What does a Master of Middle Management do?

A role in middle management is often described as ‘the deep end’. A tedious, sometimes lonely, quest – squeezed between ambitious early-career professionals and unrelenting senior leaders. It is also, quite often, seen as a milestone that must be passed with success on the road to business or functional leadership.

In my career, I have had the chance to work with managers who have made middle management look easy.

So what is it that these people do?

1. They see their management role as a series of rhythmic interactions.

Success at this level is a lot about rhythm and consistent momentum. The best middle managers recognize this and approach their role in a methodical manner. Team meetings and individual conversations are scheduled in a periodic way well in advance. For team meetings, agendas are created and shared, and actions are recorded and circulated. For individual conversations, the manager and team-member both prepare beforehand. Adequate time and energy is spent on performance reviews, and actions from these reviews are actually followed-through. Communications are kept, to borrow an expression from culture gurus, low-context. This structured, rhythmic way of management yields at least three benefits:

• It creates a culture of accountability – because of the contracting and sharing that this method affords.
• The frequency of interactions helps the manager keep a close eye on quality of operational delivery, and unplug issues and manage risks at the right time.
• The regular interface helps keep track of morale in the team.

The manager has to be careful though that the rhythm doesn’t stifle innovation and creativity. The rhythmic interactions are not things to get off a checklist. These are opportunities to get together, to create, and to share.

 2. They do not postpone difficult conversations.

The best middle managers recognize the costs associated with postponing difficult conversations. These costs could vary from being purely financial in nature to “real” costs that could significantly damage organizational climate or reputation. There are a variety of stakeholder situations where they bring the difficult messages forward at the right time:

• With their seniors: on budgets, resources or risks
• With their peers: on, for example, calling out negative behaviours
• With their team-members: on performance as well as behaviours
• With service-providers: on calling out service lapses

The main reason why managers shy away from having timely difficult conversations is because they don’t want to upset the applecart. However, the negative consequences of postponing difficult conversations are almost always greater than the temporary falling over of the applecart.

 3. They recognize that each team member is a unique individual. 

A very natural way to think about creating success in a middle management role is to address questions like “How do I raise engagement in the team?” and “Which additional skills does my team require?”. While answering these questions is important, it is not sufficient to create success. The best middle managers recognize that each of their team members has a different definition of individual success, and their own unique path for getting there. Even as they rally the team around a common purpose, they allow for individuals to express their own style and methods in doing so. The same applies in development conversations. Not everyone wants the manager’s job! The best middle managers understand each team member’s specific motivations and support them in their individual quest.

Middle Management roles are challenging and demanding. The masters find their way through establishing a rhythm, bringing difficult conversations forward, and supporting individuals - not just the team as a collective.