Our middle management has no energy, no motivation, no ideas, no entrepreneurial spirit. We have tried so much, but nothing changes!
Source: Leadership practice in real life
Have you heard anything like this? This is a regression!
“Regression” describes the behavior of teams that have relapsed into previous patterns of behavior. Among other things, they then try to hand responsibility for their actions back to their boss. This has a significant impact on the quality, energy, effectiveness and well-being of the team.
What specific interventions would be effective in this situation? What do we emphasize in our work with managers and in team development?
- First of all, the manager must work out for themselves what actual degrees of freedom are given to the team and what goal is set.
- Managers must also reflect on their management style. Regression cannot be resolved with hierarchy, rewards or coercion alone. Managers must learn to create trust and convince others.
- In addition, the manager must learn to communicate the framework, goals, targets, objectives and degrees of freedom to the team clearly, precisely and appreciatively and then manage to …
- … to create healthy group processes in the team so that personal responsibility, energy, motivation and quality can emerge from the teams themselves.
What stands out? You can only work intensively with the teams in step 4. Three of the four steps relate to your managers!