A few months ago I was talking to an Operations Director who told me that, although his middle managers were motivated and understood their objectives, he did not get the teams they had in charge to execute the actions he expected of them. In other words, I did not get the message to reach the last link in the chain.
We were thinking about the issue, and the conclusion was that, although all those middle managers were good professionals, they were very lost in how to manage their human teams.
Many middle managers have teams under their care for the first time. They are often great professionals who have risen because of their merits and achievements, but that does not mean that it is easy for them to manage teams.
On the other hand, there are more and more Intermediate Managers who seek my “Development of Leaders” services, even paying from their own pocket. This is another sign that they want to do it well but do not know how. These are great professionals really committed to their work, but who need that extra support to get their teams to develop high performance. Leading people is not easy.
The management of human teams is a delicate and complicated task, and at the same time key to achieve motivation and results in the company.
In addition, middle managers encounter other difficulties. They usually have pressure from above and below, that is, their superiors demand them and their team also puts great pressure on them, and this can be really overwhelming.
They find a lot of new tasks that they often do not know how to prioritize and that sometimes they can overcome. All this translates into high levels of stress on many occasions and therefore can affect their productivity and can even lead to sick leave.
The role played by middle managers in companies is crucial and sometimes little recognized. They are also key links to achieve the success of the company.
HOW TO SOLVE IT? HOW TO COVER THOSE NEEDS?
To provide this much needed support it is important to provide training and education. This can be done both individually and as a group.
The individual “Leadership Development” trainings that I offer to my clients consist of tailor-made sessions where three lines of action are combined: Personal Development, Training and Mentoring.
Regarding the group actions, it is about In Company Training given especially to the management team in the same facilities of the company and, both the content and the format, is tailored to the needs of each organization.
The companies that detect these needs on time and provide the necessary support, make their middle managers much more efficient, and therefore the performance of their teams achieve greater results.
The formations that the Intermediate Commands most demand and that I most frequently teach in companies are:
Leadership and team management
Time Management and Priorities
Effective Communication and Assertiveness
High Performance Teams
The feedback of the participants who attend these workshops is very positive, since they acquire methodologies and practical tools that can be applied from the first day with their teams.
In addition, the companies have training funds that can even cover the total cost of this type of training. So, if you have a team in charge, why not ask them what their training needs are in order to achieve better results? Why miss the opportunity to take advantage of those credits that could cover these needs for free in many cases?