Preparing for your manager’s absence: what knowledge needs to be shared?

Before a manager’s absence, preparation often focuses on deadlines and contact people. The useful question is more specific: what knowledge needs to be shared so that work can continue without relying on a call to the absent manager?

What the literature establishes

John E. Mathieu, Tonia S. Heffner, Gerald F. Goodwin, Eduardo Salas and Janis A. Cannon-Bowers (2000, Journal of Applied Psychology) studied teams performing a simulation task and linked their shared mental models to team processes and performance. Their findings support the importance of a common understanding of the work and how to coordinate it. They do not demonstrate that a checklist of instructions is enough to prepare for a manager’s absence.

Knowing who knows, rather than knowing everything

Kyle Lewis (2003, Journal of Applied Psychology) developed and validated a measure of transactive memory systems, structured around knowledge specialization, credibility and coordination. This framework distinguishes personally held knowledge from a team’s ability to draw on the relevant expertise. Applied to preparing for an absence with your manager, it suggests making knowledge holders identifiable rather than trying to copy everything into a document.

The premature conclusion

One might conclude that a shared folder and a directory of specialists make the manager unnecessary. That would confuse access to knowledge with decision-making authority: knowing who can interpret a result does not mean being authorized to approve a deviation. Preparation should therefore distinguish accessible information, delegated decisions and situations that must wait or be escalated. (our executive and employee training programmes)

What these data cannot establish

These studies concern teams, not directly the relationship between an employee and their manager during an absence. Applying them to a managerial handover is a practical proposal, not a causal effect established by these studies. A document can also quickly become outdated; its existence proves neither that resources are available nor that authorizations are sufficient.

A practical check in Neuchâtel

In a watchmaking workshop, a microtechnology company or a precision microelectronics laboratory in Neuchâtel, the SHR programme « Construire une relation efficace avec son manager » can include preparing for an absence using recent real situations, anonymized where necessary. Before departure, the employee and manager identify the information source, the competent backup and the authorized scope of decision-making for each situation. During the absence, they track the proportion of situations actually encountered that are handled without contacting the manager and within authorization limits, also recording turnaround times and any rework. On the manager’s return, reviewing blocked cases helps distinguish missing information, unavailable backup and insufficient delegation, without making the absence of contact an absolute goal. To go further: explore the Building an Effective Relationship with Your Manager training in Neuchâtel in the canton of Neuchâtel, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.

In pictures: Building an Effective Relationship with Your Manager in Neuchâtel

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