What happens to the work a middle manager carried when their role gets eliminated from the org chart? How do you make the most of a move from people leader to individual contributor? How does a team find its footing when a layer of management is stripped out and everyone has to work in a different formation?
In this episode of Team Lab, Angela Migliaccio and Cori Caldwell take on the trend of flattening organizations. Companies continue to explore cutting layers of management for reasons that sound familiar: cost, speed, and AI. We skip the debate over why, and focus on what comes after the announcement: The middle layer served as the translator between strategy and the people doing the work. And when these roles disappear, how can we reimagine how an organization moves forward with more clarity?
They look at the situation as a system through four personas: the leader who moves from leading people to individual contributor, the team around them, the leader left with a broader span of control, and the leader who made the decision.
Along the way, they cover why people need time to grieve and let go, how to recommission a team with a team charter, how to rebuild decision rights when the middle layer is gone, and why every decision needs an “empty chair” for the stakeholders no one has thought about yet.
You’ll leave with a set of questions to bring to your team on Monday morning, plus ideas for the 1% change that any person in the system can make.
Actionable Takeaways
Make time to let go. People change at human speed. Name what is ending before asking anyone to embrace what comes next.
Recommission your team. After a restructure, gather your team to answer five questions: Are we a team, and what can we do together that we cannot do alone? What is our purpose now? What are our shared goals? Who decides what? How do we treat each other when the pressure is on?
Host the conversation. Run the charter session as a generative brainstorm and agreement session with your team rather than writing your own version for them.
Set rules of engagement with green and red cards. Draw a line down a flip chart and list the behaviors that work and the behaviors to avoid when deadlines and stress hit.
Build a team canvas. Capture named decision owners using RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed) and have everyone contribute so every voice is in the room.
Use peer accountability. Decisions the team agrees on together tend to follow through better than assignments handed down from leadership.
Replace the middle layer’s role with creative formats. In a flatter organization, involve enough people in recommissioning meetings that everyone can say, “I helped build this.”
Pull up an empty chair. Before making and communicating a decision, consider the ripple effect on other teams, customers, and future generations of customers.
Start a community of practice. Gather a small group of supportive colleagues who see the benefit of the change and let them help lead it.
Choose your 1% change. Step back, look at the whole web of relationships in the organization, and bring people together to reimagine the purpose of the team and/or the larger organization.
Resources & Links
About Team Lab
Team Lab explores the power of teams, the science and art of collaboration, and the magic of thriving relationships at work. Hosted by Angela Migliaccio and Cori Caldwell, this podcast brings you inspiring stories and insights to help you build trust, foster alignment, and unlock creativity in your teams.
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