This week we’re talking about a topic from a subscriber who emailed me the following a few weeks ago:
I’m not a manager myself. However, I do a lot of leading on client accounts and need to get teams on board with strategies. That is the hardest problem that I have – getting people excited about work when I’m NOT their manager and where I’m trying to guide them on what to do, but ultimately have no sway over their time/skills/engagement.
Managing people when you’re not their manager is a skillset that is hugely valuable. If you want to be a manager in the future, the skills that you can practice and develop will help you when you do become a manager one day.
Even if you’re a manager right now, these skills can help you work across teams and get the most out of people who you don’t directly manage too.
Let’s take a look at a few tactical ways to manage people who you don’t officially manage.
Focus on what’s truly important – high performance
The overarching principle to keep in mind is that you need to look for the things that transcend the individual interests of the people you work with and yourself, then focus only on what’s truly important for the project that you’re working on – getting results.
Ideally, getting results and performing to a high standard will also align with your personal goals, their personal goals and that of the company as a whole. In other words, you should all be aligned on the belief that performing well and getting results is good for everyone.
Essentially, what you’re trying to say to anyone who you work with is “this isn’t about us as individuals, it’s about the client or stakeholder and what’s best for them. But if we do what’s best for them and drive the results they need, we all win.”
The idea here is that even if you don’t officially manage someone, you can find ways to motivate them that don’t require you to worry about their wider personal development plans or careers.
Get clear on what tangible success looks like for the project
On a personal level, you need to make sure that you’re very, very clear on what success looks like for the project that you’re working on. If you’re not, then it’s pretty much impossible to do the previous step and get your team focused on high performance and results.
Start by seeking to understand what the tangible results look like such as growing traffic or conversions or revenue etc.
Then also get clear on what the intangible results that matter to the project as well. This could include things such as building / maintaining relationships or the types of behaviours that you need to see from the team.
When you’re clear on both of these, you’re in a better position to communicate what’s truly important to your colleagues, get the best out of them and move in the right direction together.
Be an advocate for those who you don’t manage
This is probably the most powerful thing that you can do to get colleagues on board with what you’re working on, whilst all moving forward in the same direction.
Whilst you’re not a direct line manager for someone, you can still be an advocate for them and help them along the way. You can take the time to speak with their line manager and see if there are aspects of their development that you can directly help them with or give them opportunities to work on.
Here are a few examples of things that someone may work on for their development that could also fall into your remit when working with them on a project:
- Enabling someone to lead a meeting or presentation for the first time, especially if they are a little low on confidence and need some support.
- Giving someone the opportunity to do a task they have never done before.
- Letting someone take ownership of a section of a project that requires them to manage others.
These are all things that you’ve probably done yourself, which puts you in a good position to use your own experience to coach and guide them a bit.
You could also speak to the individual and ask them how you can help them with their progression and whether you can try to craft opportunities that help them show their manager that they’re doing well.
One thing to be careful of is that you don’t want to accidentally make them more loyal to you than their manager, but you could be quite explicit about wanting to help them on their journey and help them show their manager that they are moving in the right direction.
Demonstrate high standards to everyone – not just your own team
We’ve talked about the importance of holding and demonstrating high standards previously, along with how important this is to your team. But holding and demonstrating high standards goes beyond your team and can also help their development.
This can include things such as:
- Running meetings effectively with agendas and action taking.
- Showing up to calls and meetings on time and prepared.
- Keeping an organised inbox and project plan.
Essentially, we’re talking about demonstrating professionalism which can also help others develop their careers in ways that don’t require you to personally get hands on with their career and skill development.
This also helps build respect without having to be someone’s direct manager which is never a bad thing when it comes to getting people on board with your projects.
