Illustrative image
2026 guide · managers and direct reports · free
Industry and energy · taking up a new role
Manager and direct report a relationship you work out together
From one team to the next, at least 70% of the gap in engagement comes down to the manager (Gallup). The relationship is worked out by two people: three levers, six questions, and a one-hour workshop to write your working rules.
70%
of the engagement gap between teams comes down to the manager · Gallup 2015
3levers
clarity, trust, structure
6questions
for a one-hour workshop
4pages
as a PDF, free
01 · Les leviers
The relationship
A rope team is held by two people
Two people, one slope. The heading, the rope, the anchors: clarity, trust and structure. A lever held from one side only drops in the first busy month.
Clarity: explicit role, priorities and objectives
The heading: where we are going, and what we will be judged on
Manager's side. Write down the role, the three priorities for the quarter and what they will be judged on. Restate what changes. Direct report's side. Rephrase what you understood, and ask for a decision when two priorities contradict each other.
02 · The workshop
The alignment workshop
One hour, four stages
Once, then a review every quarter. Each person answers for themselves, then the two sets of answers are compared: the comparison is the exercise.
The six questions. Each person answers alone, in writing, before meeting.
- What gives me energy?
- What do I have no patience for?
- What is essential for me to feel trust?
- How do I work best?
- How do I feel when I receive feedback?
- What do others not always understand about me?
The three rules fit on one shared page, reviewed every quarter.
03 · The details
The tools
The questions, the levers, the workshop step by step
What we look for behind each question, what each person does for each lever, and what empties the exercise.
The six questions, and what we look for
Each person answers for themselves, in writing.
Open
The six questions, and what we look for
Each person answers for themselves, in writing.
What gives me energy?
Identify your moments of flow: when you lose track of time and feel effective.
What do I have no patience for?
Micromanagement, lack of prioritisation, constant pushback... Be honest.
What is essential for me to feel trust?
Transparency, meeting deadlines, authenticity, punctuality... Illustrate with examples.
How do I work best?
Structure you need, preferred hours, communication channels, tools that work...
How do I feel when I receive feedback?
What should your manager do to help you take it well?
What do others not always understand about me?
Signals under stress, hidden needs, particular ways of working...
Each lever, from both sides
What the manager does, what the direct report does.
Open
Each lever, from both sides
What the manager does, what the direct report does.
| Lever | Manager's side | Direct report's side |
|---|---|---|
| Clarity | Write down the role, the three priorities for the quarter and what they will be judged on. Restate what changes. | Rephrase what you understood, and ask for a decision when two priorities contradict each other. |
| Trust | Give feedback within the week, not at the annual review. Recognise what worked, by name. | Say what is blocking before it becomes a problem, and take feedback without negotiating it. |
| Management role | A one-to-one at a fixed time that never gets skipped, an availability rule, an urgency rule. | Prepare the one-to-one: three points, including one that is uncomfortable. Stick to the agreed channel. |
The workshop, stage by stage
Twenty minutes of writing, one hour face to face, three rules.
Open
The workshop, stage by stage
Twenty minutes of writing, one hour face to face, three rules.
Temps 1
Each person answers alone
Twenty minutes, in writing, on the six questions. In writing, otherwise one of you improvises in the session and falls in line with the other.
Temps 2
Swap the answers
Read before meeting. The goal is not to comment, it is to arrive having already taken it in.
Temps 3
One hour, face to face
Question by question. The manager speaks first on each one: that is what allows the direct report to be frank on the next.
Temps 4
Write the three rules
Three working rules, not ten. They fit on one shared page, reviewed every quarter.
The four mistakes that empty the exercise
Reread before running the workshop.
Open
The four mistakes that empty the exercise
Reread before running the workshop.
- Doing the exercise once and never reviewing it: written rules age within a quarter
- The manager answers last, or not at all: the exercise becomes a disguised appraisal
- Confusing alignment with agreement: you can work differently, as long as you know it
- Writing ten rules: you will keep none
04 · The essentials
In 30 seconds
The management relationship is worked out by two people
The figure
From one team to the next, at least 70% of the engagement gap comes down to the manager (Gallup, 2015).
Three levers
Clarity (role, priorities, objectives), trust (listening, feedback, recognition), structure (rituals, pace, transparency). Each is held from both sides.
Six questions
What gives me energy, what I have no patience for, what makes me feel trust, how I work, how I take feedback, what others do not understand about me.
One workshop
One hour face to face, after twenty minutes of writing each. You come out with three working rules, reviewed every quarter.
The full guide
4pages, as a PDF, free
- The six questions, and what we look for
- The three levers, from the manager's side and the direct report's side
- The one-hour workshop, stage by stage
- The four mistakes that empty the exercise
05 · Questions
5 questions
What people still ask us
What is the manager and direct report relationship?
It is the way a manager and their team member work together: what is expected, how you talk to each other, how often you meet. It rests on three levers, clarity, trust and structure, and each one is held from both sides.
How much of a team's engagement comes down to the manager?
According to Gallup, managers account for at least 70% of the variance in engagement scores between work units (State of the American Manager, 2015). The figure measures the gap from one team to another. It does not say that 70% of a person's motivation comes from their manager.
What questions should you ask to align with your manager?
Six questions, each answered alone and in writing: what gives me energy; what I have no patience for; what is essential for me to feel trust; how I work best; how I feel when I receive feedback; what others do not always understand about me.
How does the alignment workshop work?
In four stages. Each person answers the six questions alone, twenty minutes, in writing. You swap answers and read them before meeting. You spend one hour face to face, question by question, with the manager speaking first. You write three working rules, reviewed every quarter.
Which mistakes make the exercise fail?
Four: doing it once and never reviewing it; letting the manager answer last, or not at all, which turns it into a disguised appraisal; confusing alignment with agreement; writing ten rules instead of three.
06 · Et maintenant
This week
Three steps to launch the workshop
Suggest it to your manager, or to your team member: it takes twenty minutes to prepare.
Answer the six questions alone
Twenty minutes, in writing.
Swap the answers
Read before meeting.
Write three rules
Not ten. They fit on one page, reviewed every quarter.
Your managers
Florian trains your managers in operational coaching
Confidential 30-minute conversation.
Sources and method
- Gallup, "Managers Account for 70% of Variance in Employee Engagement", April 2015
Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in engagement scores between work units (State of the American Manager, 2015). The figure measures the gap from one team to another, not one person's motivation.
- Apec, "Early resignations of managers", October 2022
When the actual job does not match the one described at hiring, managers cite management style and career prospects among the main reasons for the gap.
- Volta Executive practice
The three levers, the six questions and the workshop come from our onboarding support on industry and energy mandates.
Earlier editions said "70% of motivation comes from direct management". The source, Gallup, measures the engagement gap from one team to another: the wording has been corrected.
Florian Beurtey, fondateur de Volta Executive. Ingénieur Mines Saint-Étienne et AgroParisTech, ex-EDF (centrale nucléaire) et Safran avant le recrutement chez Michael Page. Enseignant à l’ISTP, aux Arts et Métiers ParisTech et aux Mines Saint-Étienne. Anime la communauté « La Voix de la Transition » (13 000 décideurs industriels).
Page updated 1 October 2026. PDF: October 2026 edition.