A tribute to the middle manager

Middle managers often take a beating, and I can use the word disparagingly myself. But good middle managers are the glue holding a business together. They know employees and can give them the leadership they actually need.

Thorborg’s Diary · Episode 61 · 7 June 2024

The summer party reduces the distance between us

It’s 7 June, and as usual I’m sitting in my bath in the garden. It’s a little cloudy but actually a lovely day. I’m taking it easy this morning. This afternoon, I have a couple of meetings, then we’re going to Visma’s summer party.

There’ll be several hundred of us. Outside at Gærtorvet, where we’re based, we’ll set up food trucks. People can enjoy food, draught beer and cocktails. Around seven or eight, we go down to Vega for bands, an open bar and a DJ.

It’s a really fine event. We try to maintain a high standard at our parties because the social side bloody matters. Across businesses too.

At Dinero , we’ve just reached 103 employees. We’ve passed 100, which I’ll return to. But here we’re also with e-conomic, LogBuy, Dataløn and lots of others. I think around 16 Visma-owned businesses are based at Gærtorvet.

We cooperate too. LogBuy, for example, provides a discount portal, typically for larger businesses. Dinero is a customer, and at this point our Pro users get LogBuy access for discounts at various shops. That’s just one example of cooperation.

We also contribute data to credit ratings that can help protect users against bad payers.

When people meet at a summer party and have a draught beer or two, they start talking across businesses and getting acquainted. That makes the distance much smaller when they cooperate professionally afterwards.

It’s hardly a new discovery. Just a way to do it.

But we also care about alcohol-free events. In the old days, alcohol was almost always part of it. Now around three-quarters of our events are alcohol-free. Many don’t drink, and of course we need room for that too. We shouldn’t encourage people to pour alcohol down themselves.

A fridge can reveal big cultural differences

I’ve had visitors from different Visma companies, and their reactions to our fridge were quite funny.

The Swedish visitors were very outraged that we had beer available. How could we do that? They thought it encouraged alcoholism. People would start drinking on weekdays.

I think I’ve seen an employee drinking a beer on a Thursday exactly once. I went over and asked because I was curious. Not because he wasn’t allowed.

He couldn’t attend Friday drinks the next day, so he’d taken a single Thursday beer instead.

Well, he was very welcome to. I’d just never seen it before.

That’s how small a problem it’s been for us. But the visitors’ reaction almost made it sound as though we’d laid lines of cocaine on the kitchen counter for everyone to help themselves.

Then some South American colleagues visited, from Argentina I think. They asked: Don’t you lock your fridges?

No. People just take a drink when they’re thirsty.

They thought that was wild. They said if they didn’t lock their fridges, employees would take the beers home. We don’t have that problem.

I find the different reactions funny. We can be very different culturally. And at the same time, incredibly alike.

Entrepreneurship breaks down some boundaries

At this point, Visma consists of around 180 businesses, each with its own CEO. I’d guess around 120 built their businesses themselves.

When we meet annually, usually in Oslo, I think it’s quite a gathering of successful entrepreneurs. We come from around 28 countries, so there are lots of differences in rules, conditions and culture.

Yet the basic story is often the same. Many of us were misfits who didn’t necessarily have much schooling behind us and struggled to sit still.

Then we went out and gave it everything. We put our noses to the grindstone and discovered concentration was mainly a problem when sitting for hours listening to something we couldn’t see the relevance of.

When it concerned real problems, we could concentrate perfectly well. On many different things too. Then we learnt to hire people for what we couldn’t or didn’t want to do ourselves.

I admit I often feel more connected with a founder from Romania, Argentina, Italy or Spain than someone without that experience from north-west Jutland.

That’s not to disparage anyone from north-west Jutland. I’d probably click completely with a founder from there too. My point is simply that entrepreneurial experience can break down an incredible number of cultural boundaries.

I don’t know whether there’s a bigger point. I just think it’s an interesting observation.

40,000 kroner for a partnership I couldn’t stand behind

Around ten days ago, Jannie and I discussed paid partnerships. My daughter Emma gets Instagram offers: a couple of pieces of jewellery or perhaps 800 kroner to create something.

I wondered why I so rarely receive those offers myself. I have many followers on Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms. Perhaps businesses simply assume I don’t want to because I don’t normally do it. And they’re actually right.

But almost that same day, I received a message from an influencer agency. They wanted three posts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram for a very large, well-known IT distributor.

I was to explain why working with them was so good.

I just sat thinking: What the fuck? I don’t work with them.

Either I’d need to start, without really seeing why. As far as I knew, it wasn’t about Apple, and I hardly buy anything else. Or I’d sit lying that they were fantastic without knowing.

Both options were a no.

I’d receive 40,000 kroner plus VAT. Of course, that’s tempting for half an hour’s work making a video, adapting it to three platforms and pressing a button. I fully understand why many are tempted.

But I couldn’t make it fit my own life.

Audi would be different

My brother-in-law Jesper Buch has a paid partnership with Audi. I’d bloody well like that too. So if Audi needs another profile out there, they’re welcome to call.

