Do Managers really Matter | Findings of Google's Project Oxygen | MBA HR Case study analysis
Summary
TLDRThis video discusses Google's Project Oxygen, a research initiative aimed at understanding the impact of managers on organizational success. By analyzing employee turnover data and conducting surveys, Google identified eight key behaviors of high-performing managers, such as effective coaching and clear communication. The project led to the creation of management training programs to help improve these skills across the company. The findings revealed that strong management significantly enhances job satisfaction, retention, and performance. Subscribe for more case studies and insights into organizational strategies.
Takeaways
- 📚 Five Minutes Learning offers global and diverse case studies for management students.
- 🤔 Google initiated Project Oxygen to determine whether managers make a real difference in employee satisfaction and performance.
- 🔬 The project, led by Donovan, Patel, and Kurkowski, was based on a scientific approach to studying management effectiveness.
- 🧑💼 After analyzing employee turnover data, Google found that even small differences in manager quality had significant impacts on satisfaction, retention, and performance.
- 💡 The research identified eight key behaviors of high-scoring managers, such as being a good coach, caring about team well-being, and helping with career development.
- 📝 Google implemented changes by adjusting upward feedback surveys to focus on these eight attributes, using the feedback for managerial development rather than performance evaluation.
- 📊 The personalized feedback reports for managers encouraged transparency and continuous improvement, leading to measurable positive results.
- 🎓 Google used Project Oxygen findings to develop training courses for managers, offering actionable advice and interactive sessions to enhance management skills.
- 🌍 Online classes and follow-up email reminders ensured that managers worldwide could access resources for improvement, fostering a culture of growth.
- 📈 Project Oxygen showed immense positive impacts, with favorable management scores increasing and successful practices becoming widely adopted across Google's management teams.
Q & A
What is Project Oxygen, and why was it initiated by Google?
-Project Oxygen is a research project initiated by Google to determine if managers truly make a difference in employee performance and satisfaction. It aimed to identify behaviors of effective managers and improve management practices across the company.
Who led Project Oxygen, and what inspired the naming of the project?
-Project Oxygen was led by Google's pylab team, including co-founders Donovan, Patel, and Kurkowski. Patel drew inspiration from a colleague who named his project after the X-Men, and they decided to name it 'Oxygen' because good managers are as essential as breathing.
What initial data did the Project Oxygen team analyze, and what did they find?
-The team first analyzed employee turnover data to see if management issues were contributing to employees leaving the company. They found that even small differences in manager quality significantly impacted job satisfaction, retention, and team performance.
What were the eight key behaviors of effective managers identified by Project Oxygen?
-The eight key behaviors of effective managers included being a good coach, expressing interest in team members' success and well-being, helping with career development, and being a good communicator.
How did Google implement the findings from Project Oxygen?
-Google implemented the findings by modifying their upward feedback survey to focus on the eight attributes of great managers. They also launched management training courses, provided personalized feedback, and presented their findings to various teams across the company.
How did Project Oxygen ensure that managers across Google adopted the findings?
-The team held grassroots meetings with junior and mid-level managers, gained sponsorship from senior executives, and shared the findings across the company. They emphasized that Project Oxygen was a developmental tool, not a performance metric, to ensure buy-in.
What tools and surveys were developed as part of Project Oxygen to measure management effectiveness?
-The Project Oxygen team developed two surveys: the upward feedback survey (UFS) and the tech manager survey. These surveys measured the eight attributes of effective managers and were designed to be developmental tools, not performance metrics.
How did Project Oxygen impact Google's management practices?
-Project Oxygen significantly improved Google's management practices. Median survey scores across all management levels increased, and managers who scored low in initial surveys, such as Marat, made significant improvements by changing their communication and strategy.
What changes did Google make to their management training and development after Project Oxygen?
-Google introduced a two-hour introductory course for new managers, a manager flagship series, and panel discussions. They also sent automated email reminders to managers with personalized suggestions and information on additional training based on the Oxygen findings.
What was the overall conclusion of Project Oxygen regarding the importance of managers?
-The overall conclusion of Project Oxygen was that managers do matter. Effective management practices significantly contribute to employee satisfaction, retention, and performance, as demonstrated by the project’s findings.
Outlines
💡 The Importance of Organizational Strategies and Google's Project Oxygen
This paragraph introduces the concept of improving management strategies through case studies, specifically focusing on Google's Project Oxygen. The video highlights Google's interest in determining whether managers truly make a difference in employee satisfaction and performance. The name 'Project Oxygen' reflects the essential nature of good managers, much like oxygen is essential for breathing. Google's team, led by Donovan, Patel, and Kurkowski, took a scientific approach to analyze manager effectiveness, and their research concluded that management quality significantly impacts various aspects of workplace dynamics.
