All, all?
Following my previous post on all the problems that come with being a manager, in which I talked about processes, I wanted to continue with the part related to people.
2) PEOPLE
When I started working (I know that I sound old), a friend told me: “the role of a manager is to make himself/herself redundant”. He would have read it somewhere. I have seen similar statements since, such as “good leaders are redundant” and I truly believe it. The best thing you can do as a manager is to create a team of people that work independently, autonomously (with the right processes integrated into the entire organization), and where your involvement is lower and lower, and of course, in order to truly make yourself redundant, in which some team members are prepared to replace you when you leave.
I say “when you leave”, because as a manager either you are replaceable, or the company disappears. There are no more options. You will leave a print in what you do (better or worse), but unless the company disappears you will be replaced at some point in time. Your print will be what people will think of you as a person, and as a coworker. This is why I think it is important to leave a print, but more crucial yet is to be ready for the moment you are replaced.
There are plenty of literature about how to create functional teams, and you can read about it as I do. There is not much secrecy about it; it is easy to read, more difficult to implement.
In summary, you need to analyse what competences the team needs, what competences you have within the team and “adjust them”. I have oversimplified the step of “adjust” since this step can be complex. Some adjustments require courage, other adjustments require speed, but finding right team members and onboarding them can take time…
Apart of creating the team, people management is about human iteration, and by default, this involves emotions (people’s and yours) I usually say that the manager is in a constant sandwich position. They take the problems from the upper layers, and the problems from the bottom ones. In both directions problems involve emotions, and the manager has to deal with them.
And here is part of the difficulty of being a manager. You can have the right people in the team, but they must be motivated and share goals and values with the rest of the team/ organization. This starts to be trickier. You need to create a sense of belonging, an identity, that people recognise with their own values. This is not so straight forward because people have different interests, motivations and expectations for development in different stages of their life. Furthermore, people have their lives, and this influences the team and its performance.
As a manager, people is the part that consumes energy and, very rarely, gives it. I say “very rarely” because, as a manager, you spend a lot of time in firefighter mode. If you are working and someone comes to you, they are likely to come with more fires.
It is ironic that people think that the role of a manager is, most of the time, to think strategically, putting direction, or creating purpose. In reality, most of the time of a manager, is troubleshooting, and big part of that shooting is people management (and as previously mentioned, the lack or incorrect processes 😊).
Thinking strategically, thinking about the team competence and development… is the residual remaining time left once the manager has dealt with the main fires, demands from upper levels, and day by day work.
Listening to other people’s problems takes energy, specially, when you have your tray filled up with your own problems. Taking hard decisions for the long-term interest is not so straightforward, and it requires significant effort.
It can happen that the rotten apple in a team is a hard worker, dedicated person that does not have the same attitude and values than the team needs. That person can be a strong worker, but s/he may not be a good fit for your organization. Taking measurements in that situation is not easy and takes courage, there is not right or wrong, and it takes a lot of stamina to take decisions that are not popular ones.
Helping and supporting the team to find the motivation and that the individual’s and team’s motivation is focused on the right direction is a mastery.
Apart from what I’m going to mention in the third post to complete this series, it’s difficult to train, lead, motivate, and develop a team. And it’s normal that, as a manager, this process is energy-sapping.
As part of the people management responsibilities, there are many areas you will require support for because there are things you simply don’t know, yet you will have to face for the first time.
You may not be well prepared to deal with a sexual harassment situation the first time you encounter it, or to deal with a disciplinary issue that requires careful wording to avoid being sued (This is where a well-functioning People Department should step in and support the manager).
Another example that drains energy as a manager is to invest time and energy in people that you consider really good, and they leave your team since other organizations can offer better opportunities, or they have personal situations that make them to leave. You must be happy for the employee, but at the same time, you will have a sour feeling for not being capable of retaining him/her.
One could question what the positive side of being a manager is. For some, the obvious answer is better compensation.
For me, better than the compensation you may have (that will be challenged in another post) there are a few things that pay off for all the efforts that you do, and they are not related to money, or to fulfilment of the company’s objectives. It is extremely rewarding getting a call from a co-worker you shared team with, to have a small talk or to have a lunch or a beer. There is no need to have a clear agenda. Only to know how things are going on both sides.
