Manager Sandwich: The Middle Manager's Survival Blog

I lived in the dorm during my first year at The University of Michigan.  It wasn't so new to me since I had started college the previous summer just after high school.  During that summer semester I lived in West Quad, and had a pretty decent introduction to college life and communal living.  I also had the privilege of having an older brother and sister who both attend U of M and lived in the same dorms. College dorm living is an experience all in its own, especially if you choose to room "blind" and live with a total stranger that the University pairs you up with.  Back then, most universities didn't use personality dimensions to pair up compatible roommates, and from the look of things, didn't really pair up people with any semblance of consideration at all.  Not only do you have to learn to live with someone that you normally wouldn't be friends with or hang out with otherwise, you also share a hallway and in my case, a communal bathroom with another f...

As a middle manager, we are often the target of the frustration from our direct reports.  This is particularly intense if you are in a manufacturing environment where you may have dozens of hourly employees as well as salaried supervisors reporting to you.  In a previous post back in February 2011, I wrote about the importance of communication ( www.managersandwich.com/2011/02/karaoke-communication-dont-be-talking.html ) when relaying news, both good and bad.  The ultimate squeeze play is when we are the bearers of bad news and are forced to deal with the negative response of those in our charge. In many situations, I have correctly and politely communicated to my superiors of the probable response that a new directive or program will illicit from the workforce. This is mainly an informative exchange, and not a refusal to relay the information.  Sometimes I am not so polite, in fact, my responses have been recently characterized as frank, succinct, and colorful...