What do L4 managers (first line) even do? Honestly, most of them just show up to ranking meetings and focus on protecting their own spot. Then they run a few routine chit‑chat check‑ins with their direct reports, maybe take the team out for frozen yogurt once in a while. But seriously, what is it that they actually do?
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My manager and I were both working 60+ hour weeks this past year. Every time I’m on past 9pm, they are online as well.
Not sure what teams y’all are on where the managers aren’t kept busy.
Complain about emtec all you want, but we’re with one less layer than the rest.
@e2 In EMTEC there are some organizations which their first line managers are L4 . They get rid of L5/L6 ones
@OP which company are you talking about? In upstream, first lines are not L4s (L4s are executives - DMs). L5/L6s are first lines.
I hear them always saying competition is harder in management ladder. Actually this is an opportunity to take initiative and open a frozen yogurt shop on campus at least gets them to L3 level
I assume L4 managers spend their time on rankings, frozen-yogurt diplomacy, and managing the spiritually beige population of middle-aged men in company issued polos who think condescension is a personality.
Frozen yogurt shop on campus has closed…
We could save so much money by eliminating this layer of management - especially if there is no longer frozen yogurt on offer.
Our manager delegates everything to his direct reports .one handles events and group meetings, another screens resumes and recruiting, two senior members assign projects to team, and even the monthly group meeting is basically his admin reading out whatever’s new in the organization. I’m not joking: I genuinely have no idea what he does. But he’s CL 28 and getting paid well.
In the rare event that my manager is at their desk they usually appear to be staring into space with an empty email inbox on their screen.
Day in the Life of an XOM Manager:
I wake up at 8. By 8:15 I’m at Starbucks securing my daily caffeine. At 9, I have a “coffee chat” with someone in management. At 10, another coffee chat — this time with my pets on the team. At 11, I wander around campus scouting lunch options. At 12, I eat with my golden child, the one who’ll write my KOF. At 1:30, I have a coffee chat with my boss’s boss. At 2:30, I roam around looking for free snacks. By 3 PM, I head home after a very productive day.
Coffee chats, arts and crafts, slide edits, and synergizing!
@c2 ours was taking the team to fro yo place only days he was sure his bodies were on site and also people he didn't like were out.
@bg Frozen yogurt place CLOSED! Probably because nobody is even getting that for their teams anymore.
@OP Ours doesn't even take us for frozen yogurt.