Why is middle management so hard in a small company?

Those of us who have been in a management position in a small or medium-sized company know that it is quite a challenge. You rarely go home thinking "it was a good day, everything's fine". Even after great victories such as the successful completion of large projects or securing big orders you're more like "OK this one is done, now for all the rest". No need for examples: whatever the sector or the position, for a number of structural reasons, these jobs will always be tough.

You're not just a manager

Once I've been hired at a managing position in a very technical company… in a domain where my knowledge was quite limited. They thought I would be the right guy and when I said "but aren't you bothered by my lack of technical expertise?" they replied "not at all, it's all about management". It wasn't. For years I struggled with this, either because my colleagues were expecting me to lead them on technical issues, my managers assumed, consciously or not, that because I had a master in engineering I would somehow become an expert, or simply because I couldn't add value in various situations because I was unable to actually do things (like reviewing drawings, validating a design, contributing to a technical meeting or inspecting equipment).

A small company cannot afford to have managers that do only management, you need to really know what you are talking about to start with, and anyway you have to complete tasks on top of managing. The notion of "hands-off management" is simply absurd here. So if you're a perfect manager, fine, you can get done with this quickly and then go to work. Nothing to do with the impostor syndrome, it's just all the things you're supposed to do on top of your job.

You're also a jack-of-all-trades

And this does not stop at your title. Of course, there is a word before manager: commercial, technical, manufacturing, design… But in a small company there are way more hats than heads. In a large corporation specialization runs deep, someone can be in charge of a specific aspect of digital marketing. In a smaller organization, sometimes the sales manager also takes care of marketing, all of it, whatever it is.

Many middle managers start to understand their job when looking back at years of mistakes, failures and pain

So the mere variety of problems you have to deal with everyday can keep you on your toes. One of your colleagues can come with a legal question. Or have a psychological crisis. Or forward you a weird email from an international partner. And there is no backup. It's not that they believe you have the answers, just you are the boss so you're supposed to figure it out.

Nobody understands management anymore

Now today it shouldn't be that way. Management should be simple because on one hand ERPs and communication apps have automated most of the coordination, and on the other hand hierarchy should give way to subsidiarity. People should be empowered and decision-making delegated, so managers should have their cake and eat it.

Actually the opposite is true in small companies. Nobody has a clue about the subsidiarity transition and how to implement it (not to mention where it comes from). The top management is putting pressure on middle managers and asking for more engagement, both from them and their subordinates. The latter are resisting this and still rely on middle managers for everything they need, refusing to take ownership of anything. Middle managers are, yes, caught in the middle.

Most of the time, actually they are unable to even identify these issues because they have little or no education or training in management. Many small companies promote managers internally and shun expensive graduates. They also want them at their desk all day long, not wasting time somewhere in post-it sessions. The thinking is that management is about leadership and character; management knowledge is hair-splitting academic theory, good for large corporations. Thus many middle managers start to understand their job when looking back at years of mistakes, failures and pain.

You are crushed by strategic and field issues

Middle managers in small organizations end up feeling the pressure of everything and being responsible for everything. For instance a strategy that doesn't generate growth usually leads to issues in productivity or competitiveness, that vastly complicate middle managers' everyday life (and for which they get the blame). If conversely the strategy produces growth, then middle managers are still on the front line with onboarding, investment, anticipation, training, timing, thresholds and so on.

So middle managers can only survive if the top managers do a good job, but then what they get is a crazy life. No wonder eventually many people in small businesses refuse to be promoted, and job vacancies are difficult to fill with competent applicants.

As we need to finish on a positive note, what could be the silver lining? Well the above suggests that this a nice performance opportunity for small companies. Helping middle managers to do their job could do wonders. If CEOs could sit back for a second and put themselves in the shoes of their field executives, they might find ways to fix a lot of things 😏.

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