About this session
The promotion is clear. The role is less clear.
A manager is still completing much of their previous specialist work, answering every team question, attending meetings on behalf of several functions, and covering responsibilities that were supposed to be temporary.
Their own manager expects stronger people development, but the calendar leaves little room for it. Everyone has a reasonable request; together, those requests have created a role nobody has explicitly agreed.
This session helps managers define that role deliberately. Participants examine the difference between the responsibilities formally assigned to them, the expectations other people hold, and the work they have gradually absorbed.
They identify the outcomes they are accountable for, the authority available to deliver them, and the decisions that require support or clarification from someone else.
Healthy parameters are working agreements that make management dependable. They establish what the manager owns, where employees can act independently, how colleagues request support, which issues require escalation, and what happens when new work exceeds available capacity.
They also make the manager's commitments visible: when employees can expect a response, how urgent matters are covered, and how decisions or handoffs will be followed through.
Participants learn to align these parameters upward and outward.
They practice discussing priorities with their manager, resolving conflicting expectations from different stakeholders, and explaining the consequences of adding responsibilities without changing time, resources, or authority.
They develop language that keeps the conversation focused on delivery: what can be achieved, what needs to change, and who should make the trade-off.
The session also addresses the moments that test an agreement. An employee hands a delegated task back.
A senior colleague bypasses the agreed process. A genuine emergency requires additional involvement.
An acting assignment expands beyond its original scope. Leaders learn to respond proportionately, maintain continuity, and distinguish a temporary exception from a lasting change to the role.
Longer formats turn these principles into a practical Manager Role Charter and supporting agreements. Participants test one change in everyday work, gather feedback, examine whether responsibility has genuinely moved, and revise the arrangement.
The outcome is a manager role that can be explained, supported, reviewed, and sustained as the work evolves.
What your people take away
- Define the purpose, outcomes, responsibilities, and decision authority of the manager role using actual work and expectations
- Identify workload creep, inherited tasks, conflicting demands, and responsibilities that lack sufficient authority or resources
- Align priorities and capacity with the manager's own leader and clarify expectations across shared or dotted-line relationships
- Establish working parameters that combine predictable employee access with appropriate ownership, support, and escalation
- Handle repeated boundary crossings, temporary assignments, and genuine exceptions without allowing responsibility to become permanently ambiguous
- Build and review a Manager Role Charter supported by practical agreements, workplace evidence, and a 90-day continuation plan
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- What each length covers, 30 minutes to full day
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What each length covers
30 minutes
30 Minutes — Key Points: Define the Role You Are Accountable ForA focused 30-minute session on three key points from Define the Role You Are Accountable For: start with purpose and outcomes, compare the assigned role with the actual work and match responsibility with decision authority.
- Start with purpose and outcomes
- Compare the assigned role with the actual work
- Match responsibility with decision authority
Covers 3 of 4 points in Define the Role You Are Accountable For.
60 minutes
60 Minutes — Define What Your Manager Role Needs to DeliverA focused introduction to role clarity and healthy managerial parameters. Participants concentrate on Module 1, comparing assigned responsibilities with actual work and identifying one gap between ownership, authority, and expectations. A short application introduces an upward-alignment conversation. Participants leave with an initial role-purpose statement, an Assigned and Actual Role Map, and one specific clarification to seek from their manager.
- Role purpose and accountable outcomes
- Assigned responsibilities and accumulated work
- Ownership, contribution, and decision authority
- One recurring source of role ambiguity
- A practical priority-clarification conversation
- An initial Manager Role Charter
- Live Q&A
Covers 1 of 4 parts: Define the Role You Are Accountable For.
90 minutes
90 Minutes — Align Responsibilities, Priorities, and ParametersAn extended session covering Modules 1 and 2 with guided application. Participants map their responsibilities and authority, examine a realistic capacity conflict, and practice discussing priorities with their own manager. They draft working parameters for availability and incoming requests, then test whether those parameters maintain dependable team support. Participants leave with a draft Manager Role Charter and an alignment conversation prepared for their own context.
- Assigned and actual role mapping
- Responsibility and decision-authority gaps
- Priorities, capacity, and work displaced
- Competing stakeholder expectations
- Managing-up conversation practice
- Availability and support expectations
- Scope-change decisions
- A draft charter ready for internal discussion
- Live Q&A
Covers 2 of 4 parts: Define the Role You Are Accountable For and Agree Expectations That Match the Role.
3 hours
Covers 3 of 4 parts: Define the Role You Are Accountable For, Agree Expectations That Match the Role and Maintain Boundaries While Supporting the Team.
Full day
Full Day — Manager Role Clarity and Sustainable Responsibility IntensiveAn eight-hour workshop day with 405 minutes of facilitated learning and application, plus 75 minutes of breaks. Participants examine a manager role from mandate through daily practice, using a connected case involving retained specialist work, shared reporting lines, employee support, and temporary coverage. They draft and challenge a role charter, rehearse alignment and boundary-reset conversations, and stress-test ownership and backup arrangements. Participants leave with a complete proposed Manager Role Playbook and a sponsor-ready plan for validating it at work.
- A clear role purpose and map of actual responsibilities
- Decision authority, dependencies, and unresolved expectations
- Practiced conversations about priorities and capacity
- A dependable team access and escalation agreement
- Accepted ownership and temporary-duty controls
- Backup, role-review triggers, and a 90-day implementation plan
- Live Q&A
Covers all 4 parts.
Also available as a 4-week or 8-week program, for change that lasts. Ask us about it.
What’s covered
Define the Role You Are Accountable For
Every length- Start with purpose and outcomesA useful role definition begins with the results the manager is responsible for creating.
