Labor / Employment, On The Job

Don't Be A Lumbergh

What managerial mistakes can easily be fixed to help minimize a company's risk of employment lawsuits?

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Last month, fellow Above the Law columnist Mark Herrmann wrote a piece titled The Most Common (Hidden) Managerial Error. The article discusses managers who pass the blame to others when communicating difficult decisions. As an example, Mark cited managers blaming “senior management” when communicating to an employee that he or she is being laid off. (“I actually think that you’re a treasured member of the team, but senior management said we had to lay people off, and they decided you’re the one.”)

Poor management skills like those highlighted by Mark are behind a lot of employment lawsuits. Employees get conflicting messages from management (“You’re great, but we’re firing you”), and then assume the worst. Ageism. Racism. Retaliation for having reported a perceived impropriety with the company. Poor management skills also hurt productivity and employee morale.

Mark’s article got me thinking: What are some other managerial mistakes that could easily be fixed to help minimize a company’s risk of employment lawsuits and generally increase morale and employee satisfaction?

To help answer this question, I decided I’d look to one of the most recognized and hated bosses in American cinema, Bill Lumbergh, Vice President of the fictional company Initech in the 1999 film Office Space. (You may also recognize Lumbergh as the subject of the That Would Be Great meme.)

What is it that makes everyone hate Lumbergh? What particular qualities make him such a terrible manager? I think if we can’t identify at least some of those traits, maybe we can all try to avoid making these same mistakes.

  1. Lumbergh micromanages.

Lumbergh spent a lot of time asking about TPS reports. TPS stands for Testing Procedure Specification. These types of reports generally describe a set of testing procedures used in quality assurance testing. Lumbergh harped on these mindless reports throughout the movie. He even reprimanded the protagonist of the film, Peter Gibbons, for not adhering to a recent office memo concerning the use of specific cover sheets on his TPS reports.

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Lumbergh’s relentless focus on the TPS reports and their formatting in Office Space represents some managers’ obsession with pointless paperwork and trivial details that are disconnected from anything substantive or relevant.

Forcing subordinates to spend time on truly pointless work and trying to manage every little detail of said work stifles employee creativity and motivation. Employees think: Why put forth my best effort or try to creatively problem solve when I know my boss is just going to insist on micromanaging my efforts to the point where I’m just copying and pasting prior work product? Why care about my job when all I do is move paper around that solves and accomplishes little or nothing?

Good managers allow good employees to spread their wings. Good managers don’t stifle creativity with micromanagement. They provide sufficient direction and guidance so that the work gets done right, but they aren’t looking over their employees’ shoulder throughout the process. Good managers also strive to give employees interesting and fulfilling work to the greatest extent possible.

  1. Lumbergh is insincere (and it shows).

Every time Lumbergh greets one of his subordinates, he leads with a bland, “What’s happening?” He wears a blank, emotionless façade to accompany the delivery. By the looks on his employees’ faces, they know he’s only talking to them to deliver a reprimand or other bad news, like having to work over the weekend to finish up some TPS reports. He’s disingenuous and it’s bad for morale.

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Employees sense Lumbergh’s brand of emotional disconnect and similarly become disconnected from their work. They begin to mentally disengage and lose interest in their job. “If my manager doesn’t care about me or what we’re doing, why should I?”

Good managers are sincere. They’re genuine and communicate with their employees in ways that are real and relatable. They show emotion. They don’t begin every interaction with the same bland salutations that show they’re really not that interested in the subject matter they’re talking about or the person they’re talking to. Showing sincerity and genuine interest in the subjects about which and to whom one is speaking is a trait of a good manager.

  1. Lumbergh is passive-aggressive.

I think the thing that grinds my gears the most about Lumbergh is how passive-aggressive he is with his subordinates at Initech. Lumbergh doesn’t outright tell employees, “Do this task,” or “This needs to be done immediately.”

Instead, in the same bland monotone with which he delivers his salutations, Lumbergh says things like, “I’m gonna need you to . . .” or, “if you could go ahead and . . .” He then ends these requests with “that’d be great” and “mmmkay?” (Here’s a prime example.)

The problem isn’t that Lumbergh is asking someone to do something. The problem is that he’s asking someone to do something in a way that is not clear, concise, or direct. Employees are left wondering why they’re doing something, whether they’ve done something wrong, or if their boss really meant what he or she said. This creates an environment of uncertainty and insecurity.

Good managers communicate directly, concisely, and clearly. “I need you to prepare this motion and I need it in ready-to-file shape on my desk Monday morning at 9:00.” When managers communicate like this, employees know exactly what is expected from them and what their boss’s expectations are. This allows employees to execute the work correctly and timely. They know where they stand and what they need to do. It gives them a sense of purpose in their work.

Conclusion

Whether we’re managers or not, I think we can all learn a lot from Lumbergh. When we sincerely and directly communicate with one another and trust each other as professionals, everyone benefits; a lot more work gets done, and it gets done better. I believe this increases employee morale and satisfaction, and will indirectly reduce the risk of employment lawsuits.

Earlier: The Most Common (Hidden) Managerial Error

evan-gibbsEvan Gibbs is an attorney at Troutman Sanders, where he primarily litigates employment cases and handles traditional labor matters. Connect with him on LinkedIn here, or e-mail him here. (The views expressed in this column are his own.)

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