Defining micromanagement
Nothing is more demotivating than having a micromanaging boss control every step of your daily workflow.
Micromanaging or micromanagement is a negative term that refers to management style. Micromanagement is a pattern of manager behavior marked by excessive supervision and control of employees’ work and processes, as well as a limited delegation of tasks or decisions to staff.
Micromanagers generally avoid giving decision-making power to their employees and are typically overly obsessed with information-gathering.
Why do people micromanage?
There are many reasons that people micromanage. These can include different feelings and emotions such as fear of failure, extreme need for control and domination, inexperience in management, insecurities, unskilled team members, unhealthy ego, etc. Some micromanagers might be driven to act so obsessively due to problems that they have at home and in their personal life.
The most obvious and common reason for people to manage is, however, the lack of trust and respect in the people they work with.
Symptoms and effects of micromanagement:
Loss of creativity
Often, micromanagers need control because they are perfectionists, highly organized, and success-driven. Unfortunately, these qualities can turn into weaknesses if not well balanced.
From an employee’s point of view, being constantly restrained destroys innovation and resourcefulness. When every single action they take is monitored, there is no longer space for autonomy and creativity. Little by little, they stop taking initiative, give up on suggesting fresh ideas and simply do the tasks that are being asked to do.
Lack of confidence
On top of losing their creativity, employees might also lose confidence in themselves and their abilities. Just imagine your supervisors want to know every task you are taking on and how you are completing it, would you feel trusted? Micromanagers show excessive control over each step of a process.
This usually results in individuals feeling like they are not trustworthy and in turn, questioning their own skills. Although they’ve been hired for their expertise, this type of leadership makes them doubt it. If they are considered reliable, competent, and qualified for their job, they then wonder why every detail of their work regularly needs to be approved.
Frustration and disappointment
Micromanagers might not realize the consequences of their behavior and think this is the best way to help their coworkers. Unfortunately, this kind of management creates the opposite effect. Employees want to be trusted for their expertise, develop their skills, and be recognized for their strengths.
But in a micromanaged environment, these expectations are not met. Instead of seeing team members thriving, they become frustrated and disappointed. They wish for more autonomy, to be able to take initiative and to make mistakes in order to learn and grow.
Failure in personal and professional growth
From a micromanager’s perspective, the results of their work can only be positive, and negative outcomes (failure, poor performance, customer complaints) are not an option. Therefore, they interfere in all processes and monitor every action of their team members closely to make sure perfect results are achieved.
While failure is not something managers should hope for, it makes individuals and companies grow. By not letting their workers experience failure, and not taking accountability for it, they prevent them from growing personally and professionally.
A feeling of being used and not valued
Sadly, by focusing so much on outcomes, micromanagers might be less considerate of their team. By being invested in small tasks, they might think they are showing availability and support to their coworkers. But employees who experience such an intrusive approach don’t feel supported. It is quite the opposite.
They don’t feel valued and as if their supervisor does not believe they are trustworthy or competent enough for more autonomy. Micromanaged employees can feel they are only seen as a means to reach goals without being recognized for their skills.
Loss of workplace connection
Last but not least, we often talk about the importance of workplace connection. Feeling connected to the workplace means building a strong bond with your job, the company, and your colleagues. But employees lose this feeling when frustrated about the organizational structure and processes, or are disappointed in leaders. This is especially true if they begin to lose confidence in themselves and feel stuck in their careers without the opportunity to develop their skills. As we are about to see, this negatively affects the workforce and the business as a whole.
Be a Leader, Not a Micromanager!
1. Let Go of Perfectionism
It’s time to face the truth: perfection doesn’t exist especially when you first realize you are not perfect! When you realize that, it will be far easier for you to stop micromanaging your team. There are various different methods to do a certain task or a project, so instead of telling your team how to do everything that you consider perfect, empower them to test new approaches and experiment with new ideas – you never know how they can surprise you.
2. Practice Delegation
As a manager, you should know the strengths of your team members so you can delegate tasks accordingly. If you are not able to delegate tasks effectively, then this is another reason for you to avoid doing it and micromanage everything that your team does.
In the beginning, you might make mistakes, but remember that practice is the hard part of learning, but also the essence of knowledge.
3. Embrace Failure
As hard as it might seem, the world won’t stop spinning if things don’t turn out as planned. Failure is success in progress and could be the best teacher. Don’t be afraid of it, welcome it, and instead of blaming and yelling at your team for it, teach them to embrace failure too.
4. Focus on Your Role and Responsibilities
Your job as a manager comes with its responsibilities. Rather than micromanaging every step of your employee’s workflow because you think that the only one that can complete a specific task successfully is you, give them a chance to prove their skills and focus on the activities that as a manager only you can do. Your job is to set clear objectives and benchmarks and measure performance, and that is what you should do.
5. Seek Feedback and Talk to Your Team
If you want to have a strong relationship with your team, don’t be afraid to bring up the topic of your management style. Ask each individual on your team about feedback and ask them how they would like to be managed – maybe some will prefer your current micromanaging style, while others would want more freedom. Understand want your team wants and adjust to these needs.
In Conclusion:
My experience is that successful leaders, managers and entrepreneurs who look inside and explore why they do what they do through securing support from a coach, counselor, therapist, mentor, mastermind group, etc. will resolve these types of issues much more efficiently and effectively. If you are interested in exploring these types of issues, call me for a free 15 minute consultation and discover a framework for success both professionally and personally!