What Makes a Good Manager?

The success of a company is largely determined by the quality of its management team. Thousands of authors have written on this topic over many decades. In this post, I’ll discuss Google’s approach to management as presented in the 2015 book, Work Rules!, by Lazlo Bock. Mr. Bock was SVP of People Operations at Google.

Eight Key Attributes of Good Managers

After extensive surveying and analysis, Google’s Project Oxygen Group identified eight key attributes of good managers.

1. Be a good coach.
2. Empower the team and do not micromanage.
3. Express interest/concern for team members’ success and personal well-being.
4. Be very productive/results-oriented.
5. Be a good communicator – listen and share information.
6. Help the team with career development.
7. Have a clear vision/strategy for the team.
8. Have important technical skills that help advise the team.

Providing Managers With Upward Feedback

Google continuously improves the performance of its managers with respect to these attributes by providing them feedback from their employees through bi-annual upward feedback surveys that ask the following questions.

1. I would recommend my manager to others.
2. My manager assigns stretch opportunities to help me develop in my career.
3. My manager communicates clear goals for our team.
4. My manager gives me actionable feedback on a regular basis.
5. My manager provides the autonomy I need to do my job (i.e., does not “micro-manage” by getting involved in details that should be handled at other levels).
6. My manager consistently shows consideration for me as a person.
7. My manager keeps the team focused on priorities, even when it’s difficult (e.g., declining or deprioritizing other projects).
8. My manager regularly shares relevant information from their manager and senior leadership.
9. My manager has had a meaningful discussion with me about my career development in the past six months.
10. My manager has the technical expertise (e.g., technical judgment in Tech, selling in Sales, accounting in Finance) required to effectively manage me.
11. The actions of my manager show they value the perspective I bring to the team, even if it is different from their own.
12. My manager makes tough decisions effectively (e.g., decisions involving multiple teams, competing priorities).
13. My manager effectively collaborates across boundaries (e.g., team, organizational).
14. What would you recommend your manager keep doing?
15. What would you have your manager change?

Manager Performance Results

In a two-year period at Google, overall scores went from 83% to 88% favorable and the worst managers went from 70% to 77% favorable. That’s an impressive result. Google put a lot of effort into discovering what makes a person a great manager and how to encourage their managers become better managers. While every company is different, why not start with this and then make any necessary adjustments for your specific culture/environment?

Coaching versus Micromanaging

Google’s second “Good Manager” attribute is to empower the team and not micromanage. Managers dread being labeled as micromanagers because of the negative connotations (i.e., “no one wants to work for a micromanager”). Micromanagers tend to exhibit the following behaviors.

1. Tell employees how to do things rather than what to do.
2. Perform tasks and make decisions themselves rather than delegating to their employees.

I think it is important to understand the relationship between coaching and micromanaging. Take for example the Apprenticeship Model (i.e., apprentice, journeyman, master) as it relates to a technology organization. If a manager has an employee who is operating at the apprentice level in a certain area, it is entirely appropriate to “micromanage” them as a coaching tactic until they gain experience and knowledge enough to perform certain tasks on their own.

Advising versus Micromanaging

Google’s eighth “Good Manager” attribute is to have important technical skills to help advise the team. Sometimes there is a fine line between advising and telling the team what to do. I’ve found that the best approach is to ask questions rather than telling people what to do. Asking the right questions can guide people’s thinking and help them arrive at the best solutions.

Conclusions

I think that Google’s upward feedback survey is a great way to evaluate managers and help them improve. But care must be taken when evaluating coaching and advising behaviors versus micromanaging.