What Will a Middle Manager Really Do in 2030?

Let’s start with some basic assumptions. Organizations will remain hierarchical, though likely flatter. For middle managers, jobs will combine routine work, long-term goals, and short-term projects. Measuring work will be easier, broken into defined units—except for higher-order tasks and complex decision-making.

Organizations will be more flexible and fluid, capable of moving or deploying resources at the tap of a button—or through speech or eye-movement commands.

Top-performing leaders will excel at navigating complexity across dimensions-without necessarily being stars themselves. Pattern recognition and leveraging these patterns will be key.

Individual stardom and specialized skills will remain relevant for shorter periods. New stars and emerging skills will rise and fade quickly.

Collaboration of all kinds, including with machines and ‘external’ entities, will be key to success.

Career progression and development will become messier, with crisscrossing, non-linear paths replacing traditional ladders.

The Four Types of Team Members in 2030

Middle managers will manage a diverse mix of team members, with the blend varying by context:

Tech-Based Co-pilots

Robots or Automatons

Human Partners

External Experts or Partner Collaborators

01 Navigating This New Team Landscape

Managing these diverse “team members” will require a range of skills. Switching between managing different types of contributors will be essential for both efficiency and effectiveness. Leveraging a bot demands vastly different skills than coaching or mentoring a talented human.
The ability to mix and match resources and manage projects effectively will differentiate great managers. While all managers will have access to similar tools and technologies, success will depend on separating the useful from the hype and learning quickly to leverage each piece and the collective.

02 Integrating People, Tools, and Technologies

Integrating tools, technologies, and people, and not getting drowned by the daily noise will take personal balance, confidence, humility, and learning agility.

03 Collaboration and Adaptability

The ability of middle managers to collaborate and communicate effectively with both internal and external “bodies” and disengage and pivot quickly will distinguish exceptional middle managers.

Most importantly, depth in one or more domains will remain a must.

Sounds bold and maybe just a bit scary? Every manager still has time to invest in their own development. But in these tumultuous times, focus and thoughtful execution are critical.
For organisations, it is a great opportunity to leverage talent through transformation, or be left with a large pool of untapped talent.

It is an urgent call to redesign organisations and rethink the development agenda for managers.

Context

Who are my key stakeholders?

What are the 3 key deliverables I need to complete today, this week, this month, this quarter, and this year?

What decision-making authority do I have? When and who do I need to influence to get my work done?

Team

What is the mix of my team in terms of bots, co-pilots, humans, and external partners?

What specific tasks can they perform independently or collaboratively?

What unique skills do they bring that impact my deliverables?
How do I get these diverse “team members” to work together?

How do I improve their collaboration skills to enhance outcomes and ways of working?

Skills

What specific skills must I develop to manage this team effectively?

How do I create a bundle of skills that is uniquely mine?

How do I maintain and sharpen my domain expertise?

Who are my role models, and how can I learn from them?

How do I create deliberate spaces to practice and refine my skills?

What one or two new skills can give me an edge in performance?

Integration

How do I integrate the various elements—people, technology, partners, continuous learning, and stakeholder management?

How do I prioritize and resolve conflicts when these elements compete?

How do I stay aware of global trends and integrate relevant insights into my context?

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