Manager Mentor
Who knows best how agents are performing? Your front-line people do.
Series: 50 Most Pressing Questions Facing Managers in 2026
Every manager in 2026 is going to have to answer this question:
What is my front line actually experiencing as agents arrive on the team?
The biggest change in corporate structure is coming in 2026 as 50% of all teams will include humans and AI agents in 2026.
Managing the transition to biological-digital teams comes with risk that always accompanies change: the people on your team have deep anxiety about AI taking away their jobs, while at the same time there is no guarantee that an agent on the team is working as planned.
For managers of teams, the key is listening to your front-line people — the people who are likely the ones working with agents day-to-day.
What’s New:
The people working with agents day-to-day are accumulating real-time intelligence your spreadsheet will never capture — what’s making an impact, what could be better, where to go next.
2026 has to be the “year of listening” for managers.
My research into the future of managing found that millennials and gen-z want to work for managers who know what’s keeping the team “up at night” — whether it’s the performance of agents or the fear of agents.
The best people are already talking among themselves about what’s working and what’s not — and they want their manager to tap into it and be as current as they are.
“No news is good news” was a boomer refrain. This generation feels exactly the opposite.
Why this Matters:
Your front-line people know 2026 is a consequential year — just as you do.
The next 6-12 months may be the only time in your managing career where you get a chance to learn how to manage the transition to combined human-agent teams on your terms.
HOW: Make Skip-Level Meetings a Standing Commitment
Skip-level meetings are your mechanism for codifying your approach to the three things that matter most right now:
How agents and humans best complement each other.
How to talk to your team about the future of work.
How to make sure your best people are the ones working with agents — these people know it is their future opportunity.
The skip-level meeting is critical to listening as a manager. Knowing people layers below you gives your team confidence you have a full picture of the team’s performance in your mind — not just some spreadsheet in your hands.
So set your cadence. Publish your schedule. Let your people know you’re coming to listen. Make skip-level meetings with up-and-coming high potentials a regular part of your calendar. There’s no better way to listen than to meet your people where they are, in person.
When you commit to listening to your team, you’ll learn things that will make you a better manager. You’ll find out ways to improve performance and likely be exposed to better ways of doing things.
