Line management refers to the
management of
employees
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...
who are directly involved in the production or delivery of
products,
goods and/or
services
Service may refer to:
Activities
* Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty
* Civil service, the body of employees of a government
* Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
. As the interface between an
organisation
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
and its front-line
workforce, line management represents the lowest level of management within an organisational
hierarchy (as distinct from
top/executive/senior management and
middle management Middle management is the intermediate management level of a hierarchical organization that is subordinate to the executive management and responsible for ‘team leading’ line managers and/or ‘specialist’ line managers. Middle management is in ...
).
A line manager is an employee who directly manages other employees and day-to-day operations while reporting to a higher-ranking manager. Related job titles are
supervisor,
section leader,
foreperson,
office manager
Office management is a profession involving the design, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of the process of work within an office or other organization, in order to sustain and improve efficiency and productivity.
Office management is ...
and
team leader A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a grou ...
.
They are charged with directing employees and controlling that the corporate objectives in a specific functional area or
line of business
Line of business (LOB) is a general term which refers to a product or a set of related products that serve a particular customer transaction or business need.
In some industry sectors, like insurance, "line of business" also has a regulatory and ac ...
are met.
Despite the name, line managers are usually considered as part of the organization's workforce and not part of its management class.
Responsibilities
Line managers are responsible for implementing and enabling, through their staff, an organisation's people policies and practices in alignment with business objectives and core values.
Their main functions with respect to employees include:
*
recruitment and selection,
*
training,
mentoring,
coaching
Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...
and
staff development,
*
performance management and
appraisal,
*
motivation,
*
well-being,
*
team building
Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combine of business ...
,
* reaching the team goals.
Line managers' activities typically include:
* planning the aims, objectives and priorities of their work area and communicating this to staff as appropriate;
* deploying the resources within their control (e.g., staff time; funding) to achieve plans;
* complying with policy and legislation;
* providing structure, direction and purpose to their teams;
* scheduling regular meetings with staff members to discuss progress and any issues.
Line management is also responsible for adopting (with the support of senior management) any type of organizational culture change.
The Scope of Change
Lynda Bourne, February 11, 2010
The line management function will often cross into other functions vital to the success of a business such as human resources, finance, and risk management. Indeed, at corporations, responsibility for risk management is vested with line management.
See also
* Staff management
* Project management
* Performance management
* Staff and line Staff and line are names given to different types of functions in organizations. A line function is one that directly advances an organization in its core work. This always includes production and sales, and sometimes marketing. A staff function sup ...
* Employee engagement
* Management by objectives
References
Business terms
Management by type
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