Is a manager accountable to his team for his whereabouts?
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Dear Joan:
Do you think managers are accountable to their direct report associates as to where they are on a day-to-day basis?
Answer:
It sounds as if your manager goes AWOL and you’re not happy about it. The answer to your question depends, in part, on:
- How much the manager’s employees need him/her for guidance, questions and decisions.
- What is going on in the unit, or in the company.
If your manager is absent for days at a time, and no one knows where he or she is, that could be an issue. Part of a manager’s job is to provide direction, help and coordination to his unit. If employees have no idea where he is, and worse, he isn’t available to them via mobile phone, that is a problem.
Not only is it a problem for his direct reports, who are left hanging, it is bad for morale. Employee groups, who have an absentee boss, tend to resent the absence and grow bitter. I often see negative employees become vocal about a missing manager and begin to take matters into their own hands. In the worst cases, they can bully and intimidate others who don’t join the ranks of the negative, disenfranchised informal leader.
Senior management won’t be happy, either. If his boss can’t get in touch with him, it doesn’t look good. If it happens twice, it won’t be pretty.
With that said, I want to make a point about the role of the manager and why he or she may be away from the unit on a regular basis. One of the most significant changes that occurs when you are promoted to a manager role is how you use your time and your schedule. The focus shifts from downward on the work at hand, to a 360-degree view of not only their department, but other departments, and upward to senior management and outside to the customer. Suddenly, it seems their day is filled with meetings. It can be a big challenge—at least at first-- for a new manager, because it seems his calendar is no longer under his own control and his work is harder to measure.
At the very least, however, I believe a manager owes it to his primary constituents.—his own employees—to let them know where he is. If the manager is smart, he or she will also let the team know what he or she is doing. If the manager doesn’t let them know, it breeds suspicion about what the manager is up to…and it’s usually no good.
If the manager must be away for periods of time, it becomes more crucial to meet with the team on a regular basis, and hold one-on-one meetings with each direct report, to provide the kind of face time that is needed. If this doesn’t happen, the manager isn’t adding any value to the group. If these meetings are frequently canceled it will also breed contempt, because employees will feel disrespected, in addition to feeling abandoned.
In many companies, where managers are separated geographically from their employees, this can be accomplished by phone meetings, or video conferencing. However, there is no substitute for good old fashioned face-to-face contact. There is no better way to build trust, motivation and engagement.
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