Which came first…The Manager or The Department?

I saw the following Agile Alliance member event posted where Gitte Klitgaard would explore the following topic—

Over the last few years, disengagement in the global workforce has grown, and the number of stressed and lonely people has grown. While the job market plays a role, managers have an even greater impact on these trends. We want organizations that foster great managers, empowering them to create safe yet challenging working environments where engineering teams can thrive, build high-quality products that deliver value, and where running a company doesn’t require magic.

Come and hear what that could look like!

And it inspired me.

We always discuss how managers must be great, show up, behave, and deliver for their teams. It's not that Gitte will be doing it, but often, we stereotype managers on the bad side of the equation. Agile life would have been great for the team if they had done better here.

What I’m going to do below is flip the abstract around to reflect the opposite. What should great teams do to support their managers?

Here’s an example of my other side event post—

What would Manager’s look like with Great Engineering Departments?

In this session, we’ll explore teams' accountabilities in creating a welcoming, safe, productive, respectful, and balanced environment for their managers. Where teams—

• Powerfully deliver on the challenging assignments expected by the manager.

• Are gladly transparent with their plans, activities, and results.

• Implicitly trust the manager’s goals, expectations, directives, and intentions.

• Actively show gratitude for their manager's role in supporting them within the organization.

• Encourage their manager to strike a balance and make time for self-care.

• Actively get to know their manager and build a win-win relationship.

• Stay open-minded, optimistic, and energized across the team and the organization.

How would YOUR Manager look in this incredibly productive, energized, innovative, and delivery-focused environment?

Wrapping Up

In all seriousness, I think it should go BOTH ways. That is—

• Managers should be supportive in making their Teams Great, and

• Teams should be supportive in making their Managers Great.

And yes, I get that there is a power dynamic and privilege difference, but IMHO, that shouldn’t force the focus to be unidirectional in our appreciations and constructive criticisms.

Stay agile, my friends,

Bob.

---

Whatever your role or experience, life in the agile space can be challenging today. Having someone to serve as your coach, as a sounding board, be a truthteller, and become a trusted partner on tap to leverage during those tricky bits can be helpful. That’s precisely where Agile Moose can help you.

We’re not just an Agile Coach, but a business domain expert, a personal advisor, an organizational design and development consultant, and a leadership coach and partner.

The moose brings over 35 years of technical and product leadership experience across a broad range of contexts. If you’re stuck and know it, reach out, as I can help.