🔍 Project Oxygen's Research and Findings on Managerial Impact
Google's team delved deeper into employee turnover data and manager performance to assess the effect of management quality on job satisfaction and team outcomes. Through rigorous comparisons of high- and low-scoring managers, they found that even small improvements in managerial behaviors had a considerable impact on retention, satisfaction, and team performance. The team identified eight key behaviors of effective managers, including coaching, caring about team success, and being a good communicator, which provided actionable insights for companies to enhance their management practices.
📊 Implementing Changes Through Surveys and Feedback
Google developed a detailed action plan based on the Project Oxygen findings, including revising their feedback system to focus on the eight managerial behaviors. Managers received anonymous, personalized feedback from their teams, encouraging a developmental focus rather than using it as a performance metric. To socialize these findings within Google, the team held meetings with managers across different levels and sought executive sponsorship. The initiative was well-received, particularly because it was based on internal Google data, and it helped foster improvements in management across the organization.
📈 Project Oxygen's Continued Impact Through Surveys and Training
Google extended the reach of Project Oxygen by conducting further surveys and launching training courses for managers. These courses focused on key managerial behaviors and offered practical, actionable advice on providing feedback and setting team visions. Managers received detailed reports with feedback that often revealed surprising areas for improvement, helping them refine their leadership strategies. Over time, these efforts contributed to overall improvements in Google's management practices, with scores showing positive trends across various teams.
🌍 Global Reach and Ongoing Manager Development at Google
In the years following Project Oxygen, Google expanded its management development initiatives by offering online courses to managers worldwide. The company also introduced new training programs specifically for new managers and sent automated email reminders with personalized recommendations based on survey feedback. Project Oxygen became a cornerstone of Google's commitment to improving leadership across the organization, with significant improvements in managerial effectiveness and employee satisfaction as evidenced by rising survey scores.
📉 How Google Avoided Making Project Oxygen a Performance Metric
Despite the positive impact of Project Oxygen, Google ensured that the initiative remained focused on development rather than becoming a performance metric. Surveys were designed to offer constructive feedback, and managers like Marat were able to use this feedback to dramatically improve their management scores by changing their communication and strategies. The project led to a cultural shift within Google, with strong management behaviors being promoted and recognized, showing the clear link between effective management and organizational success.
🚀 Conclusion: The Resounding Success of Project Oxygen
The final paragraph emphasizes the success of Project Oxygen in demonstrating the importance of effective management. Google found that good managers play a crucial role in employee satisfaction, retention, and team performance. The project also led to the promotion of strong managerial behaviors, with top performers being recognized and promoted. Project Oxygen proved that management matters and became a critical part of Google's leadership development strategy.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Project Oxygen
💡Managerial Behaviors
💡Employee Turnover
💡Upward Feedback Survey
💡Management Training Courses
💡Job Satisfaction
💡Retention
💡Action Plan
💡Consensus-Oriented Culture
💡Tech Manager Survey
Highlights
Project Oxygen by Google aimed to determine whether managers really matter, and the study was led by the pylab team.
The project was inspired by the importance of good managers, named 'Oxygen' to reflect that good management is essential like breathing.
Initial research focused on employee turnover data to see if management issues were a factor, revealing that even small differences in manager quality significantly impacted job satisfaction and performance.
Eight common behaviors were identified among high-scoring managers, including being a good coach, expressing interest in team members' success, and being a good communicator.
The findings led to the conclusion that good managers do matter, and the eight behaviors provide actionable steps for improving management practices.
Google developed an action plan, modifying the company's annual upward feedback survey to focus specifically on these eight attributes of great managers.
Surveys were designed to be developmental tools rather than performance metrics, to ensure honest feedback and continuous improvement.
The project gained momentum after being profiled in the New York Times, highlighting its impact and relevance.
Results from the surveys were used to create management training courses, providing specific suggestions and access to discussions with high-scoring managers.
Google introduced a two-hour introductory course for new managers and a flagship series covering key topics such as feedback and managing change.
Automated email reminders were sent to new managers with recommendations based on the findings from Project Oxygen.
The impact of Project Oxygen was significant, with median scores for management attributes rising from 83% to 88% favorable across all levels.
Low upward feedback scores inspired action, with managers like Marat improving their ratings significantly through communication and strategy changes.
The project did not formally link survey results to performance reviews to maintain its developmental focus, but strong management behaviors were being promoted within the company.
The success of Project Oxygen affirmed that effective management is crucial for organizational success, influencing Google’s management development initiatives.
