By: Maria Leali, Principal, Synchronous Solutions
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with friends, family members, and clients about management and organizational structure lately, so I decided to write about it. This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s because I see real people getting real results in these programs. I keep hearing from employees at all levels struggling with: what’s my role? Who’s managing whom? I was promoted to “director” or “manager,” but my role didn’t change. What am I actually supposed to do now? Or worse, we have no management in our company and there’s so much chaos and confusion. How do you fix that?
Here are the 7 management mistakes to avoid:
- Avoiding having managers in your company. Managers, like sales people, get a bad rap. The thing is, when a company gets to a certain size, managers are necessary to create and manage processes and systems to get everyone working together. If no one is managing the process, people are all doing their own thing independently, which may or may not contribute to the overall goals of the company. It would be like putting 85 football players onto a field and just see what happens. No coaches. No positions. Yeah, it doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? Management is not only beneficial but necessary past a certain point in the growth of a business.
- Promoting the wrong people into managerial roles. People are often promoted into management because they’re good at their previous role. But being a subject matter expert is different than being a great manager. The skills of being a world-class surgeon and the skills of being a world-class hospital CEO or Vice President, are very, very different. It’s time to break the common misconception that management is “better” or more valuable than doing the work; we need both. We need the expert surgeon doing the work and we need management and other people in supporting roles to make sure patients get the best care possible overall.
- Lack of organizational clarity. Clear roles and accountabilities are important to the overall business system. This clarifies: who does what by when? It helps individuals understand how they fit in and impact the growth of the organization. People want to come to work and do a good job! They want to contribute. Lack of clarity contributes to burnout, conflict, and missing our targets year after year. We need great managers to make our people successful. Otherwise, everyone is acting as a super chicken, pecking each other to death. (Watch the super chicken video here) Read more about Requisite Organization and Stratified Systems Theory here, and also check out Systems Leadership Definitions to get an overview of the system we use to create organizational clarity.
- Failing to implement a clear system for management. Managers manage processes. And management is a system. When you have a management system that is run company-wide, it sets the expectations that we communicate in this way. We listen to our employees, who have great ideas and boots-on-the-ground feedback. We have a process and a system for running our business, and for supporting the people in it. Employees are happier, more engaged, and they feel seen and heard. If your employees were more engaged and felt seen and heard on a regular basis, think how much more they would care about their job, and the customers, and the company. Simon Sinek explains it brilliantly here.
- Not training your managers to be managers. Putting someone into a management position through promotion or a vacated role does not guarantee they’re going to be successful. A new manager, without any training, can feel lost, confused, and inadequate in their role which cripples both them and the team. Just as you would train any new hire or transfer, a manager deserves training to be successful in their role as well. It comes back in multitudes when a new manager is successful and confident in their role, supporting the entire team and organization in future growth.
- Poor delegation. When managers are promoted and move into new roles, it’s important to train other team members to take on their previous tasks. Managers who have to keep dipping down to do their previous role feel overwhelmed and overworked, and it can lead to burnout and quitting. It’s important to understand delegation versus abdication. Effective delegation includes training (they must know how to do the task), a system (at least a checklist), and management (measuring progress and meetings). Without these elements, it is considered abdication, not delegation.
- Avoiding feedback. A sound management system invites feedback from all levels of the organization. It’s the people doing the work and dealing with the customers who can offer the most helpful feedback. They see the breakdowns in communication and the pitfalls on a daily basis. If you ignore these things, they only get worse. Collecting employee feedback through regular meetings ensures the lines of communication stay open, and problems are brought to management’s attention before they become overwhelming and difficult, or even fatal to the company.
There are a few ways we work with businesses, teams, and individuals, in growing their management skills. The first solution is the Management Masterclass, powered by ActionCOACH. The 12-week Masterclass includes a recorded video and live Zoom session facilitated by our coaches, for each of the 12 weeks. This course helps you learn and install a management SYSTEM into your business. Managers walk away from the course with a complete how-to system for management. It includes: managing team meetings, managing 1-2-1 meetings, goals & measures, planning, reviews, discipline, personal development, communication, and more. The cost of the course is $1500 per person, just $125 a week. Even if you have management experience, this course can help you improve your effectiveness as a manager. We can group you with other companies, or run your entire management team through this course together in a private group.
The second way we work with management teams is through one-on-one and group coaching. We act as a guide in personal and professional development, conflict resolution, business systems, building teams, and help you get to where YOU want to go, faster. This is a more tailored approach, which can also include the Masterclass mentioned above.
And last but not least, we can help restructure your organization, getting the right people in the right seats on the bus. Our resident experts in Systems Leadership can help you do just that. Interviewing and identifying who is fit for what role, creating specific roles and accountabilities. Then we can help train those individuals to be successful in their roles, and the business to be successful overall.
Here’s what people are saying about working with our team in the Management Masterclass:
I wish you could see what’s happening outside of these training sessions, in my team meetings. Watching my managers change what they’re working on, seeing how differently they interact with their teams, listening to them talk about driving improvement programs, taking care of their people and improving the business, watching them become more intentional and focused on their daily tasks. If you could see how my team is growing… you’d probably take a month off. It’s working!
This course is an eye-opening experience for me. A wealth of knowledge is being imparted on me.
As always your team has been great and we are learning a lot. Thank you
Great program and a wonder team so far. Thanks Maria, Mark, Ed and Rick
This weeks video was harder for me to understand but after talking to Maria i was able to grasp the concept better. Without that resource i would have struggled from the beginning.
If we are given the opportunity to practice all the valuable tools we are being taught there is no limit to what we can accomplish. I look forward to watching our company grow as we implement these practices.
I feel things are starting to come together, and people are really starting to understand what Synchronous Solutions and Action Coach are about and what the systems can do to make our company better. With a company like ours with basically no structures or processes this program works tremendously well and can make major differences.
Mark’s feedback is so honest. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything.
The discussions that the group are having I feel are very beneficial to all of us as a team as well as for us as individual leaders.
I am really enjoying and learning from these sessions.
I wish the session was longer.
Enjoying the sessions as a new supervisor.
Get more details about the management training program here. We start new sessions regularly. If you’re doing a team session, we can start anytime.
Want to talk to a coach to see if Management Masterclass is right for your team? Click here to schedule a call.
Want to take us for a test drive and see if Synchronous Solutions is a good fit for you? We offer a free 2-week coaching program. You can sign up here.
Want to learn more about Systems Leadership and organizational structure and see if your business could benefit? Contact Ed Montgomery at EdMontgomery@SynchronousSolutions.com.
