Managers: a bridge between Employees and Upper Management

I’m sometimes fascinated by the multiple flavors that can be captured by the 4 quadrants of an x-y axis based on 2 somewhat incompatible principles.

Thought about how to reach a good balance between the needs of employees and the needs of upper management. This is what resulted:

I of course asked also GPT what he thinks about it:

Let’s analyze each quadrant:

High Fidelity towards Employees and High Fidelity towards Upper Management (Top Right Quadrant):

• Risks: Balancing the needs of both sides can be challenging and may lead to burnout.
• Effort: High. Requires excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Symptoms: Manager is often in meetings, mediating between the two sides.
• Feelings: Both Employees and Upper Management feel heard and understood.

High Fidelity towards Employees and Low Fidelity towards Upper Management (Top Left Quadrant):

• Risks: May lead to conflict with Upper Management. Manager may be seen as not being a team player by the Upper Management.
• Effort: Medium. Requires effort to advocate for employees’ needs.
• Symptoms: Manager is often seen siding with employees during disputes.
• Feelings: Employees feel supported, but Upper Management may feel opposition.

Low Fidelity towards Employees and High Fidelity towards Upper Management (Bottom Right Quadrant):

• Risks: May lead to low morale among employees. Risk of high employee turnover.
• Effort: Medium. Requires effort to enforce Upper Management’s decisions.
• Symptoms: Manager is often seen enforcing Upper Management’s decisions without considering employees’ feedback.
• Feelings: Upper Management feels supported, but employees may feel neglected.

Low Fidelity towards Employees and Low Fidelity towards Upper Management (Bottom Left Quadrant):

• Risks: May lead to dysfunction and lack of direction within the team. Risk of high turnover for both employees and managers.
• Effort: Low. Little effort is made to support either employees or Upper Management.
• Symptoms: Manager is often absent from important meetings and decisions.
• Feelings: Both Employees and Upper Management may feel neglected or frustrated.

Remember, this is a simplified model and real-life situations can be more complex. Managers often need to adapt their approach based on specific circumstances. It’s also important for organizations to provide support and training for managers to handle these challenges effectively.

Original prompt:

I want to do an x-y axis comparison based on 2 scales.

The topic is: Managers are a bridge between Employees and Upper Management.

On x-axis, we have a Manager’s Fidelity towards Employees.

On y-axis, we have a Manager’s Fidelity towards Upper Management.

Tell me what we would find in each of the 4 quadrants, taking into consideration: risks, effort, symptoms, how Employees and Upper Management feel.

Advice you seek? https://calendly.com/cristiterpea/coaching-intro