Middle managers are being targeted in workplace layoffs and company reorganizations amid the ‘great unbossing’ trend. They face unique stressors: Enforcing policies they didn’t create, operationalizing decisions they weren’t involved in, and navigating fraught relationships with upper management and rank-and-file workers.
But rather than be eliminated, these workers should evolve their skills so they can contribute to a more productive work environment. Here’s how.
1. Self-awareness
The ability to objectively evaluate yourself, understand your own emotions and identify how others perceive you is a critical element of self-awareness. It’s important for anyone who wants to achieve success in any type of leadership role.
But middle managers face unique pressures as the intermediaries between upper brass and rank-and-file employees. They are often tasked with enforcing policies they didn’t create, operationalizing decisions they didn’t make, and navigating tricky interpersonal dynamics.
The result is high stress, which could lead to burnout and turnover. Millennials and Gen Zers may be particularly at risk for this, as they’re less interested in corporate bureaucracies and hierarchies than their older counterparts. They also tend to put more emphasis on work-life balance and mental health than previous generations did.
2. Communication
Middle managers need clear lines of communication with each other and their leadership teams. They also have to communicate company information to their staff. If they can’t relay important briefing materials to employees, a whole host of problems can arise, including disengagement, safety incidents and staff turnover.
Many people move into management positions by accident. They might have been promoted for their technical skills, but found they had a knack for it and wanted to progress. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it can be just the boost that’s needed to get an underperforming team on track.
Investing in this group of middle-management talent will also help companies build stronger employee engagement. Involving them in strategy formation, empowering their decision-making and providing recognition can shift common feelings of being overlooked and foster a strong organizational culture.
3. Interpersonal skills
Effective middle managers can build strong relationships and communicate effectively. They also have good teamwork skills and understand the importance of building trust.
They must pay attention to detail when overseeing staff members’ progress on projects, evaluating performance, or investigating complaints, mistakes, or disagreements with colleagues. They frequently complete significant volumes of paperwork containing bits of corporate data that they must accurately comprehend and analyze.
Middle managers must also be able to adapt their leadership styles to the needs of individual employees. That is why it’s vital for them to regularly seek feedback and make improvements to their non-technical management skills. This can help them manage the impact of change. It also helps them support the development of other Middle Managers by being a positive role model.
4. Problem-solving
Problem-solving is the ability to identify and address issues as they arise. It’s important for teams because it can help them find solutions that improve processes, design, user engagement and team culture.
There are several different problem-solving methods, including flowcharts to identify the expected steps in a process and cause-and-effect diagrams to define the root causes of problems. Regularly practicing these skills, even if you’re not dealing with an immediate issue, can help you become a more effective problem-solver when the time comes.
When you’re working on a problem, it helps to collaborate with others to get different perspectives and eliminate biases. This also allows you to evaluate different alternatives and find the best solution for your unique situation.
5. Decision-making
According to Psychology Today, we make an average of 35,000 decisions a day. Whether it’s choosing to snooze for nine more minutes or show up to work; pitching a new idea at the weekly update meeting or keeping it to yourself; or selecting a job candidate based on the information they provide, effective decision-making involves evaluating all possible options and making a choice that supports goals and objectives.
Structured decisions follow a clearly charted path toward an objective; problems to be surmounted are easily recognized and the means to solve them readily available. Unstructured decisions, on the other hand, require ingenuity and an exploratory attitude to overcome obstacles. Both approaches can be effective. A structured process, however, ensures that the most satisfying alternatives are chosen.
6. Time management
Time management is about juggling various domains of your life. You need to prioritize tasks, focus on the most important ones and keep a tab on where your time goes. This skill helps individuals maintain a work-life balance and avoid burnout.
It’s also about getting comfortable with saying no and delegating tasks to team members. It is a great strategy to boost productivity and improve performance.
Similarly, it’s about removing the admin humdrum of filling out electronic forms and other time-consuming administrative tasks. While systems are sometimes necessary for legal, safety or quality reasons, middle managers should ask themselves if they really need to be doing this and if there are better ways of doing things. This reflects leadership resiliency and creates a culture of trust and transparency.
7. Leadership
Leaders provide guidance and direction to their teams. They articulate a vision, establish achievable goals and motivate individuals to work towards achieving those goals. They also excel at communicating expectations, feedback and performance to their team.
However, Middle Managers can become a magnet for frustration and burnout when they micromanage their direct reports. “When you have someone micromanaging you, it takes away your sense of autonomy and motivation,” Josh Bersin, global industry analyst and CEO at The Josh Bersin Company, said.
To avoid that, middle managers need to hone their soft “power” skills—like empathy and emotional intelligence—so they can better serve their staff and help them meet their career goals. They also need to be able to manage virtual collaboration and support their team members’ mental health and work-life balance in the digital workplace.
