What Google Learned From Firing All Their Managers
There is no shortage of movies featuring examples of bad bosses. Every film from Office Space to The Devil Wears Prada to (the aptly named) Horrible Bosses showcases what management looks like at its worst. But what about at it's best?
What does being a great manager really look like?
I’ve wrestled with this question for years. In fact, it’s the penultimate question I felt I needed to answer before creating my Training for the Modern Manager program. I refused to build a foundational management training program without understanding what expectations organizations should have for their managers in the first place.
In my research, I came across Google’s Project Oxygen and their extensive research on what makes someone a great manager.
While I’m going to go ahead and assume you’ve heard of Google, it’s very likely this is the first time you’re hearing about Project Oxygen.
Gather round, and let me tell you a tale of a time when Google thought it didn’t need managers. In fact, they were so sure, they got rid of them all together…
Do we really need managers?
The year was 2002 and many in leadership at Google held the belief that managers were at best, a necessary evil, and at worst, a layer of bureaucracy. So they set out to prove they didn’t need managers - by getting rid of them all-together.
The short version is, it didn’t go well. It only took a few short months for them to deem the experiment a failure and reintroduce management throughout the company.
Point proven, right? Wrong.
Undeterred, in 2008 a team of Google researchers set out to prove what some still suspected - that managers don’t matter.
This time, their quantitative research quickly found the opposite - teams with great managers were happier and more productive. There was no arguing with the data. Managers were in.
However, it still didn’t explain what made managers great.
So they got to work answering that exact question through qualitative research. They even did a double-blind study of the best and worst managers to find illustrative examples of what these two groups were doing differently. If you (like me) nerd out on research study details, I highly recommend this NYT article.
So what did Google uncover through all this research?
What resulted was a list of 10 attributes that were consistently demonstrated by the managers who ranked highest with their teams.
A great manager is…
- A good coach
- Empowers their team and does not micromanage
- Creates an inclusive team environment, showing concern for success and well-being
- Is productive and results oriented
- Is a good communicator - listens and shares information
- Supports career development and discusses performance
- Has a clear vision/strategy for the team
- Has key technical skills to help advise the team
- Collaborates across the organization
- Is a strong decision maker
These ten behavioral attributes would become the foundation for my management training program. I knew that if I could provide support for modern managers in each of these areas, they would be well-equipped to navigate the challenges of leading a team.
But, should every team adopt these competencies?
You could certainly argue that every organization should populate their own list of core attributes, but in my experience most won’t take the time (or get close to investing the resources Google did) to define what those are. So the decision becomes: do we wait to develop our own list or use the one Google painstakingly created through data-driven research?
If, like me, you see the benefit in borrowing Google’s (very public) gift, the questions become:
- How do we roll out these new core competencies?
- How do we provide the necessary training to ensure our managers are set up for success?
- How can we hold our managers accountable to upholding the behaviors?
Luckily, I’ve built just the program for that. 😉
If you’re interested in learning more about Training for the Modern Manager, you can download the program overview deck or schedule time to talk with me.
Regardless, you now have a very reputable study to point to should anyone on your leadership team question the necessity of managers.
The truth is, it’s one of the hardest jobs within any organization. Managers are sandwiched between leadership's expectations and the realities faced by their team - the people who are actually doing the work! It’s a balancing act that takes empathy, perseverance, and exceptional listening skills.
I (for one) am incredibly passionate about getting them all the support we can!
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