A Group Manager's Life

Congratulations on becoming a group manager!

Your job is to be a problem solver for executives as in “make it go away” or “implement this idea” or “build a high performing team”

They forget to tell you that it’s also about dealing with executives that forgot the middle layer squeeze, peers that don’t want to help because it stops them getting the credit, employees that need care and feeding on a continuous basis, that timelines and expectations get shorter and shorter in a world of instant communication, and that the tools you need to do your job are always playing catch-up. Oh and one more – that you will be expected to be in meetings with all these people between 9-5pm every day….leaving you to do “the work” in your spare time.

I pride myself on someone that likes to do a lot and deliver great results on all of them. I’ve got a track record with results, awards and people that can attest to this. So why am I sitting here at 7pm at night having to write this message of despair? It surely must be my fault – something I’m not doing right? A better leader would be able to do all this and more….

Here was a day in the life of me…you decide:

Work starts at 6am when I wake up, thinking about the tasks I have to get done that day whilst I get ready. There is always such a volume of work and deadlines (strategy, 10 year vision, group plan, performance reviews, employee 1-1’s, compliance training and sign-offs….before the actual team deliverables) that it usually about “who will scream the loudest” if this isn’t done.

I roll in at 8am ready to get going. Waiting for the computer to load for 20 minutes – got to love IT security. Checking the blackberry emails while the computer loads – only 10 new issues to manage came in since I last checked. “Can you just pull this” “I got your name” “I’m a vendor with a new solution” “I’m calling in sick”. Which ones do I deal with – the little tactical issues to stem them before they snowball or the strategic items piling up as a “one day”….always a struggle.

Meetings start at 9am. First one is supporting 2 innovative solutions that could make the work of the team easier over time. But it needs investment and time from the team of “only a few hours” to make this possible. Team is at full capacity with a backlog longer than we’d ever get to. I use the ‘probing questions’ technique as the method of deflection to commit. What a great feeling!

30 mins with a peer in town to stop by – we chat about solving for workload, being told my team does not solve her needs and she’s already agreed with our boss that she’ll solve for it her own way. Should I feel thankful that this person found their own solution or incompetent that I could not provide a solution for the organization? I try to stick to the former….but if there are too many of these it becomes the latter.

3 Instant message have been popping up during this with more of those “quick question” and “can you just” conversations. Multi-tasking is the way of life. I need to pee, but that won’t happen for another 2 hours, whilst I heat up a 5 minute microwave meal.

30 minutes to decide a strategy for an emerging trend – oh and can you just make a forecast as well before tomorrow? Back of the envelope created during the meeting. But asking myself “would you want to invest and put your name and brand on this knowing you put 5 minutes in this?”….so adding a task on my list of “1 day turnaround” items that has to get done….guess I’m leaving later today.

Another meeting with another peer – this one really fun with them stating “they can’t work or talk to me until their 2 VP bosses put it on her priority list” because “I can’t do more than 5 things”. That sure is team spirit to me!

2 hours attending a staff meeting - where I get told “I’m a leader of the org but can’t attend the people discussions” “I need to attend the frontline manager training that is being offered (no-one else, just me?)” and “your team could deliver what we need in 3 years but we need it in 1, so I’m hiring people better than you”. I walk away feeling dejected as a leader that contributes anything let alone something valuable.

And of course more work added - I have 7 days to gather conduct an assessment of my team, 14 days to get their annual pay and bonus set up. Seems reasonable – even somewhat luxurious compared to most of the requests on the plate. I think of creative innovative best ways to make this experience more beneficial and a learning opportunity for the team….but soon get squashed by the idea I’ll have to do it all alone. There are thousands of managers in the same boat here….there must be solutions out there. Be quicker to just do it than to search for it. I still have all those other things to do from today…and yesterday…and be proactive about the items on the horizon…

I walk away at the end of the day just thinking…. is this a function of the person, the role, the work, or the organization? It surely must be my fault – something I’m not doing right? A better leader would be able to do all this and more….