- Compare the assigned role with the actual workThe current workload may include formal duties, retained specialist tasks, useful contributions, temporary coverage, and work accepted because the manager was available or capable.
- Match responsibility with decision authorityA manager may be accountable for delivery while lacking authority over staffing, priorities, spending, scheduling, or a critical approval.
- Distinguish ownership from contributionBeing consulted on a problem, helping a colleague, and owning the outcome are different commitments.
Agree Expectations That Match the Role
90 minutes and longer- Align upward on priorities and capacityWhen expectations exceed available capacity, the conversation needs to connect workload with delivery.
- Resolve shared and dotted-line expectationsA manager may receive direction from a line manager, project lead, regional leader, and functional specialist.
- Make your working parameters visibleWorking parameters should explain how the manager will be available and accountable.
- Reset the role when new work arrivesA new project, recurring meeting, reporting requirement, or coverage request can change the role even when it looks small in isolation.
Maintain Boundaries While Supporting the Team
3 hours and longer- Pair accessibility with reliable supportA manager can protect concentrated work and still make support accessible.
- Return work with accepted ownershipA task can return to the manager because the employee needs an approval, lacks context, encounters a constraint, or expects the manager to finish it.
- Keep people support within the manager roleManagers can listen, clarify work expectations, address workload, take appropriate management action, and connect employees with established support.
- Make exceptions explicit and temporaryAn absence, incident, deadline, or urgent customer issue may require a manager to step outside the usual arrangement.
Keep the Role Sustainable as It Evolves
Full day only- Protect capacity for actual managementThe role needs room for one-to-ones, development, performance conversations, planning, decisions, and coordination.
- Address repeated boundary crossingsA colleague bypasses the agreed route, a manager repeatedly adds work without resolving priorities, or a temporary duty keeps being extended.
- Build backup that shares responsibility fairlyA sustainable role needs clear cover for absence, urgent decisions, and unfamiliar management situations.
- Review the role after meaningful changeTeam growth, a new reporting line, an acting assignment, a changed service model, or retained specialist work can make an earlier role agreement outdated.
Tools and materials
- Assigned and Actual Role Map — compares formal responsibilities, stakeholder expectations, retained specialist work, temporary duties, and recurring tasks
- Manager Role Charter — defines role purpose, accountable outcomes, core responsibilities, authority, dependencies, working parameters, and review triggers
- Responsibility and Authority Map — distinguishes ownership, shared responsibility, contribution, decision rights, resources, and escalation
- Stakeholder Expectations Register — records requests, priorities, reporting relationships, decision owners, dependencies, and agreement status
- Role Capacity and Priority Planner — connects commitments with effort, timing, management capacity, work displaced, and realistic delivery choices
- Manager Alignment Conversation Guide — structures a discussion around evidence, consequences, options, recommendations, decisions, and follow-through
- Team Access and Escalation Agreement — defines routine contact, time-sensitive decisions, urgent support, private concerns, response expectations, and backup
- Ownership Transfer Checklist — confirms the receiving owner, outcome, authority, resources, timing, support, acceptance, and remaining managerial responsibility
- Scope Change and Boundary Reset Guide — supports clear responses to additional work, recurring bypasses, returned tasks, and unresolved expectations
- Temporary Responsibility and Exception Register — captures purpose, authorization, extra duties, displaced work, coverage, review dates, and return conditions
- Manager Backup and Support Map — identifies authorized cover, specialist consultation, necessary information, capacity, and responsibility handback
- Role Trial and Evidence Log — distinguishes proposals, approvals, simulations, and workplace tests and records the effects on ownership, access, workload, and continuity
- Role Management Practice Rubric — supports developmental feedback on role definition, authority, priority negotiation, ownership, access, exceptions, and review
- Role Clarity and Sustainability Scorecard — defines a focused set of role and working-agreement indicators with evidence sources and interpretation limits
- Manager Role Playbook — consolidates the charter, confirmed agreements, support arrangements, exception handling, trial findings, and outstanding decisions
How booking works
- Book online. Create a free Workbliss profile, then pay with session credits, by card or by invoice.
- Pick a date. Choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or book now and set the date later.
- Choose your expert. Within 3 working days, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date.
- We deliver it. Your expert is briefed on your people and goals, then runs the session live online or at your site.
Questions about Defining Your Manager Role: Setting Healthy Parameters
How long is Defining Your Manager Role: Setting Healthy Parameters?
Defining Your Manager Role: Setting Healthy Parameters runs as 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 3 hours or full day. You choose the length when you book. A 30-minute session covers three key points from Define the Role You Are Accountable For: start with purpose and outcomes, compare the assigned role with the actual work and match responsibility with decision authority. A 60-minute session covers Define the Role You Are Accountable For in full, with a live Q&A. A 90-minute session adds Agree Expectations That Match the Role. A 3-hour session adds Maintain Boundaries While Supporting the Team. A full-day session adds Keep the Role Sustainable as It Evolves. It is also available as a 4-week or 8-week program.
Can Defining Your Manager Role: Setting Healthy Parameters be delivered online or in person?
Yes, both. It runs live online, so every office can join at the same time, or in person at your site, in any country.
How do we book Defining Your Manager Role: Setting Healthy Parameters?
Create a free Workbliss profile with your work email, then open Defining Your Manager Role: Setting Healthy Parameters to see the price for each length and book it. You can pay with session credits, by card or by invoice, and choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or set it later.
Who leads the session?
A vetted Workbliss expert, briefed on your people, culture and goals before the session. After you book, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date within 3 working days, so you can choose who leads it.
Can it be tailored to our company?
Yes. Every session is shaped around your goals, your people and the benefits you already offer, and delivered by experts in your people’s languages.