The Role of Middle Management and the Mediation of Artifacts in the Process of Organizational Change

Abstract

The present article proposes a reflection on the skills that organizations and managers need to develop to deal with the processes of change, mediated by artifacts influencing routines. The qualitative descriptive methodology employed was a case study in a plastic extrusion plant, where the change in routine was mediated by several artifacts that played unequivocal roles in the process: as mechanisms for recording information, for communication, for horizontal and vertical alignments, as a means of ensuring the execution of the routine, and as problem-solving facilitators. The results found help to understand how middle management led the change in the organization, acting as a facilitator and articulator of the process, based on the skills of communication, awareness, alignment and proximity, shared vision, and engagement, mediated by various artifacts. These skills favored the creation of a relationship of interdependence and interconnection between multiple agents, and the intelligent use of artifacts, creating autonomy and greater space for spontaneous exchanges. For the organization, it had a positive impact on performance, prompting the reflection that the future of management permeates the manager's capacity for agency to create an environment of interconnection based on communication, respect and mutual trust, where artifacts can play their enabling role.