Inherent to the task of team management is managing expectations year on year. Expectations of senior management and the team. Both sets comprise of professionals who register similar responses to a similar set of stimuli. Only difference is that each set has its own set of professional targets to achieve. On a common level the targets are twofold. Comprising of professional growth and financial stability.
Organizations move ahead or stagnate depending upon their ability to respond to challenges. In easy language this means if employees take it on, anything is easy. Suffice to say that organizations are built up of men and women who aspire and expect.
Middle managers have the unenviable task of managing and meeting the expectations of two disjoint sets within the same organization called senior management and team. In a very select few cases these two sets are bound in harmony. When that is the case, we are talking of organizations like Google. It takes a lot of effort to harmonize senior management and the teams, and when that happens managers can enroll for a seven day crash course in golf!
Until then, managers can do little but hope for help from Gods to be able to manage these two disjoint sets and deliver growth. Most successful managers are gifted with the gab, and they forge relations with the team members. Senior management is driven by steadfast objectives and may not be that easy to befriend, so the only hope for the manager is his own team. That is exactly the point where the "expectations" creep in. Senior management expects results and the team is supposed to deliver on these expectations. Reverse to this the team expects to be adjudged favorably in lieu of these stretched deliveries. Pure give and take!
Perceptions, impressions, biases and critiquing mar the entire period of adjudication that is called appraisals in corporate lingo. Smart managers are able to make the team see the immediate to long term benefits of associating with the managements' cause, and extract an above average performance from the team. this leads to ecstasy! Where most smart managers fail is they are unable to do the reverse. For lack of audience with senior management or for sheer mortal fear they are unable to favorably influence management's view of their teams. In such cases, not only does the manager lose credibility with his team, but the organization then faces a stiff task of motivating a large group of unhappy professionals. This ensures a lot of pain for all in the system.
In modern times, the HR departments are aided by employee satisfaction measures and results made available to them at the expense of a few millions. Access to this information allows HR to address most employee issues at a large scale. Although individual qualms have to be addressed individually for a 100% result. For that the organization looks up to the managers.
The manager is yet again faced with the dichotomy of diverse expectations.
Organizations move ahead or stagnate depending upon their ability to respond to challenges. In easy language this means if employees take it on, anything is easy. Suffice to say that organizations are built up of men and women who aspire and expect.
Middle managers have the unenviable task of managing and meeting the expectations of two disjoint sets within the same organization called senior management and team. In a very select few cases these two sets are bound in harmony. When that is the case, we are talking of organizations like Google. It takes a lot of effort to harmonize senior management and the teams, and when that happens managers can enroll for a seven day crash course in golf!
Until then, managers can do little but hope for help from Gods to be able to manage these two disjoint sets and deliver growth. Most successful managers are gifted with the gab, and they forge relations with the team members. Senior management is driven by steadfast objectives and may not be that easy to befriend, so the only hope for the manager is his own team. That is exactly the point where the "expectations" creep in. Senior management expects results and the team is supposed to deliver on these expectations. Reverse to this the team expects to be adjudged favorably in lieu of these stretched deliveries. Pure give and take!
Perceptions, impressions, biases and critiquing mar the entire period of adjudication that is called appraisals in corporate lingo. Smart managers are able to make the team see the immediate to long term benefits of associating with the managements' cause, and extract an above average performance from the team. this leads to ecstasy! Where most smart managers fail is they are unable to do the reverse. For lack of audience with senior management or for sheer mortal fear they are unable to favorably influence management's view of their teams. In such cases, not only does the manager lose credibility with his team, but the organization then faces a stiff task of motivating a large group of unhappy professionals. This ensures a lot of pain for all in the system.
In modern times, the HR departments are aided by employee satisfaction measures and results made available to them at the expense of a few millions. Access to this information allows HR to address most employee issues at a large scale. Although individual qualms have to be addressed individually for a 100% result. For that the organization looks up to the managers.
The manager is yet again faced with the dichotomy of diverse expectations.
