Meaning & use
line management
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Meanings
noununcountable
The system in which managers directly supervise the staff below them and are responsible for their work and conduct.
Grammar: Uncountable, so it has no plural and takes a singular verb: line management is important.
Patterns
- line management of someone
- under line management
- report to someone for line management
She has line management of twelve people in the sales team.
Good line management means giving clear instructions and regular feedback.
He reports to the head of department for line management.
noununcountable
The managers in a company who form the direct chain of authority from senior staff down to ordinary workers.
Grammar: Refers to a group of people but stays uncountable: line management supports the new policy.
Patterns
- the line management
- line management and staff
- at line management level
The decision was welcomed by line management but opposed by the unions.
Line management needs to communicate the new targets to their teams.
Training is aimed at line management rather than senior executives.
Common combinations
- line management responsibility
- Her line management responsibility includes hiring and firing.
- line management structure
- The company has a simple line management structure with few layers.
- line management role
- He took on a line management role after five years as an engineer.
- under someone's line management
- The whole department works under her line management.
- line management experience
- The job requires at least three years of line management experience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- supervision
- Focuses on watching and checking work rather than the formal authority structure that line management implies.
- management
- A general word for controlling an organization; line management is specifically the direct, day-to-day supervision of staff.
Word family
- line manager noun
- The person who directly supervises an employee.
- manage verb
- To be in charge of people or work.
- managerial adjective
- Relating to managers or management.
Commonly confused: line management or senior management?
line management vs senior management
Senior management means the top executives, whereas line management is the lower level of managers who supervise staff directly.
Practice
In this company, all new employees are supervised directly by a team leader. This arrangement is called ______.
Choose one answer.
Line management is the direct supervision of staff by their immediate manager. Senior management refers to top executives, middle management to managers between the top and the front line, and project management to organizing a specific project, not ongoing supervision.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “line management”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.