Managing Managers
Setting expectations and assessing performance when your direct reports are managers.
When you reach higher levels of the manager ladder, some of your direct reports will be other managers. Their actions affect whole teams, so expectations and assessment need to reflect that.
How do you assess the managing skills of other managers? They constantly balance competing forces. To set expectations and measure success, evaluate how well they balance the following.
Delivery
Managers feel pressure from the business to ship quickly and from the team to maintain quality.
| Business impact | Technical excellence |
|---|---|
| Speed | Quality |
| Customer feedback | Code maintainability |
| Opportunity cost | Tech debt cost |
Goals
Aligning team goals and individual goals is critical: the team delivers for the organization while people grow. The manager should create a win-win where both sides benefit.
| Team | Individuals |
|---|---|
| Business needs | Career focus |
| Team expectations | Personal interests |
| Group performance | Individual performance |
Planning
Short-term vs long-term isn’t always “business vs tech.” Often it’s quick fixes vs proper solutions: patch the bug or invest in the right fix? Throwaway spike or well-designed feature?
| Short-term | Long-term |
|---|---|
| Weekly plan | Quarterly plan |
| Spike | Well-thought-out design |
| Solve quickly | Solve properly |
Oversight
Managers balance delegation with control—staying connected without micromanaging. Especially for managers of managers, empowering decisions while staying on top of what’s happening is one of the hardest parts of the job.
| Control | Delegation |
|---|---|
| Micromanaging | Empowerment |
| Connected to details | Big picture |
| Auditing | Trust |
Relationships
Many managers focus on managing down (reports) and up (their manager) and underinvest in managing across—peers, stakeholders, other teams. Weak horizontal relationships add risk to cross-team work and reduce visibility into the team’s impact.
| Vertical (down / up) | Horizontal (across) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor(s) | Stakeholders |
| Direct reports | Peers / other teams |
| Indirect reports | Users |
Conclusion
Assessing managers requires a different lens: their actions affect entire teams, so they’re responsible for keeping these areas in balance. Each area—delivery, goals, planning, oversight, relationships—should be sustainable; the right balance depends on team seniority, culture, and context. Understanding how each manager performs in each area supports better performance and career conversations.
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