The problem with Managers is..
I often get called into help Managers become more effective in their roles by HR or the Leaders themselves. One problem that I am seeing more and more is that the Managers really aren't doing the role of the Manager at all. They are doing a whole load of other tasks, and are expected to fit the management responsibilities around those. There seem to be three main reasons why managers aren't managing which require a change in attitudes or behaviours.
- Promoted up
It is common for great staff to be promoted to a management role within the same team or department. The issue with this is that they often find it difficult to step back from doing and into managing. Management is a different role, and when it's busy or understaffed, Managers often default to doing things themselves, their way rather than focusing on resource planning, developing others, and delegating. Before you know it they have assumed the responsibility for delivering the work or tasks themselves and essentially become a senior in the team rather than a manager
2. Do the things they like doing
It feels good to produce or deliver something. We get that dopamine rush that makes us want to repeat it again and again. If managers find a task easy, they can quickly achieve it and feel good. Management responsibilities often feel hard. Creating a plan, resolving problems and attending yet another meeting doesn't give the same achievement rush that doing does. So many managers fall into the trap of doing the things they like, rather than doing the people and performance management, hence why the performance reviews always seem to get missed or dropped.
3. Expectations of the business
As a leader ask yourself, what do you expect of your managers? I have met so many Leaders that say they want people and task managers, yet give Managers their own client portfolio, or specific project or reports to produce. What Leaders want, and what they ask of their Managers is often very different. Many Managers tell us that they want to do Management, yet they are being told to take up other jobs and responsibilities from their own bosses. Management responsibilities become secondary.
It is the role of the Leader to set the attitudes and beliefs around what a Manager should be doing and then supporting them in doing it. Do you just keep piling work on, or do you empower your Managers to question resources or priorities? Do you listen when your managers say they can't achieve your requests or do you just tell them to do them?
Leaders need do align their intentions and their impact and take responsibility for the impact they create around them.
