When was the last time your senior leadership team developed a great new idea for a program offering and then was stymied by a lack of excitement from the middle managers who were tasked with implementing the program through their teams?
Did the leadership team get curious about potential logistical issues related to the new program and ask the middle managers and frontline workers for honest input into better ways to implement change? Or did the assessment of the problem include leadership grumbling about the staff needing to “get on board” with changes?
Middle managers are the essential bridge that can make or break the execution of your organizational goals. They communicate vision to their team and help them operationalize goals. And they share feedback with leaders about the practical realities of visionary ideas.
If you are in a flourishing workplace with healthy communication and highly engaged employees, there is a high level of trust and a free flow of information and ideas between all levels and teams. Effective middle managers are the unsung heroes of a flourishing workplace.
However, supervisors and middle managers are cast into roles that require a complex skillset, often without the training and resources to be successful. And they may not receive clear and timely communication from leaders regarding vision and strategy. In worst-case scenarios, this dysfunction can cause middle managers to become protective of their team and retreat into silos with an us/them mentality that exacerbates an unhealthy workplace culture.
A well-trained supervisor directly impacts productivity on their team. Yet often people are promoted from entry-level roles to supervisory roles because they were good at their entry-level roles. Such a promotion in the absence of a comprehensive training plan will result in uneven results and can leave a supervisor feeling overwhelmed.
Some middle managers may succeed without additional training, possibly because they came to your organization having already been trained by another company. However, that training may or may not be in alignment with the values and culture of your organization. The lack of a systematic training plan can lead to vast differences between teams in how specific management responsibilities are carried out.
What skills are essential for a thriving middle manager? What do you need to incorporate into a systematic training plan for your middle managers? Effective communication skills are core to successful management. There should be evidence of communication skills in hiring and/or promotion and also a training plan to improve these skills. Within the category of communication, there is a whole suite of skills and behaviors that a high-performing middle manager needs, including the following:
One of the primary aspects of communication from the middle is the ability to be an interpreter.
A manager receives direction from leaders relating to vision, goals, and strategy. They need to understand the big picture of these directives. Then they interpret these for their team. They communicate the “why” related to particular projects. They help their team develop effective operational plans that deal with the “what” and “how.” This skill in interpreting means they take a general direction and break it down into specific actions.
Interpretation is a two-way skill. Not only is the middle manager interpreting vision from leadership to operationalize it for their team, but they are also taking feedback from their team and helping leaders understand the resources needed to make the vision a reality. They need to effectively communicate positive progress on the strategy, but also barriers or deficits that are holding back the accomplishment of the strategy.
In a healthy organization, this interpretation and flow of communication is ongoing in both directions, with middle managers serving as a bridge. Healthy communication involves a posture of trust, curiosity, and engagement from leaders, managers, and front-line employees.
Sometimes when I am conducting Discovery Groups with a Best Christian Workplaces’ Ministry Partner, I hear about the results of decision-making when there isn’t a free flow of information and trust in both directions. Middle managers and frontline workers may say things like, “Leaders don’t listen to our input.” Or “They don’t understand what it takes to make this change.” And leaders are frustrated and may say things like, “That team is not aligned with our vision.” Or “They are inefficient and doing their own thing.”
The gap in perception between senior leadership and frontline workers is revealed when there is a significant difference in employee engagement scores between the executive team and middle managers or frontline workers. Leaders might think that vision and goals have been clearly communicated and are well-received, but the people tasked with implementation may feel like they are shouting into a vacuum and not being heard. We see this frequently in scores in our Healthy Communication and Sustainable Strategy drivers, often casting a shadow on the success of the driver of Inspirational Leadership.
Listening to middle managers and equipping them to interpret information both up and down the organization is essential for workplace health. Is communication a continuous struggle in your organization? Check out this free resource designed with people leaders in mind: 5 Keys to Healthy Communication.
Another essential skill for a middle manager is the ability to guide their people through conflicting ideas to fruitful outcomes. Since many people prefer to avoid conflict rather than manage conflict, this is an area of skill-building for most managers.
Healthy conflict occurs when a team brings together different ideas, backgrounds, and experiences to achieve an outcome together. The disagreement isn’t over values and people but over differing ideas about how to achieve a strategy. In this sense, conflict is a healthy way to generate more possibilities and get to a better outcome. But teams need training on how to create ground rules and processes for vetting different ideas to get to the best path.
Best Christian Workplaces offers a resource to help your supervisors and managers go deeper in conflict management—Disagree With Purpose: Fostering Healthy Conflicts. The resource walks managers through how to generate buy-in and cultivate creativity as they leverage the potential of healthy conflict.
Management and supervision are relational endeavors. Employees want to feel like their supervisor knows them and cares about their well-being. In an essay about “The Quiet Magic of Middle Managers,” David Brooks was eloquent of the importance of a caring manager: “They cast the beam of their care on others, making them feel seen and lit up. In how you see me, I come to see myself. If you cast a just and loving attention on people, they blossom.”
Caring for employees is important, and it goes beyond being nice. An effective supervisor is also willing to be honest and clear with the people under their care. Sometimes supervision involves having difficult conversations about attitudes or behaviors that need to change. Employee feedback can include affirmation and recognition for a job well done, but it also needs to address shortcomings and gaps in work effort.
Middle managers need training in how to have difficult conversations, and how to honestly assess and redirect employees who are not performing to standards. While most managers will embrace the joy of handing out gift cards to celebrate goal achievement, they may shy away from honestly addressing underperformance. The relational aspect of people management has to include clear and honest communication about all aspects of a healthy relationship—affirmation and correction.
Best Christian Workplaces has several resources that provide a starting place for managers in these types of conversations:
As I am consulting with Ministry Partners and sharing the results of their Employee Engagement Survey, there is often an “aha” moment when leaders understand that there is a gap in their organization, and they want to take action to equip their middle managers. Understanding the need to support the bridge role of middle managers is an important step on the road to flourishing.
Once leaders realize the needs of supervisors and middle managers, then specific action steps can be implemented. Action items can include a training plan and coaching for middle managers. In addition, inviting feedback from frontline employees and middle managers early in a change process will help bridge the gap between high-level goals and operational realities.
When all types of communication are flowing across the bridge of middle management, a culture of engagement is fostered throughout the organization. Middle managers who feel heard, supported, and equipped for their key role are able to cascade engagement and energy down through their team. As middle managers successfully link the mission and purpose of the organization to individual work and team outcomes their employees see the value in their day-to-day contributions.
Best Christian Workplaces’ Employee Engagement Survey provides a starting point to assess the health of your organization and the engagement of all employees. Your customized report will provide details about teams and categories of employees so you can have clear information as you develop your own action plan for workplace health.
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