Of course, I tease Jesper that he isn’t even in Løvens Hule any more. If you’re hearing this, Jesper, you’ll get a slap on the backside next time we meet.

But Audi would make sense for me. I’ve driven Audi for 20 years and love their cars. If the price was right, I’d happily do something with them.

They probably won’t call. I don’t wear a jacket and tie, don’t always speak politely, and don’t behave quite as properly or succeed as much as Jesper. So I understand choosing him.

Apple would also be something I could see myself with. They probably won’t call either, but a partnership needs to fit what I actually use and believe.

Frihedsbrevet got my time for a tote bag

That same day, Mads Brøgger from Frihedsbrevet wrote. He said they needed around 5,000 paying subscribers to break even. He knew I was a fan and asked whether I’d do something for them.

I said yes.

I went into Copenhagen and met Mads standing in the courtyard with a cigarette. It was just after the court case about Den sorte svane.

I thought it was pretty wild. He’d helped expose Copenhagen’s underworld, gangs, bikers and the whole lot, and there he stood smoking. I saw no bodyguards.

He must have antifreeze in his veins, he’s that cool. I’d have shat myself.

I went upstairs and made an advert explaining why I think Frihedsbrevet is fantastic. And I actually do. It was something I’d happily do for money, but apparently for free too.

I didn’t come home entirely empty-handed. I got a tote bag, a plastic lighter, a T-shirt and a badge. The badge went into metal recycling before I’d looked properly. I don’t really wear badges.

The T-shirt was pretty cool. And I can use the tote next time I go to a party with beers without being too upset if it disappears.

That’s where it gets a little strange. I drive all the way to Copenhagen, spend time and money parking, make an advert and share it on my social media afterwards. For a tote and T-shirt.

At the same time, I reject a third of the work for a big brand willing to pay 40,000 kroner.

I can’t bloody explain it entirely. It just feels right.

Good middle managers are the glue in a business

What I actually wanted to discuss was HR telling me we’re now 103 people at Dinero.

Bloody hell. Over 100. That’s pretty wild.

We’ve also faced challenges with employees feeling a little alienated. That’s frustrating and something I’m working on.

I wrote about it on Twitter, and immediately comments came about being careful not to have too many middle managers.

It’s actually funny because I can use middle manager disparagingly myself. But that’s really mean.

Good middle managers are the glue binding the business together. We should put up busts of them.

I know the criticism often concerns businesses where middle managers don’t really have a function. That’s different from people with genuine management responsibility working closely with employees.

A flat structure can create great distance

Having a very flat structure is often presented as modern. Just one or two management layers. Then everyone has access.

I actually think it can have the opposite effect if flat means each boss has lots of employees.

Imagine a business with 100 employees and four managers. That’s 25 people per boss.

In the podcast, I made a blunt remark about autism in that context. I immediately had to qualify it, also thinking of my wife, who actually does well as a manager.

What I’m trying to say is that you need to be something of a superhuman to properly keep track of 25 people.

You need to know them, their circumstances and motivations. What upsets them? How do you make them feel secure? What do they need from you?

When someone says they have 40 people under them, I think either we’re dealing with a very rare person who can actually do everything, or it’s more administration than leadership.

Of course, those exceptional people exist. Perhaps unicorns and yetis do too. But I haven’t met many.

Rules are easier than knowing people

You can administer 40 people. Make an employee handbook and lots of rules. Every time something goes wrong, make another rule and apply it to everyone.

Everyone starts at eight. If someone arrives later, you’re ready with the stopwatch and call it out.

But what about the night owl who’d do much better starting at ten and leaving two hours later?

That’s just a small example. If you don’t see the individual and only watch the rules, in my eyes you’re a manager rather than a leader.

A leader typically has 10–12 direct reports whom they know quite thoroughly.

You know how they’re motivated, what they fear and their plans. You discuss their careers and have an idea of where they want to go.

You also know where to support them and where to let them run independently.

That’s the task middle managers often have. That’s where they can manage being leaders for their people.

I can see when the task becomes too big

I believe I have six managers reporting directly to me. Under them are team leads, project managers and others leading employees or projects.

My guess is we have around 10–12 managers at Dinero. So on average they each have around eight to ten people.

I can see that when one of our managers reaches around 13–14 employees, they start getting stressed and employee satisfaction gradually drops. There’s simply too much to keep track of.

So instead of teasing middle managers, we should celebrate them. They’re leaders, not merely administrators.

If you have more than 12–14 people under you, I believe there’s a good chance your title should reflect that, in practice, the task is mainly administration.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. The problem is risking never getting the best from employees because you don’t have room to lead them individually.

You can’t order size 42 for everyone

If you want it easy, just order size 42 shoes for everyone.

Stock and replacement are easy to manage. But some walk in shoes too big and others in shoes that pinch. Very few get what they actually need.

That’s essentially the difference between managing and leading. If you want to read more about people and leadership, see my book Min vej som leder.

Feel free to press follow on your podcast platform if you want notifications when I say something new. Perhaps it gives you some food for thought. If nothing else, perhaps you’ve been a little less bored today.

Have a fantastic day and a fantastic weekend.