Micromanagement is a management style whereby an employer closely observes, controls, and/or reminds the work of their subordinates or employees. Micromanagement is generally considered to have a negative connotation, mainly because it shows a lack of freedom and trust in the workplace. Below are a few typical behaviors of micromanagers. Are you guilty of this?
- Do you have an extensive list of things that cannot be taken care of until you give approval?
Obviously, every manager has some work of their teams that they need to review before action can take place. But, how long is that list and does it all fall on only your shoulders to oversee. This thorough list can often leave employees to feel like they are wasting their time because they have so much downtime between submitting the work to you and when they can act on it.
- Do you often set new policies based on the performance of the team?
Every team has their high-quality performers and their low-quality performers. But do you focus on that low quality performer and implement a new system that implies to the entire team? Bosses should look at each performer individually to see what they need to learn and what changes need to happen to push past that performance barrier. A micromanager will often penalize the whole team to ensure the issue will not happen again.
- Are you joining your employees in on meetings that they can manage on their own?
Now, we are not talking about a meeting with a new or vital client. Yes, as a manager, you should definitely be included in the loop when key details change, or new clientele takes place. However, are you regularly sitting in on meetings that are unnecessary? This communicates or makes your team feel that you do not trust them to do their job without your constant input.
- Do you spend time over explaining or analyzing a task that needs to be accomplished?
Although thoroughly explaining a new task to your crew is important, do you dictate the exact process in which it should be completed? Every team is a collection of different people with different strengths, weaknesses and personalities who are not going to want to act the same way you do. It is important to give your team freedom to accomplish the job that you hired them to do.
Micromanaging can have damaging effects on your team. Employee morale can take a hit, employees can lose motivation, develop self-doubt or even experience burn out. It is important to delegate, stay in the loop and assist your team, however it is equally important to give your team the opportunity to show you they can do their job and do it well.
