Honest question. Why do the middle managers have so few reports?
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If they had anymore reportees the 1 on 1s would cut into their golf time
Cisco realizes this is a problem but it is getting better. This has been a challenge as our company has grown in the past. We call this "span of control" and that was one of the items we worked to help address in the last layoff. You'll see a lot of middle leadership removed or consolidated to increase the span of control.
"Honest question. Why do the middle managers have so few reports?"
- Empire building. Sr Directors that are fighting for the VP promotion, create multiple small departments to make them appear more important.
- Added bureaucracy. Buffers/protects VPs and Sr Directors from potential issues
Honest question. Why do the middle managers have so few reports?
On this website here, you get only bogus answers. If you are interested in an actual answer then ask your manager.
I think that makes a great question for your next 1:1. Ask your manager for his and his manager's duties. I believe there is nothing wrong in you trying to understand your reporting chain.
Directors and VPs are the bigger problem. That's where you need to focus your ire.
These days a director does what an average project manager was doing 10 years go - Organize one team meeting a week and ask status to each (usually 2 or 3) reports.
Creation of buddy jobs. A VP will make a few golf buddies into directors with few reports. It’s who you know, not what you know. Never forget that. Someone once said that at Cisco, a technical engineering company (meant to be) lets not forget, there are more 2x as many VPs than there are principle engineers.
Middle managers probably wonder why there are so many engineers working simultaneously on a product.
I worked high enough up to work with them directly. "What's for lunch" and "when is my tee time?" were their major sources of wonder. Having more indirect servants is just more bragging rights as long as the dashboard lights stay green. Trust me, the golf is good because they'll never add positive value and keeping them out of the office minimizes the damage they can cause. G-d help the rest of you who live in states with bad weather.
I have 19 reports in Rtp
I have 13 directs.
Honest question. Why do the middle managers have so few reports?
Middle managers probably wonder why there are so many engineers working simultaneously on a product.
Because we are all in The Matrix.
It's good that you are questioning these things. Some people schlep through a job their entire lives without realizing something is amiss.
Because nobody seems to care. There are countless directors with just one or two reports.