8 / Canadian Government Executive // Winter 2023 PERSPECTIVE one and is quickly becoming the new “safety blanket” for managers. Not surprisingly, most of the capabilities at the Middle Manager and Team level in this area have come from learning from trial and error, youtube and peers. For Power BI and other business intelligence tools to be useful in supporting many of the items on this list as well as more broadly, Middle Managers need targeted training, coaching and job aids on how to build, view and tell executive level data stories based upon the dashboards and reports at hand. Working with departments on a daily basis, the need for access to relevant data on a timely basis in order to tell concise stories about opportunities, challenges, results and so on has never been more vital and Middle Managers continue to be disheartened by the lack of consistent enablement from their organizations. Artificial Intelligence Readiness: • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and in particular, Generative AI, have burst onto the corporate scene much faster than most anticipated. Those inundated with AI applications and ideas at home or in the world at large are itching to bring some of that to their workplaces. TBS recently launched a Guide on the use of Generative AI (September 2023) and many departments are undertaking various path finder projects to experiment and implement AI tools. While the promise of AI is real, the core of the organization that will need to be ready for the tools, ready to adapt business processes and ready to enable teams still require support to achieve the intended plans. Once again, tools and learnings to support Middle Managers would provide the grease necessary to support a smooth transition through AI related change. As the jobs of Middle Managers continue to get more challenging in a more complex environment and their role becomes more vital to their organizations’ success, this calls out for action. It won’t be enough to try to hunker down and try to survive. It requires investing time and effort in equipping them to thrive. As the most famous singer on the planet once said, Are you ready for it? Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Awareness: • ESG objectives, particularly those related to Greening and DEI, are very prevalent in Mandate Letters. The awareness, skills and tools to be able to engrain and embed the thinking and practices required within departmental processes so that the outcomes become part of everyday life requires investment. In the most recent Auditor General Report (Oct 2023) DEI shortcomings were one of the items flagged for Management Action. Who will need to implement the Management Response? Yes, Middle Managers. Our client departments that are having greater success in these areas are the ones that embed principles around DEI, Accessibility, GBA Plus, etc. within both their strategic and day-today processes and do not simply add checklists to the end of their processes or initiatives. Collaboration Tools: • Teams are working in a more decentralized and virtual manner than ever before. How do we help Middle Managers in this environment besides giving everyone MS Teams, which is of course now the standard for online meetings? Luckily for Departments, MS Teams is only one piece of the broader Microsoft M365 suite that many departments have already implemented or are enroute to implementing. Tools such as SharePoint, OneDrive, MS Planner, Power Automate, Forms, Polls, etc. offer the opportunity to bring results driven orientations to life in an online fashion that Middle Managers can use as a lifeline to keep on top of their teams’ outcomes. Business Intelligence Tools: • A typical Middle Manager survival tool over the years has been MS Excel and for some MS Access. They have gone from traditional black books to black book “systems” to help organize, manage and track their teams and work. Over the last few years Power BI has exploded onto the desktops of everySponsored Content Once again, tools and learnings to support Middle Managers would provide the grease necessary to support a smooth transition through AI related change.
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