verb
control every part, however small, of (an enterprise or activity). "he did not want to give the impression that he was micromanaging the war
No One Has Ever....
in all of history, admitted they are a micromanager. I know that I have been asked in multiple interviews what motivates me and I answer, autonomy and freedom and the answer that has always come back is "Ooooooh well then, you will love it here, I am not a micromanager". It turns out, those who were adamant they were not, tended to be the worst.
I have great news for you all out there. We are not one or the other. we are all on a sliding scale. I like to think of it in the same way as we are all on a sliding scale of narcissism...but that's a different blog post.
We All Know....
the dangers of micromanagement but realistically evaluating yourself and then making changes is the hardest part. So here are some questions I know help me:
1. When I am evaluating a delegated task, are my suggestions going to fundamentally change the work or are they just personal preference?
I started in on personal preference changes one time and thank goodness the employee stopped me and said (in a joking manner), "Do you want to do this project?" I thought the reality check was hilarious, broke the ice and allowed me to realize I was taking the employees work reworking it and asking him to do actual changes.
2. When Delegating a task, do I set clear boundaries and respect those boundaries throughout the process?
I recently had someone tell me, "I can play by the rules but if you change the rules mid-stream, I can't play the game".This is how many of our employees feel when we tell them what needs to be done with no or incomplete rules. When you question them at the end of the project, it leaves them feeling as if they wasted their time.
3. Do I spend more time telling employees how to fix their work vs why they are doing their work? It will surprise you when you start to tell your team the truth as to why we are doing things, the honest truth. They will come up with solutions you never dreamed. They will also "feel the ownership" we all have been discussing since the 90's.
Lastly....
Changing these tendencies will not happen overnight. However, posting these so employees can ask the questions or hold you accountable will help in the long run and can be a very funny conversation at times.
This is a great article! I do find myself micromanaging more than I would like so these are great things to think about! Thanks for sharing!