4 Defining Business Management Movements & Beyond

 I attended an amazing Business lecture and discussion recently - via my UBC Executive MBA Program .

What are the 4 Defining Business Management Movements (In The Past 30 Years) - and What Can We Expect Post Pandemic / After COVID-19 ?

1st Wave: Process Engineering - Circa 1990-Early 2000s

• Focus on eliminating bureaucracy and boosting operational efficiencies
• Managers might assume "player-coach" roles that required them to take on worker tasks

2nd Wave: Digitization - Circa 2010

• Democratization of access to information and people
• CEOs / C Suite Officers communicated directly to the entire workforce
• Removed some Vice / Junior Managers from the information loop

3rd Wave: Agile Movement - Circa 2015-2020

• Shorten timelines and increase innovation by using internal marketplaces across whole organizations to match skills to work and to rapidly assemble project teams on an as-needed basis

4th Wave: Flexible Work - 2020 - 2022

• Work From Home
• Increased the need to cultivate empathetic relationships that would allow managers to engage and retain the people they supervised
• Massive need for coaching, communication, and employee well being

5th Wave: Post Pandemic - 2020 & Beyond - Who Knows ?

    Three Possible Theories Of What Will Happen Next:

a) Building New Skills At Scale

• Case Study - Standard Chartered - London, England - Retail Bank
• 14,000 middle managers decided to take a central role in the bank's growth
• Managers became "people leaders" via an AI based coaching platform
• Developed peer to peer coaching networks in African, Middle Eastern, and Asian markets
• Launched Pilot Project wherein managers were reimbursed for paying for formal coaching training

b) Rewiring Processes & Systems

• Case Study - IBM - Circa 2013 - Diane - Chief HR Officer & CEO - Ginni Rommerty
• IBM built a culture optimized for innovation and speed - and needed its managers to lead retraining efforts, adapt their management styles toggle work methods, and get all employees engaged in the journey
• A manager's ongoing service to IBM became tied to the continued growth and engagement of their direct reports

c) Splitting The Role Of The Manager

• Case Study - Telstra - Australian Telecommunications Company - $16B Valuation

• Distinction between leaders of people and leaders of work