Management gemsFind here some gems from our monitoring of the best publications on leadership and management
People management
Worse than micromanagement: under-management
Almost everyone hates being “micromanaged”: this managerial posture, perceived as demeaning and disempowering, is a source of disengagement. The fight against micromanagement is thus on everyone’s mind.
On the other hand, there is less discussion of the opposite extreme, as management coach Victor Lipman underlines: a growing proportion of managers do not manage! Because they want to be liked, for fear of conflict, or to save their energy, they allow their teams to move forward as they see fit. This behavior often goes unnoticed, because these managers are appreciated and are often effective performers themselves. But the impact on collective results is inevitably felt.
Lipman insists: it is above all a question of will, more than of aptitude. To avoid this pitfall of under-management, managers can ask themselves three fundamental questions:
– Am I prepared to face disagreements and conflicts, unavoidable in any collective?
– Is setting objectives truly at the heart of my mission as a manager, and do I devote sufficient time to it?
– How can my team and I do better and continue to move forward?
Source : Under-Management Is the Flip Side of Micromanagement — and It’s a Problem Too, Victor Lipman, Harvard Business Review, November 2018.
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How can we make our top performers feel valued?
In a context of a war for talent, numerous companies are questioning themselves about the way to retain their strongest elements. According to Zach Mercurio, a researcher at Colorado State University’s Center for Meaning and Purpose, they often tend to underestimate a simple but essential lever: showing these employees that they matter to the team, and making them feel in what ways their contribution is unique.
This notably entails paying attention to them: a Gallup study found that half of the employees who had voluntarily left their company had not had an exchange with their manager for at least three months to discuss their experience in their position, their performance or their morale. Indeed, in an effort to manage their availability, managers devote themselves first and foremost to employees who have a problem to solve, or a deficit in performance—at the risk of leaving their best-performing employees isolated.
To make them feel valued, dedicate regular listening time to employees for whom “everything seems to be sailing smoothly”. Make sure you go beyond the exchange of operational information in your discussions with them: take an interest in the ways in which they proceed to achieve their results and help them become aware of their strong points.
Source: 3 Ways to Make Sure High Performers Feel Valued, Zach Mercurio, Harvard Business Review, November 2024.
Should we give up on quantitative performance assessments?
Many companies are doing away with quantitative performance assessments: Adobe and Morgan Stanley, for instance. A study published in the Academy of Management Discoveries shows that “narrative” assessments are perceived as being fairer and more motivating.
Indeed, a qualitative approach allows for giving contextualized appraisals, using concrete facts for support, retracing the manner in which results were achieved. Employees have the feeling of being able to exchange more effectively. This approach visibly encourages their commitment and an improvement in their performance.
This nonetheless does not mean abandoning quantitative evaluation altogether. The authors of the study show that the perceived equity of narrative evaluations is greatly diminished in the cases of very high or very low performance. Opting for a hybrid format, combining qualitative and quantitative, therefore often appears to be more desirable.
Finally, even more than the format of the assessment, it is the process that makes the difference: the assessments perceived as being the fairest are those defined by consensus, as part of a transparent process that explicitly links up with the company’s strategy.
Source: The Power of Words: Employee Responses to Numerical vs. Narrative Performance Feedback, Academy of Management Discoveries, July 2024.
How can you provoke a constructive re-examination?
If you presented your team with a flawed project, would they have the courage to suggest ways of improving it? That was the experiment undertaken by the managers of a financial institution, as part of a study conducted by Imperial College Business School. The results indicate that certain managerial behaviors have a decisive impact on encouraging constructive criticism, and notably the following:
– Asking precise questions. When questions were too broad (“What do you think of that?”), few team members dared to challenge the idea being put forward. More targeted questions, highlighting the possibility of improving the idea (“What do you think might go wrong?”), were far more effective.
– Acknowledging concerns as valid and legitimate. The way in which the manager receives the first critical contribution is decisive. Contrary to what one might think, thanking the person is insufficient. Responses that explicitly validate the objection, such as ”That’s a legitimate concern”, encourage a higher level of constructive feedback.
– Making team members co-responsible. Directly engaging team members’ responsibility—for instance, through a vote—encourages them to share their concerns.
Source: Five Ways Leaders Can Get People to Speak Up, Celia Moore, Kate Combs, MIT Sloan Management Review, November 2024.
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A job well done: an overlooked source of motivation?
With every passing survey, it is observed that employees are disengaging from their work. Suffering at work seems to be inexorably increasing, and rare are the efforts to recreate job satisfaction that wind up being crowned with success.
It might be the time to return to the excellent article by Yves Clot, L’aspiration au travail bien fait (The aspiration for a job well done). The psychologist underlines that performance and health are wholly compatible. When we make an effective effort, one that meets the goal we had set ourselves or accepted, we may be tired, but also satisfied. Unless the load is a chronically unbearable one, we then recover from this healthy fatigue to take on another motivating project the following day. On the other hand, producing an ineffective effort is exhausting and demoralizing. Work fatigue is compounded by stress and ruminations about doing the same job again the next day, in an equally ineffective manner. It then becomes necessary to redouble our efforts to manage to get back to work—without even being in a condition to give the best of our capacities.
Yves Clot thus invites us to first remedy the organization’s dysfunctions: the idea is to treat what is preventing people from doing quality work, without limiting ourselves to offering psychological support to “help make unbearable situations bearable”.
Source : L'aspiration au travail bien fait (The aspiration for a job well done), Yves Clot, Journal de l'École de Paris du management, n° 99, January-February 2013.
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¬ Stimulate job satisfaction (Manageris’ Synopsis No.212a)