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The Manic Middle

Thursday, July 23, 2009 - by Lou Russell

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Thanks to recent downsizing and financial trauma, middle managers find themselves with not just their own job responsibilities but many other employees' job responsibilities as well.

Business functions such as training, leadership, and project management have become expected core competencies of all managers. But many middle managers asked to perform these mission-critical functions have little or no knowledge about how to do them.

When managers need to think about employee learning, they must think about what attendees will be able to do differently rather than what they will teach; know what behavior change they want before they build training - train need to know, not nice to know; and identify the business constraints of your training (time, cost, environment, and scope) before picking the range of the content or the delivery method (online, live, or blended). In these tough economic times, recycle when you can. Check for resources you can beg, borrow, and adapt - it's probably been done before.

It is critical in these challenging times to have strong leadership qualities. Managers must become aware of their strengths and opportunities for improvement (online assessments are useful for this, including 360-degree assessments); build a chart of the strengths and opportunities of their team - for example, figure out how to compliment rather than fight with each other; and learn how to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals for themselves and others. Managers should always practice resiliency, know how to see the potential in the immediate future, and take action. It is up to managers to help others work through their fears and uncertainty.

Managers looking to gain project management skills should use IRACIS (how will the project increase revenue, avoid cost, and improve a service?) to clearly understand why the business is doing the project. Then, define roles, especially who the project sponsor is; clearly map out the project objectives by asking, "How will success be measured?" and identify and cultivate stakeholders (who will provide input and receive output from your project?). Managers should always have a plan for risk but also must be prepared to adapt the plan if needed.

Middle managers are important to their organizations' success, but times are changing, and the core competencies required to be successful as a manager in the manic middle now include training, leadership, and project management. You need to develop your skills before you can help others grow. As Robert Greenleaf wrote in his book The Servant Leader, "continue to strengthen the hands of the strong."

Lou Russell

Consultant, speaker,trainer, and author

Lou Russell is president and CEO of Russell Martin & Associates, a consulting and training company focused on improving business results. Lou and her staff deliver learning experiences that are fun, flexible, fast and measurable. She focuses on project management, leadership, and organizational learning problems.

She is the author of The Accelerated Learning Fieldbook, Project Management for Trainers, IT Leadership Alchemy, Leadership Training, Training Triage, and the newly released 10 Steps to Successful Project Management. She is a frequent contributor to Computer World, Cutter Executive Reports, and Inside Indiana Business, among others, and publishes the monthly Learning Flash electronic newsletter. Lou is also the author of The People Side of Project Management, part of the Villanova Advanced Project Management certificate program. A popular speaker, Lou addresses national and international conferences such as the Project Management Institute, Project World, LotuSphere, ASTD, and the Society of Information Management (SIM). She has been the chair of the Shared Insight's Project Management Reality conference. She holds an (expired) computer science degree from Purdue University, where she taught database and programming classes, and a master's degree in instructional technology from Indiana University. Her career has included positions as a programmer, database administrator, help desk implementer/manager, technical trainer, and manager of technical training. She has experience consulting in IT, sales, operations, and human resources process improvement.

Igniting, affirming, and sustaining learning is a personal mission, evidenced by Lou's activities outside the company. In addition to work with children's charities and the Indianapolis SIM organization, she coaches and plays soccer, and teaches religious education. Lou is also a senior consultant with the Cutter Consortium and has served on the High Tech Task Force in Indiana, as well as the boards of ITT Technical Institute and Butler University. She was elected to "Who's Who in Indiana Technology" in 1995 and named "Women of the Year" in 2000 by Women & Hi Tech.

Communities of Practice: Learning & Development , Senior Leaders & Executives

Authored By:

Lou Russell

Lou Russell is president and CEO of Russell Martin & Associates, a consulting and training company focused on improving business results. Lou and her staff deliver learning experiences that are fun, flexible, fast and measurable. She focuses on project management, leadership, and organizational learning problems.

She is the author of The Accelerated Learning Fieldbook, Project Management for Trainers, IT Leadership Alchemy, Leadership Training, Training Triage, and the newly released 10 Steps to Successful Project Management. She is a frequent contributor to Computer World, Cutter Executive Reports, and Inside Indiana Business, among others, and publishes the monthly Learning Flash electronic newsletter. Lou is also the author of The People Side of Project Management, part of the Villanova Advanced Project Management certificate program. A popular speaker, Lou addresses national and international conferences such as the Project Management Institute, Project World, LotuSphere, ASTD, and the Society of Information Management (SIM). She has been the chair of the Shared Insight's Project Management Reality conference. She holds an (expired) computer science degree from Purdue University, where she taught database and programming classes, and a master's degree in instructional technology from Indiana University. Her career has included positions as a programmer, database administrator, help desk implementer/manager, technical trainer, and manager of technical training. She has experience consulting in IT, sales, operations, and human resources process improvement.

Igniting, affirming, and sustaining learning is a personal mission, evidenced by Lou's activities outside the company. In addition to work with children's charities and the Indianapolis SIM organization, she coaches and plays soccer, and teaches religious education. Lou is also a senior consultant with the Cutter Consortium and has served on the High Tech Task Force in Indiana, as well as the boards of ITT Technical Institute and Butler University. She was elected to "Who's Who in Indiana Technology" in 1995 and named "Women of the Year" in 2000 by Women & Hi Tech.

The Manic Middle

Authored By:

Lou Russell

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