Middle Management

Middle managers play a major role in the change process. A successful middle manager is the one that uses small amounts of time to accomplish big things. They usually plan well and anticipate whatever is coming on the way. They are effective because they understand what they need to do and at the same time to adjust quickly and proactively when conditions change but unfortunately most of middle managers have never experienced this type of productivity. Most of the cases results suffer due to misdelivery from the middle managers’ team and this kind of situation happen quite often.
Why middle managers often fail?
In today’s ever changing and competitive work environment the middle managers’ task is very complicated and at the same more challenging than the roles of either frontline supervisors or senior executives and they have more direct impact on business results than any other layer of an organization. At the same time we realize that there is no much research on this perspective and at the same time there are few books of training programs targeted to meet the unique needs of middle managers. We realize that most of the businesses due to middle management but still middle managers are extremely important in implementation of deliberate strategy. It is therefore argued that if also organizations continue to conceive of middle-management in purely operational terms, then they may fail to draw on the strategic potential of the middle.
For example Black&Decker has regained the market share with the help of middle managers’ actions. In the end, it represented a high impact that middle management have produced.
What does it take to be a successful middle-manager:
- To be a good project manager
- The enterprise to create an environment that encourages creativity and innovation
- To plan well and to make sure that the priorities are clear
- To communicate the vision of senior executives with passion and clarity.

References:
Balogun, J. (2003) From Blaming the Middle to Harnessing its Potential: Creating Change Intermediaries, British Journal of Management, vol. 14, 69-83.

Huy, N. Q. (2002) Emotional Balancing of Organizational Continuity and Radical Change, Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(1), 31-69.

Westley, F. T. (1990) Middle Managers and Strategy: Micro-Dynamics of Inclusion, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 11 (5), 337-351.

Lisa Haneberg "High Impact Middle Management"