The role of the manager has changed dramatically over the years. It is being missed because we have devalued the role of the manager (flat organizations, depictions of horrible managers like Michael Scott in The Office, etc.).
As the business world has changed, the model and expectations of the manager has stayed remarkably consistent - to its detriment.
Managers used to be the task master in the command and control world.
Then the scourge of micromanagement was popularized and managers resisted command-and-control, but went too far the other way and became glorified individual contributors. Sure, the manager approved vacation and filled out performance reviews, but never really did much “managing”.
Both those models have to go. The new manager needs to be a coach, focusing on getting results through feedback, communication, relationship building and developing great teams. This isn’t as dictatorial as command-and-control, nor as hands off as the glorified individual contributor.
Without this change, the we will continue to see decreased or stagnant engagement and productivity levels.
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