Transcripts
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have you ever had a manager who seemed
to make things worse instead of better
or maybe you've been a manager yourself
and wondered if what you're doing really
makes a difference
well Google wondered the same thing and
they decided to find out once and for
all
the result was Project Oxygen a
groundbreaking research project that
aimed to determine whether managers
really matter
led by the pylab team which included
co-founders and co-leads Donovan and
Patel and kurkowski this project was
more than just a fun experiment
at Google naming internal projects is a
fun tradition and Patel Drew inspiration
from a colleague who named his project
after the X-Men
so he started using project before the
name and an element from the periodic
table after it
but when it came to this research
project the team wanted a name that
reflected the importance of good
managers
that's when they chose the element
oxygen as having a good manager is
essential like breathing
want to know more about the impact of
Project Oxygen
check out this video for the full case
study
at first the team looked at employee
turnover data to see if management
issues played a role but the team wasn't
content with just these findings
so they did more research and compared
high and low scoring managers based on
employee ratings and performance reviews
and guess what they found that even
small differences in manager quality had
a significant impact on job satisfaction
retention and team performance
to dig deeper they interviewed high and
low scoring managers and identified
eight common behaviors among the
high-scoring ones
these included being a good coach
expressing interest in team members
success and well-being helping with
Career Development and being a good
communicator
based on This research the pylab team
concluded that good managers do matter
and here's the best part the eight
identified behaviors provide actionable
steps for all companies to improve their
management practices
let's talk more about Google's Project
Oxygen
after completing two lists of manager
behaviors the team developed an action
plan to support and develop managers
more comprehensively
to implement the plan the team modified
the company's annual upward feedback
survey to focus specifically on the
eight attributes of great managers
this personalized feedback represented
the average of the scores from direct
reports including Anonymous comments
meant to be helpful
the team was careful to keep the survey
separate from performance reviews as
Project Oxygen was always meant to be a
developmental tool
they knew it would be critical to get
buy-in from managers across the company
since commanding employees to do
something doesn't work in the company's
consensus-oriented culture
therefore they plan to socialize their
findings through a combination of
Grassroots meetings with Junior and
mid-level managers and solicit
sponsorship from senior executives
the team also presented the findings to
various audiences including engineering
Tech advisors who shared the findings
and best practices with their peers
the Project Oxygen team's efforts were
received positively with people latching
on because it was Google data
the team's presentations not only
included the list of attributes but also
described best practices to help
managers improve
overall the project was meant to be a
developmental tool not a performance
metric
the Project Oxygen team developed two
surveys the upward feedback survey and
the tech manager survey to measure the
eight identified attributes of effective
managers
the surveys contained 16 statements
spread across the attributes and were
sent out to employees in 2010 with two
follow-up surveys in 2011.
confidentiality was emphasized and the
surveys Were Meant To Be A developmental
tool not a performance metric
the surveys were not mandatory but the
majority of employees completed them
regularly and the project gained
momentum after being profiled in the New
York Times
after completing the surveys managers
received online reports that showed
numerical scores and comments for each
question
the reports encouraged managers to share
them with their teams and discuss areas
of improvement
the reports referenced the oxygen 8
attributes and provided additional
information about each attribute
feedback from the first set of reports
was generally positive with managers
sometimes surprised by specific findings
the reports helped managers become more
aware of areas for improvement such as
regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings
and sharing the company's Vision with
their team
in 2010 Google's people operations group
used the findings from Project Oxygen to
create Management training courses
managers received specific suggestions
based on their survey reports and were
given access to panel discussions with
high scoring Managers from each
functional group
the courses were interactive and
immediately actionable offering detailed
recommendations on how to deliver
personalized feedback and create a
vision statements
Google is now passionate about
management development and has built a
team of instructors piloting online
classes so managers can participate from
around the world
in 2011 they launched a two-hour
introductory course for new managers as
well as a manager Flagship series
covering key topics such as feedback and
managing change
people operations also sent automated
email reminders to new managers with
recommendations based on oxygen findings
and information about additional courses
they could take
so finally what did they discover well
the impact of Project Oxygen was immense
people operations analyzed data from
surveys and individual input finding
that median scores had risen from 83 to
88 favorable across all functions and
levels of management
low ufs scores inspired action from
managers such as Marat who improved his
ratings from 46 to 86 percent through
communication and strategy changes
the relationship between ufs scores and
performance reviews was found to have
little correlation and a formal
mechanism to link the two was not
implemented to avoid losing the impact
of Project Oxygen
strong management behavior is being
promoted at a higher rate at Google with
10 percent of directors promoted being
winners of the great manager award
so the answer to the question of whether
managers matter is a resounding yes
effective management can make a
significant difference to a company's
success and Project Oxygen has proven
that
stay tuned for more exciting case
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