

y Success rate of new first-line managers

y Teamwork within the assigned areas

y Teamwork within the other areas.21



ContdContd««««««««

y Among all these measures the most important ispreparing the first line managers for their roles

²inexperienced managers are tremendously

impressionable, naturally model the actions and

attitudes of their bosses

y If the bosses are either unwilling or unable to set a

proper example and help in developing the right

direction²leadership pipeline clogged at its source, such case

only resource is to recruit stars

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y Coaching is a more interactive method to help

people translate the right message (to the

front²line managers) into behavior.

-It·s the hands on art of caring ,it bonds people(especially potential leaders ) to each other &

the organization.

-when coaching & caring are absent &

pressures are intense turn over is high andpeople leave to find better place to learn and

grow.

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ContdContd««««

y Finally ,its important during these times of rapid change and uncertainty to involvemanagers of managers at a strategic level.

-They can play a major role ininterpreting and communicating thecompany·s evolving objectives to theworkforce, either directly or to first line

managers.-If you ignore engaging others

strategic level, you risk creating leaders whoresist change.

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y

When Jack Welch initiated his changes at GE the manager of manager·s level was known

as ¶concr ete layer·.

They were primed to resist to any new

initiative, the reflexively viewing delayering ,

downsizing and workforce empowerment

as a threat.

GE decided to break this resistancethrough a training program called ́ The

Exper ienced Manager µ.

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GE bringing the changeGE bringing the change



Advantages of theAdvantages of the programmeprogramme

y It helped the participants to acquire skillsneeded to manage and lead at this level.

y Also focused on explaining the culture and

business context for the changes reshapingthe organization.

y Helped them to understand the strategicimpetus for change melted to resistance

y Eliminating the rumors and misinformationabout change that prevented them frommanaging effectively and enthusiastically.

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GordonGordon--A role model for managerA role model for manager

of manager·sof manager·sy Runs a technical group of telecommunication

companyy Seven manager·s reports to himy At first he was interested in ́ getting aheadµ early

in his careery But now interested in stability and doing

meaningful work

His characteristics as a manager

y He is extraordinarily demandingy Sets high standards both for his team and for

individual performance

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Success factors of GordonSuccess factors of Gordon

y His people believe that his demands are fairy Communicates what he wants clearly and

quicklyy Clear about major responsibilities of his job

to grow and develop managers(provideshonest feedback for performance)

y Knows his people well and tailors hisinteractions according to the needs and

sensitivitiesy Good delegation skilly Sets objectives for his people and allows

freedom for them to achieve it

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ResultResult

y He speaks proudly about a number of his directreports being promoted and doing well in theirjobs

y

People in other departments like to work forhim

y He excels in producing future high levelmanagers and leaders

For personnel reasons he may not advancemuch further in the organization, but he isfulfilling his manager of manager·s role serving asa launching pad for career of first time managers

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ConclusionConclusiony

Managing the manager·s is the most toughbut the integral part of every organization

y Such a manager needs to be a good

communicator as well as must have a clearidea about his change of duty as a first-linemanager to manager of manager·s

y If he resists this change he will not beeffective leader and thus the leadershippipeline gets clogged

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