REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT TASK FORCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-06213A000400010005-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 23, 2005
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: April 13, 1973
• Content Type: MF

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CONFIDENTIAL
13 April 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Training
SUBJECT : Report of the Management Task Force
1. The Management Task Force, formed 15 January at the
request of the Director of Training and staffed through the cooperation
of the 4 Deputy Directors, has completed. its task. It has surveyed
the opinions of middle managers on their training needs and in
paragraph 4 presents its recommendations.
2. The Task Force proceeded on the following bases:
a. Officers at the GS 13-15 level who are supervisors of
supervisors would be the main focus of the survey. Supergrades
would be included but only as necessary to complete the survey
of a Directorate. The level of the job, not the grade, determines
who is a middle manager.
b. A single "course" was not a necessary outcome of the
survey.
3. The Task Force surveyed opinion by questionnaire and by
personal interview. A total of 320 questionnaires were sent outan,c1.,,,,
250, or , 7,5%, were ,returned.,. Sixty-three inter yi,~w :,were conducted.
The data obtained yields the folld i?n .. ...
a. The middle manager as polled, in the survey averages
48 years, GS 14- 15+, and 20 years of service in the Agency.
The exception is in the Directorate for Science and Technology
where middle managers have fewer years of age and. of service.
.'g
A significant portion of the sample is looking toward retirements
in the 1970rs.
WISAM
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b. Each Directorate has distinct functions, and middle
managers have career identification with these functions.
They are partial managers- -operators, analysts, scientific
specialists, and support specialists who have some managerial
responsibilities.
c. Nevertheless, the Task Force found more uniformity
of attitudes toward training than anticipated.. Middle.-managers
have a positive view of the value of training. They tend to
believe, iowever, that many of the learnable elements of
management are not necessarily directly teachable. ~~-. They feel
that the effectiveness of training is heavily dependent upon the
managerial environment, including early identification of
officers with managerial potential. They don't believe.,that.
simply throwing a training course at a management problem
will make that problem go away.
d. The respondents generally desire some training,
particularly if they are given more responsible positions,
and believe their successors need more training than they
d.o. Some expressed regret that they had not had more
opportunity for training. Many see virtue in small seminars
and in forums for discussion of problems common within
Directorates and for improving peer relationships across
Directorates. In any case, courses should be intense and
practical.
4. The Task Force recommends:
a. That the Office of Training establish a training program
for middle managers.
(1) The program should be designed to familiarize
the students with the various approaches to management,
such as human relations, management science, and
functional management. There should be emphasis on
Management by Objective.
(2) The program should examine practices currently
employed in the Agency and explore ways to improve
these practices. Agency executives should be called upon
to explain what they expect of middle managers.
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(3) Where possible, case .._.udie,.,s ,.3.the ro ram
should be based on Age.ny_prczblems,.rather, than business
and industrial experience. Each Directorate should be
requested to contribute useful case studies and, speakers
willing to speak from their own experiences.
(4) In view of the varied needs of Directorates and
of individual managers, consideration should be given to
a format segmented in time. The main course or core
segment should be `designed to meet the common needs of
new middle managers. Seminars, forums, and briefing
sessions could be added as needed to the program to meet
the special needs of other middle managers and, graduates
of the core segment. Subjects addressed could include
mental health, alcoholism, drug addiction, and the new
generation. The purpose of the segmented format is to
provide as much flexibility as possible in terms of time
and type of student attendance.
(5) A time period in the core segment should be used
to familiarize the middle man
ith
ager w
management training
il
bl
ithi
ava
a
e w
n and without the Agency. According to the
survey, he does not always know what training is available.
(6) The attached Directorate reports give details on
the varied training needs of middle managers. For instance,
respondents to the questionnaire tended to want the manage-
ment science approach for themselves and the human
relations approach for their successors. All managers
have an interest in career development a .d in learning more
about computer applications, but opinion is divided on
budgeting and records management.
b. That the Office of Training work out with the Directorates
a procedure for selecting students for this training program.
(1) The selection procedure should insure that the
individual middle manager receives management training
at the appropriate time(s) in his career. The respondents
to the questionnaire indicate that the most appropriate time
is when the individual is about to assume or has just assumed
middle management responsibility.
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(2) If this procedure is successful, the program can
avoid the fate of the now defunct Advanced Management
(Planning) course. This course was cancelled because
too few could attend, not because too few wanted to
attend.. According to the questionnaire, there is still
a demand for this course. The program should, also
avoid the opposite fate--surviving as a place to park
the marginal and those between assignments.
5. To the extent that the program gains the active support of
Agency executives in the selection of students and. the articulation
of managerial philosophy, it can be successful in contributing to the
improvement of Agency management as a whole.
Attachments:
Individual Directorate Reports (4)
Questionnaire for Middle Managers (1)
25X1
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