After being a productive line worker, David was promoted to a Sales Manager at The Best Place Works. David finds he needs to keep a close watch on how his workers go about their respective duties. He understands he needs to be involved in every aspect of the office operations. He just does not believe that his subordinates are doing their duties correctly. He cannot find it within himself to delegate tasks as he is not confident, they will be done adequately.
David conducts meetings constantly due to a lack of progress on work assignments. He does not value the input of the staff at these meetings and finds he always needs to reprimand the staff. David insists that he must implement these measures to ensure good judgement and common sense prevails. He believes that his management style guarantees wise decisions are made that will ensure nothing is done that will reflect badly on himself and the company.
What is micromanaging?
A micromanager wants to control every aspect of a situation. Micromanaging can be described as a bullying type of management. A micromanager devotes important management time on insignificant incidents and requires authorization for everything. Bobinksi explains that most micromanagers are persons who were once line staff who were elevated to management status based on their work performance. They were once performers before and that equates to them expecting persons to execute the level of work they used to produce in their former roles.
David identifies with the characteristic of a micromanager. He must be in control of the entire work situation and dwell on the smallest of details. To an employee, he would be viewed not as a manager or a leader but rather a “boss”.
Why you should not micromanage
Micromanagement is viewed as an empowerment killer in any organization. Employees who work under the pall of micromanagement are so afraid of their supervisors that they ease into routines to avoid getting noticed. Leading to a bland and uneventful work life. John Tschohl has highlighted several other reasons such as a high turnover rate and work not being done as workers believe their work will not be good enough is not good enough.
In Synopsis, your employees would not like to work with you, and this can result in pervasive damage to the output and success of an organization. Who likes to be bullied? Why suffer the chance of losing your best workers. Why create a toxic environment and contribute to low morale and productivity? The micromanager can also suffer stress and burnout trying to do too much rather than having their staff perform duties.
5 Ways to Stop Micromanaging Employees
There are several ways to stop micromanaging employees and create a harmonious work environment. Five of these ways are:
- Promote effectively- Many promoted micromanagers do not receive the required training which can make them successful in their position. Train them on the different responsibilities that are expected and provide them with mentors who can offer guidance so they can be successful in their role.
- View your workers as part of a team. Your workers are not just subordinates waiting to obey orders. You must treat them as a part of a team working towards a common goal. eamwork can “unleash energy that boosts creativity, productivity, engagement, communication, and efficiency.”
- Be a good listener - Ask for input from the staff so that they can feel that you care, and they are valued. This will further lead them to believe they are part of the team and their contributions matter to the success of the business.
- Let go of being perfect. – perfectionism is not always ideal. Helping your team to realize that learning from your mistakes is essential to the progress of your organization.
- Learn to Delegate: Reina and Reina (2015) explained that to effectively delegate you must set the parameters and give you workers the opportunity to accomplish a task on their own. Let you workers ask you instead for guidance but have the opportunity for them to carry out the assignment in their own distinct way. When you delegate, you are empowering your staff which brings confidence to your organization.
On the way of shedding micromanagement in the workplace, remember the emphasis is not solely on managing but working as a team. Always remember the widely used phrase; ‘Teamwork makes the dream work!’