I wrote about the manager pass-through in 2011. It's an important fact of life in every organization, so I'm writing about it again today. Here's the trick: Imagine you could film every manager in your organization trying to defend a strategy, action, change, etc. taken by the company to their team. Would they own it or point to a higher power as the reason for the strategy, action or change, effectively separating themselves from responsibility for the decision/action?
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Manager Pass-Through ((m
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1. What managers of people do when they don't want to own tough or difficult news with employees.
2. Alive and well in every organization I've ever been a part of, and it's alive and well in your company.
3. Rather than owning bad news or a difficult conversation with an employee, managers look for an easier out. They/you explain deflective reasons why the action is necessary. They/you often end up using terms like "them" and "we" to describe what's going on and why.
"Them" and "we" (and words that mean the same thing) are at the core of the manager pass-through. Rather than explaining to your team member why a particular course of action is necessary for the business, you end up rationalizing - you say that you've been told to do something, and the conversation you're having is the next logical step.
It's not you who's asking for more or something uncomfortable from the employee, it's them. Who is them? Usually it's a tribe known as "management" or "leadership". Could also be the customer.
Whoever "them" is, what you're doing when you use the manager pass-though is making it clear that it's not "you".
And it's lame. Before I step off my high horse, allow me to confess - I'm guilty as well. But the first step in recovery is acknowledging you have a problem.
The next time you're delivering bad news or asking for something you know is going to make a direct report uncomfortable, listen closely. You may not say "them" or "us", but you're probably in the neighborhood. As a manager of people, sometimes you get paid to be in a lonely spot. Own tough news or requests as your own, even if you didn't start the fire.
Good luck with the next conversation. I hope the first day of the rest of your life as a manager goes really well.
Love that Manager Pass-Through defintion. Makes it easier to address the problem.
I tend to think this is the organization's fault, although there are exceptions. When you roll out a program, policy, etc..., you need to listen and consider everyone's thoughts and encourage a little constructive conflict on the topic. Let "management" hash out their differences of opinion on the subject. This should lead to buy-in.
Afterwards when I find out managers are blaming everything on "management", then it tells me that they no longer consider themselves as a member of management. So why should I?
Posted by: HRAthletics | July 12, 2012 at 02:01 PM
When I first was promoted to manager years ago a peer said to me... "You have just become them."
Never forget it. You are them and they know it.
Posted by: Paul Hebert | July 12, 2012 at 06:03 PM
I see references to hoarding the resources or the information, but hoarding the actual work goes on a lot, too. Not opening up the client for cross-selling opportunities, or sharing plentiful work with other groups who have a stake in keeping their billable hours high.
Posted by: nyc facebook developers | July 13, 2012 at 12:47 AM