I have a confession to make: I love being a manager. Some of the most rewarding moments in my career have been spent supporting, coaching, and leading a team, helping individuals excel and increase their output without burning out.
Managing a team isn’t just about overseeing tasks and meeting deadlines. The true role of a manager is to maximise the overall output of your team. Everything you do should aim to create the conditions where each team member can work at their best, resulting in higher productivity and better business outcomes.
Let’s explore what this means, especially in environments driven by automation and efficiency, where optimising workflows can be a game-changer.
Why Management Often Gets Criticised
There’s a stereotype that managers are ‘middlemen’ whose roles aren’t critical. It’s not uncommon to hear employees question the value managers bring: “What do they actually do all day?” This perception arises because managerial work doesn’t always result in something tangible—unlike individual contributors, whose output is clear and measurable.
But here’s the thing: The less visible your efforts, the more crucial they often are. Keeping the team running smoothly, removing roadblocks, and ensuring alignment with company goals might go unnoticed, but they’re essential for performance.
Without proper management, teams fall into chaos. Decisions get delayed, communication breaks down, and inefficiencies creep in. Good managers, on the other hand, keep all these invisible gears turning smoothly.
The Essence of Managerial Leverage
Your most important task as a manager is to amplify the output of your team. This concept, called managerial leverage, is at the core of effective leadership. It’s about multiplying the team’s efforts, not just adding to them.
Imagine you’ve got a highly skilled technical team, but they’re spending more time dealing with poorly defined specs than they are writing code. As a manager, one of your biggest contributions could be ensuring those specifications are crystal clear and actionable. By doing so, you’re not just adding value in your own right; you’re boosting the productivity of the entire team.
Poor management decisions, like inadequate planning or lack of support, can ripple through the organisation. These mistakes reduce your team’s leverage, causing inefficiencies that set everyone back. Every decision you make should be viewed through the lens of “Does this improve or hinder my team’s productivity?”
How to Maximise Team Efficiency
To truly maximise team performance, start by asking yourself these three critical questions:
-
Will this action increase my team’s output?
Every decision you make—from strategic planning to the way you run meetings—should focus on improving productivity. Avoid time-wasting processes that bog down progress. -
Is it tailored to our team’s specific needs?
A one-size-fits-all approach to management rarely works. Understand the nuances of your team, their workflow, and where the bottlenecks are. Customising solutions to the unique challenges of your organisation is key. -
How will success be measured?
Whether you’re implementing a new project management tool or restructuring the way work is assigned, it’s important to establish how you’ll measure its success. It might be quantitative, such as improved task completion rates, or qualitative, like better team morale.
Focus on refining processes like feedback loops, setting clear goals, running efficient meetings, and creating a culture of accountability. These are all elements that can drive better output when applied strategically.
Fostering Continuous Improvement
Management isn’t static—it’s a dynamic and evolving role. Continuous improvement should be at the heart of your management philosophy. Each week, reflect on your contributions and ask:
- Did I help my team perform better this week?
- What barriers did I remove, and how did it affect overall productivity?
- Where can I adjust my approach to yield better results next time?
This regular reflection can lead to better decision-making and an adaptive management style that grows with your team’s needs.
Even in environments heavily focused on automation, where machines might handle most repetitive tasks, your role as a manager remains crucial. You’re guiding the human element, ensuring that technology and people work in harmony towards the same goals.
Closing Thoughts on the real role of managers
The role of a manager, at its core, is to increase the output of the team. Despite often being viewed as invisible or unnecessary, effective management is about amplifying team productivity through managerial leverage—removing obstacles, streamlining processes, and improving communication.
- Managerial Leverage: Your main task is to multiply your team’s efforts rather than adding more work.
- Maximising Efficiency: Focus on actions that directly increase team output, tailor strategies to your team’s needs, and ensure there’s a way to measure success.
- Continuous Improvement: Regular reflection on your contributions ensures you adapt and grow as a manager, ultimately leading to better team performance over time.
At the end of the day, being a manager means continuously finding ways to help your team work smarter, not harder.
