Middle Management's Role in Promoting
FAST
New-Product Development

by Philip A. Himmelfarb, Ph.D.

Middle managers can become coaches
or they can try to remain in complete control.

In companies that are dedicated to fast product development, senior management takes responsibility for managing the product-development process. Senior managers choose and prioritize projects, select and empower cross-functional teams for the major projects and monitor project progress. Senior managers do all the strategic activities, and the cross-functional teams do all the work.

Senior managers have high positions in the company. Team members are much lower down in the organizational structure. Unfortunately, except in the smallest companies, this tends to leave middle management out of the loop. Middle managers hear about projects indirectly and their employees often are appointed by someone else to be on the project teams. Once the teams are formed, middle managers have little or no control over them. They experience a loss of control over their departments and their destinies.

What about these middle managers? Do they have a role in the process? What should their role be? Are they left out of the loop for a reason? Are their fears justified when they worry about losing their jobs? Are they unwitting or intentional barriers to success? Let's examine these questions, starting with a look at some actual cases.

"I'm starting to wonder if I have a job here anymore.
Maybe I should leave."

The middle manager's view
Harry R., an engineering manager of a $150 million manufacturing company, expressed it this way: "It used to be that my engineers worked on the development projects that the marketing people selected. When my engineers were ready, they passed the designs over to manufacturing to do the pilot and production runs. Sure, we had problems, especially when the plant people didn't think the new products were easy enough to manufacture or assemble. But we always muddled through. After a while, everything worked out."

Now, everything's different. The bosses created empowered multifunctional teams to do the big development projects and the teams report directly to the bosses, not to me anymore.

"So, what's my role? I can no longer tell the engineers what to do, at least not with the big projects. I'm lucky if they tell me anything at all. I like the idea of teamwork, but not when it leaves me out in the cold. Maybe I should start looking around for another job. If they use teams for everything here, there probably won't be a place for me."

Pete P., a marketing manager of a $500 million consumer products company, said: "About five years ago, we became a product matrix type of organization. That meant that the product managers, who report directly to me, were responsible for the development of all new products in their areas. They had multifunctional teams doing the work, and they were the team leaders of all the projects. I liked this arrangement because I controlled everything; no products were developed unless I wanted them. I guided and approved the features of all new products and line extensions."

Then, last year, senior management decided to try something new. They formed a senior-management new-product committee made up of the CEO and his direct reports. They started to select all the new major projects, appointed multifunctional teams and had the teams select their own leaders. The teams started reporting directly to the senior-management committee instead of to my product managers.

"I feel totally left out of the loop. My product managers aren't automatically the team leaders anymore, and now I've got very little control or say over the projects. I don't decide which projects to do and, once the management committee chooses the projects, I can't tell the teams what to do. I'm starting to wonder if I have a job here anymore. Maybe I should leave."

These middle managers expressed some real fears because roles at work are changing and they don't know where they fit in. Surely they must have some options other than leaving the company or offering passive resistance. They need to find their role in the product-development process.

Discovering
new functions

Middle managers don't need to feel left out. While they have a less strategic and controlling role than perhaps they would like, they can get involved and provide important assistance in a less direct manner. Basically, they can access the product-development process by working with those of their employees who are on development teams. They can help by:
· Providing resources-Development teams depend on adequate labor and other resources. Middle managers can provide the resources that were approved in the team's project plan, making sure that unexpected labor needs don't hurt the project. If it appears that their department's resource problems could adversely affect a development project, middle managers can go to their peers, to their senior managers or the project's champion to resolve the problem.
· Coaching and training-Middle managers can coach and train their respective functional team members, operating as sympathetic and knowledgeable mentors. They can do whatever it takes to keep their team members' spirits high, by celebrating successes and helping team members get back up after they have stumbled.
· Helping to resolve conflict-Conflict is inevitable. Middle managers are uniquely positioned to courteously and firmly identify and help resolve conflicts, especially those that relate to availability of labor.
· Providing knowledge and experience-Middle managers possess a substantial body of factual knowledge and experience relating to their respective functional areas. They know what works and what doesn't. Sharing their knowledge with development team members helps promote fast product development.
· Overcoming roadblocks-Middle managers can help overcome roadblocks to development team progress when an employee asks for help. They know how to make things happen, often because they know how to cut through red tape. They can connect people who can get something done with those that need the help.
· Promoting the fast product-development process-Middle managers can familiarize themselves with and then become enthusiastic supporters of the fast product-development process. Further, they should be available to counsel any employee whose behavior is not in the best interests of the fast new-product-development process.

Working relationships
Development team members are empowered to make decisions, within the constraints of their project plan. Yet the spirit of team empowerment does not require a hands-off relationship between individual team members and their managers.

Middle managers need to help and support those of their employees who are on development-project teams. In turn, team members should be willing to keep their respective managers thoroughly informed about their team-related activities. There should be a sharing of feelings, opinions and information about the development project.

Managers do best when they seek information and give guidance in a nonthreatening way, avoiding any appearance of issuing direct orders to the team member. Issuing a direct order disguised as a helpful suggestion will likely encounter resistance and antagonism. Managers must not do anything that is construed as meddling with the team. If in doubt about how to approach a team member with a suggestion, the middle manager should ask the project champion for advice.

Often, team members feel pulled in two directions: toward the needs of the project and toward the needs of their manager. These needs can be in direct conflict. Managers need to be sensitive to this dilemma and should make every effort to avoid interfering with the autonomy of a team member. Yet, at the same time, managers must find a way to make their concerns known.

Team members should be willing to listen to constructive guidance from their managers without arbitrarily assuming that it is an attempt to meddle with the project. When presented with a suggestion, a team member should listen courteously and be willing to bring the suggestion promptly to the team for discussion and resolution.

What's in it for middle managers?
In reality, middle managers play an important role in the company's fast new-product-development process. Managers who are successful in this regard will:
· Promote company growth and survival
· Become known as developers of good people
· Learn more about teamwork and conflict resolution
· Be respected by their team-member employees
· Learn to manage existing resources more effectively
· Develop training and mentoring skills

The choices
Middle managers have choices; they either can become mentors, coaches and promoters of fast-product development or they can try to hang on to their traditional right to be in control. They can promote product-development teamwork or they can get in the way. The choice is theirs. It's a tough choice. To move into a supportive and noncontrolling management style is scary for many managers. In the end, though, there is no other choice.

About the author . . .
Philip A. Himmelfarb, Ph.D., is president and founder of Philip Adam & Associates, a Milwaukee-based consulting firm specializing in the evaluation, fine-tuning and strategic planning of new-product development, the presentation of in-house training seminars and the facilitating of start-up and ongoing development projects.

Himmelfarb has had more than 30 years of successful consulting and hands-on managerial experience in the creation and management of new-product development projects for many corporations.

Prior to founding PA&A in 1982, Himmelfarb worked at the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co., where he was responsible for nonbeer new-product and business development. Earlier, he worked at Monsanto Chemical Co. and was a senior consultant at Arthur D. Little Co., specializing in new-product development.