Because bad managers depress production, as well as their staff

Hello welcome back. It’s a second bank holiday week in the UK (thanks to 🤴) which has been fun but will likely further depress the already dismal domestic output. Read on to find out why we should be thinking about how better managers could help turn things around, and my advice to a CEO struggling with their deputy.

Contact us: please send your podcast and newsletter ideas and any criticism (praise is also welcome) to isabel.berwick@ft.com. Or DM me confidentially on LinkedIn.

Talk to people well and they work harder. Who knew? 🤷 ♀️

High-level theories abound, not least in the pages of the Financial Times, as to why UK productivity is so bad. THE last set of numbers shows that not much has changed in our stagnant economy since the 2008 financial crisis. I won’t go on: this chart from the FT says it all.

Many of these theories that explain our low productivity have to do with economic factors, the relative lack of automation and the impact of Covid. So far, so accurate. But the glaring (to me) fact that people work most effectively when motivated to do so by good management and leadership is rarely mentioned. The last FT piece I could find on this was a 2018 long read from my colleague Andrew Hill, who cites the prevalence of the ‘accidental manager’: someone in a foreman role who has had no management training.

Things haven’t improved since then. Current estimates from the Chartered Management Institute – which originated the concept of the ‘accidental manager’ – suggest that nearly 80% of UK managers fall into this category.

If you are ignored, or at the other end of the scale, micromanaged, by a clueless or insecure manager, will you do your best? Obviously not. You might even be pissed off enough to sabotage the output.

I would suggest that part of our lagging productivity is due to the UK being a hotspot of mismanagement and undermanagement, coupled with higher workloads due to cuts and shortages. Add the rise of “high intensity” work. on short deadlines and it all creates a powerful demotivational cocktail. You do not believe me? Scroll through Reddit r/work forum for depressing confirmation of how many jobs are run by idiots.

Productivity is also influenced by other human factors that too few people think about. I read The social brain, a new book on human psychology in the workplace, and asked co-author Tracey Camilleri what she thinks. “We’ve been looking in the wrong places to solve the productivity problem. Some of the solutions are in plain sight,” she says. “The best source of ‘free’ energy and productivity comes from teams whose impact is greater than the sum of their parts. Bringing smart people together in a room—or zooming in—is not sufficient.

The way to make teams more than the “sum of their parts” is to pay attention to their size. Humans have hard-wired patterns of behavior, dating back millennia, in terms of how we operate within groups. “So many teams are too large for the type of leadership offered to be effective or to accomplish the tasks at hand,” says Tracey. “Our research has shown that if you associate team size with activity (for example, the optimal size for a creative or crisis team is five) and adjust your leadership style to match, productivity improves.”

So, if you’re already a decent manager and want to think about improving productivity, five is the magic number.

What really improves productivity? Have I overestimated the impact of “human” factors? Let me know what you think.

Office therapy

The problem: I became CEO of a nonprofit organization as an external candidate, while my deputy, who applied for the top job, has spent his entire career in the organization. Now they undermine me in meetings, claim my ideas as their own, or subtly disparage anything I suggest. On the flip side, they crave my affirmation, relentlessly. It is a borderless personal/professional stream of consciousness. I don’t want to provoke them, so I haven’t addressed these behavior patterns. I want to show compassion, but this has to stop.

isabel says: Someone who is supposed to be your most trusted colleague is an unprofessional obstacle for you and the organization. You were right not to freeze them. This is what most people (me) would do.

More constructively, you could ally yourself with a third senior staff member. Have this third party work with you in meetings to “mirror” your statements and affirm what you said: “Great point, X. We should take this forward.” Etc.

I asked leadership consultant Gabriella Braun for advice. Gabriella sent a comprehensive response, which I shared with you, but this part works for any reader with a complicated team member: “Meet the deputy at set times (and stick to schedule) to discuss work issues. She leaves them a short amount of time at the end to tell you anything they want reassurance about; give this when it’s valid, but handle it so that it’s not constant.

Gabriella also suggests looking at bigger questions: “What does the MP represent to the organization? Are they seen as holding his story and perhaps his soul? Do you represent novelty and change? If this is the case, the deputy’s fight with you may, subconsciously, be in favor of the larger team.

This blew my mind a bit: we don’t often think that organizations have a soul. Good luck with your quest to fix this, both organizationally and spiritually.

Have a question, problem, or dilemma for Office Therapy? Think you have better advice for our reader? E-mail isabel.berwick@ft.com. We anonymize everything. Your boss, colleague or subordinates will never know.

This week on the Working It podcast

Over the course of the 21st century, job hunting has transformed from an ‘active’ activity – we apply for available jobs – to a ‘passive’ activity, where recruiters find us and approach us. ON episode this week I talk to Josh Graff, LinkedIn’s managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, both about the changes we’ve seen since the platform was created 20 years ago and the next big thing in hiring: recruiting people based on their skills, not their education and formal qualifications.

I also chat with FT senior business writer and initial LinkedIn user, Andrew Hill. Here’s a screenshot of his homepage in 2004 when Andrew signed up.

5 top stories from the world of work

1. Lonely bosses and the crisis of disconnection: America is in the throes of an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” according to its surgeon general. Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson examines how CEOs have grappled with the need for people, both staff and customers, to be more connected.

2. Should British executives move to the United States? Well yes, financially. This FT feature delves into the benefits and possible pitfalls of a move to the US for both individuals and entire companies.

3. Hybrid work fuels the rise of women’s networks. Virtual clubs and networks have become popular during the pandemic and this trend continues. Emma Jacobs delves into the range of free and paid offers (some cost nearly $8,000/£8,000 a year) and asks if they’re worth it.

4. The negotiation in the era of the dual career couple: A partnership where you both are successful is a new concept. (A Harvard Business Review article in the 1950s suggested that wives should encourage their husbands’ “long business trips.”) Stefan Stern reviews the latest advice on how to make dual career marriages work.

5. Everyone benefits when we have the ability to work from home: New research suggests that job quality has improved during the pandemic in occupations that were most likely to be able to work from home at least one day a week. Sarah O’Connor examines the lasting positive impact of hybrid working across all pay levels and industries.

Another thing: “Because I have to suffer in the name of art?” The FT’s Bryce Elder asks why so many theater productions are long and arduous. I approve of that 💯 and instead look for short shows so I can be home by 10pm on a work night. Many other people, it seems, enjoy several hours of high-intensity drama and puzzles. (If you’re a theater-goer during the week, can you actually work the next day?)

PS Bryce’s column has a fantastic opening line. This newsletter is a “safe for work” zone, so I’ll stick to that.

Last week’s article on the sensitive issue of succession plans in family businesses has prompted several experts to get in touch with their advice on how best to do it.

Here’s Russell Haworth, from the Family Business Partnership, on how to encourage a reluctant older generation to let go of control:

“Much attention is paid to ensuring that the next generation is ready to take on their new role, however, very little attention is paid to what the senior generation will actually move into. This can create a reluctance within the senior generation as much of their legitimacy, identity and purpose is tied to their role in the business.

“Identifying what elements of their well-being are being provided by their role and how these elements will be replaced is important. Having a well thought out plan for what their life will consist of beyond their current role is essential.

Where do I work from…

Lynn-Marie Denyer writes: “This is my home office that I love to work from (in leafy Surrey, UK). It is very light and airy and has room for a giant dog bed for when the dog decides to come and stay with me. Much nicer than a stuffy office in the city centre!”

Send me photos of your workspace, with or without furry colleagues, a isabel.berwick@ft.com with a note about why you love working there and we’ll post our favorites.