Key Takeaways
• Connection is the new managerial competence in dispersed and hybrid environments.
• Authenticity, coaching, facilitation and feedback form the basis of strong team engagement.
• Boundary-spanning is an essential form of leadership capital.
• Digital literacy and availability shape relational credibility and trust.
Core Message
Managerial effectiveness now rests on the ability to maintain meaningful human connection across complex, digitally mediated and psychologically demanding contexts.
Open your arms!
How can middle managers maintain their connection with an extended team?
I’ve been thinking a lot about my arms recently… since June in fact when I decided to fix my running technique. It’s 30 years since I ran seriously, and my goal was an Ironman in September! Fortunately, my business partner is a running coach, and as my running technique was completely overhauled, I had an epiphany – it turns vital arms are vital for running faster, and further and for longer.
How is this relevant to middle managers you might ask? Well, fast forward to October and I found myself reading ‘The lost art of running’ by Shane Benzie . The chapter on arms stopped me in my tracks. I knew that arms are key to transformation, but it was the metaphor he used that jumped out: ‘We need to learn from the arms’, he wrote, ‘Often, they are allowed to take on the role of bad middle managers: they are there, kind of joining in, making all the right noises but, in reality, they are probably creating more problems than they are solving and, actually, likely to be making things worse.’ […] ‘If we use our arms dynamically, they provide propulsion. […] So, these middle managers need to get with the programme. They must join in and take responsibility for our dynamic movement, or they will quite literally lead our legs astray.’
These middle managers need to get with the programme! That’s quite a statement! So, let’s leave running (and arms) there for now, and instead shift our attention to middle managers. In our series, Future Work Forum partners have explained why middle managers are so important, and the role they play in connecting and bridging. Here, I want to explore a very practical challenge they face: how can middle managers maintain a meaningful and constructive connection with an extended team? Especially at a time when many organisations are implementing substantial changes (including reducing workforce), while simultaneously dealing with the exponential rise in AI and automation, both of which typically result in an increase in their management span, and a more dispersed team.
Authentic, timely and accurate communication
Middle managers play a vital role when it comes to communication and engagement, acting as translators and interpreters between senior leadership and frontline staff. Matrix management, and a plethora of 24/7 communication channels, make their role more important than ever. Many of the middle managers I work with realise they must become more skilled in communication, able to listen and transmit information and messages with accuracy, authenticity and in a timely manner. In a recent initiative I was involved in at UNICEF (the Manager Support Programme rolled out to 6,500 people managers globally), strengthening these skills and incorporating recognition and appreciation as a way of building trust and increasing psychological safety was a key component of the programme, together with feedback skills. Managers that listen and have mastered the skills required to give effective feedback are the ones that are able to maintain a meaningful and constructive connection with their teams.
Coaching and facilitation skills
We expect middle managers to get the best from their teams and to consistently deliver results, but given the increasing complexity of most working contexts, this is a ‘big ask’. It requires, as we can see from current research, a repertoire of management styles that go beyond traditional command/control or directive approaches. Managers that are able to demonstrate a coaching style, facilitate when needed, and act as internal brokers, typically deliver the highest engagement scores, have the best retention rates, and have the best working relationship with team members.
Digital literacy
It’s vital to include middle managers’ when strengthening digital literacy and fluency with new technology and platforms. A recent client engagement highlighted that the C-Suite had been taken care of, and frontline first level staff had been trained, but middle managers had somehow been overlooked, with wrong assumptions made about their capability to use new communications and information management systems. Equipping middle managers with the knowledge, understanding, skills AND equipment necessary for them to maintain connection with their teams and do their job is essential!
Boundary spanning leadership
CCL introduced us to boundary spanning leadership which is relevant for middle managers who have a crucial role to play in shaping culture, and getting things done. Middle managers who build bridges, connect between functions, departments and divisions, and who competently demonstrate boundary spanning behaviours are able to maintain their connection with individual team members and bring the whole team along with them.
Availability and accessibility
As a professional coach, I sometimes encounter middle managers withdrawing or shutting themselves off: perhaps they’re caught between conflicting demands of leadership and their teams, or overwhelmed by impossible deadlines and to-do lists, or lacking skills or confidence to have hard conversations. It’s tempting to shut the office door more often, or for longer, or spend a few extra days remote working, and of course this can be appropriate. But I suggest that given the extraordinary times we work in, it is more important than ever for middle managers to be both available and accessible to their teams.
Remember the arms!
In summary, for middle managers to maintain a strong and positive connection with their extended team, they must regularly recognise and appreciate their staff, give effective and timely feedback, coach for performance, anticipate challenges and facilitate solutions, navigate complexity with ease, leverage technology to the benefit of all, and proactively communicate in an authentic, timely and accurate manner, with a combination of courage and kindness. Some are doing this already of course, but for those who aren’t, then it’s time – as Shane Benzie said – to get with the programme, join in and take responsibility. The results will be impressive, just as they were when my arms propelled me to Ironman success in September.
