Few thoughts culminated in me writing this article ; This recent WSJ article which talks about employees pushing back extra hours at work ,a conversation with a friend on how she had to ask her team to cut short a year end break and my own anxieties on the year ahead . By all accounts 2023 will be the year of prioritizing projects , doing more work with less people and it is not like 2022 was a holiday in Ibiza at the work place (Remember the song 🙂 )
Given the scenarios sure to unfold , what can we as middle managers do to balance the ship without rocking it either direction is the question i try to answer below . My definition of middle management(MM going forward) is anyone whose primary role is getting the project done(execution) via people in her organization , and fancy expectations of demonstrating leadership/seeing the big picture/building a scalable organization etc are at best distractions reserved for the year end review .
Below are some of my thoughts on this topic
- We as MM need to be transparent and vulnerable to our reports and ask what can we do and what we have to push back . The team could surprise us with their replies and willingness to do more
- Be comfortable in having difficult conversations with our bosses . This needs preparation and the following books can help (Reco 1 , Reco 2) . Both these books are classics in this field
- Become more emotionally aware of our and others emotions and improve your EQ consciously. Infact i believe becoming more emotionally intelligent is the foundation for difficult conversations .This book can help here .
- Investing in your physical and emotional wellbeing on a regular basis is going to be key to survival this year . So not just physical excercise but some mindfulness practice on a regular basis and also lots of drinking water.
- Finding the time for 1-1 conversations with our key people where we just listen most of the time creates an organization climate of caring and improves our understanding of their challenges as well ( i have been often very illuminated by these conversations)
- Every team or group of people will have some interpersonal issues given the very nature of demanding work we all do . What can i do to find these issues and address the top 2 issues of the team is a key role of a MM.
- What can i as a MM do to increase Trust within my organization is another key topic i think often about.
- We all do this but sometimes life is too busy . How can i recognize and appreciate extra efforts from my team members on priority in a timely fashion?
- There is always that difficult conversation we wanted to have/need to have with a key person/s in our organization but always felt this is not the time and let me not rock the boat . No better time than a new year to “Eat the Frog” as Brian Tracy would say and have this conversation . Chances are that we are keeping two people guessing by not having the conversation.
I am sure you will have even more /better ideas or thoughts on this topic . Please do share them in the comments section
