Middle Managers are the Linchpins of Strategy Implementation
Creating strategic plans to win in your market is actually the easy bit! What we hear all too often, is that mid-level managers are left in the dark about the plan. This article will discuss how middle managers serve to play a critical role in medium-sized business success by communicating vision, values and strategy to their team members and ensuring that they are successfully implemented.
It’s a Key Part of Your Job
A key role of middle managers is to ensure that the business vision, strategy and values, are effectively communicated throughout the organisation and into their teams. Effective strategy communication isn't just expected of the CEO, but for all leaders. Successful mid-level managers need to be able to take complex concepts and break them down into easily understood pieces so that everyone on the frontline knows their part to play and feels connected to making it happen. To make this happen middle managers must have a clear understanding of the overall purpose and vision of the company in order to effectively communicate this to their team members and layer it into operational conversations.
Playing Your Role
When mid-level managers don’t play their part in this, it becomes a scenario of what cup will get filled first, similar to the diagram below. The CEO builds and communicates the strategy with Senior Leaders (1,2 & 4 but unfortunately Leader 3 was away). Senior Leader 1 communicates the vision & strategy to her leaders. The teams under Middle-Manager A are fully connected to the strategy. But the teams under Leader B are only getting some of the message and some of it is missing the mark. Senior Leader 2 trickles a diluted message, as does Middle-Manager C (having learned by example), so the teams under Middle-Manager C are getting a very diluted message. Those under Middle-ManagerD aren’t getting anything from the top because Senior Leader 3 doesn’t buy into the plan because they weren’t part of it and resists it, creating an information void (which is the breeding ground for rumour, speculation and gossip). And Senior Leader 4 puts their own spin on the plan, taking it way off track and confuses everyone. Sound familiar? It should be simple, but we see this scenario time and time again.
Not Just a One-Off Event
Senior leaders often roll out vision & strategy with great fanfare then let it wither on the vine. They also forget that middle managers actually play a key role in subsequently communicating and implementing the strategy, and living the values. However, we regularly find that the essential element of communication of the plan to the middle managers and leaders to create understanding is missing, which is the first step of implementing strategy. Communicating vision and strategy is often viewed as a one-off event, rather than a continuous layering of messaging at key opportunities. This should be threaded into regular meetings, be part of business updates and part of the recognition programme.
Mid-level Leaders Must Inspire Others
The reality is people want to be inspired and feel that their work is important. They want to feel that their daily work is connected to achieving something bigger in the organisation. And they want to feel they belong to the tribe. Middle managers make this connection happen and be realized. Mid-level leaders need to be able to 'think globally' and 'connect and influence locally'. I hear you saying “no shit”! - but our observation of hundreds of organisations over time is that most mid-level managers aren’t helping the business leadership to implement its strategy nor inspire anyone. Mid-level managers and team leaders have the most influence in a business on a day-to-day basis through their daily interactions with team leaders and their teams. They need to utilise these daily interactions to take the high-level strategic messages and ideas, and translate it to make it connect with people on the shop floor. Senior leaders need to invest time in creating buy-in and understanding with the middle managers, so that mid-level managers can in turn support their team leaders with setting expectations, implementing training programmes, and providing coaching and feedback.
We expect so much of this mid-level leader, yet are disappointed when it doesn't work. However, if we're honest, we typically haven't given them the leadership skills and behaviours to: think more strategically; lead other leaders; lead change; think and work across the business; measure performance - or to simply communicate and implement vision, values and strategy!
This blog was contributed by Greg Allnutt MNZM, Partner and Strategic Advisor