Editorial
Not long ago, “modern work” meant digitizing paper and filing cabinets. That evolution from hand-written to digital happened steadily over a couple of decades.
Those were simpler days. But that simplicity is long gone.
Today’s workplace is a tangle of collaboration tools, automation, data flows and now AI — layered on top of new expectations around hybrid and remote work. Work has become increasingly complex.
And while technology teams roll out new systems, and HR shapes the policy, one group is quietly carrying the weight of making it all actually work:
Who ensures responsible use of AI?
Who makes sure the team is aligned in the same tools?
Who has to watch for when someone is disengaged in an online meeting?
Who has to make collaboration tools safe, listening and building trust?
Who translates strategy into action, across digital and physical spaces?
Who has to look out for new hires, ensuring that they aren’t isolated?
Who communicates change, checks in and keeps things moving?
Not the visionary leaders. Not the C-suite. But the people who keep the wheels turning: middle managers. Middle managers coordinate teams, deliver outcomes, solve problems as they pop up, and are now expected to do all of that while also mastering new tech, leading distributed teams and navigating AI.
And yet ... we rarely train them for this version of work. Or how to prioritize what to tackle. From the impacts of social isolation for new hires to the risks of accidentally sharing confidential information through a very helpful AI chat, what is most important?
Behaviors, Not Innovation
“The leaders who consistently succeed are the ones doing a few simple things, with intention and consistency: building trust, showing care, offering clarity and being present. These aren’t innovations. They’re behaviors.”
I recently came across this impactful statement from Jason Allen Ashlock, head of organizational development at Kuehne + Nagel. I’ve known Jason for some time and respect his honest commentary on modern work.
Jason’s statement cuts through so much complexity of modern work. That by humanizing the workplace, being present and offering clarity, leaders don’t have to be immersed in everything. They provide the conditions for their people to get on with things and trust they’ll do so.
This isn’t about hands-off leadership, delegating everything so we can spend more time on the golf course. This is very much hands-on, but through supporting people rather than telling people.
Don’t Start With Technology, Start With Listening
The last few years have seen technology problems being solved with new technology solutions. Can’t make a meeting? No problem! Get a notification of what you’ve missed — swapping one busy touchpoint with another.
Similarly, AI is offering many ways to help us fix workplace problems: summarizing our unread emails, prioritizing tasks, surfacing actions from meetings. All useful, but also a band aid solution. A quick fix without tackling the underlying problem.
The focus on technology is a huge distraction. The constantly changing nature of modern work means what we did last year, or even last month may no longer be effective. Yet if we spend all of our time thinking about technology as the solution, it means we’ve lost sight of the problem.
Listening to our people, being available to talk, being open: these tools help us appreciate the problems and needs of our teams. Once we have visibility into these, we can better place the technology to help us solve them.
The Alternative to Micromanagement
Good leaders can’t — and shouldn’t — be involved in everything that the team is doing. Listening is letting people know you are open and present rather than being omnipresent.
For example, don’t attend every meeting. Trust the team to handle it unless they need you there. Instead, ensure that you have availability in your calendar for one-on-ones each week — and that this is known and encouraged.
If you’re using team collaboration tools, be there too, reacting and responding where needed. But again, not everywhere. We can’t afford the time to check all the places where we work. Be in one place, such as your team in Microsoft Teams – and be consistent. Ensure you are present and responding there – and that the team knows this.
Lead With Clarity
In a complex world, we need clarity. But for managers, providing clarity is not just about supporting their teams, it’s about leveraging them. Teams with clarity on expectations, goals and purpose are much more capable. The tools needed to thrive aren’t always skills, they’re behaviors. Permission to try, clarity on boundaries, safe to ask for help.
We can see what happens when those behaviors aren’t in effect with the adoption of AI tools. Last year, Microsoft found that 52% of people who use AI at work were reluctant to admit to using AI for their most important tasks.
Think of the potential headaches this can cause managers who don’t have visibility of, or indeed, an understanding of AI in their teams.
However, if AI is framed as a collaborative effort rather than something to avoid, or something with extra scrutiny, team members are more likely to be open on their adoption of AI — to the benefit of their colleagues as well as their manager — without the burden of having to be solely responsible.
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Trust the Team
Leading with intention and consistency is important, but it doesn’t have to be down to the manager to work out how to be consistent. Modern work gives us choices around tools, spaces, practices and time — too many choices in most cases. It’s no good trying to be consistent in one digital space, when half the team are working across other spaces.
This is where more open and collaborative leadership comes into play.
High performing teams are built on trust. Our Hybrid Experience White Paper found that trusting teams to design their own ways of work was essential to a create positive working experience in complex conditions. Heavy, top-down structure imposes too many restrictions that not only limit the hybrid experience, but place further burdens on managers to communicate and lead formal working practices.
Establishing some common norms and practices around work with the team builds trust and sets very clear expectations. Together we know how to look out for new starters, together we know which tools are right for which jobs, together we can work out how to leverage AI in our work. This also frees up an enormous amount of responsibility placed on the manager.
And this is the heart of the solution. Working together. Having oversight of everything today requires either the super-human abilities of a parent with a toddler, or levels of control that are frankly unhealthy for both the manager and their team.
Set Middle Managers Up for Success
It’s time we stop expecting middle managers to carry the weight of modern work without the tools, training or trust to do it well. Instead of layering on more technology or more pressure, we need to invest in the behaviors that underpin teamwork: clarity, consistency, care and trust.
Organizations must support their managers, not just with new technical training, but with the learning, space and permission to lead differently. Here, managers and their teams together can begin to take control of the chaos, and perhaps, just possibly, thrive.
Editor's Note: Read more on the behavior changes that inspire great team work:
- The Daily Behaviors That Transform Good Teams Into Great Teams — The path from functional to exceptional teams isn't mysterious. Most have the talent they need. What they lack are daily behaviors that create cohesion.
- So Much Choice, So Little Control — Our bloated digital workplaces and all the surrounding choices they necessitate mean we're all slouching towards productivity. Here's how we simplify things.
- Personal User Manuals, Team Agreements and Company Handbooks for Hybrid Teams — Is hybrid work working for you? If not, you'd likely benefit by taking the next step: developing user manuals from the bottom-up.
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