Few things frustrate workers more than dealing with micromanagers. In this episode, AEU LEAD Director Joe White breaks down the traits associated with micromanagement and offers suggestions to help supervisors identify and avoid them in their daily interactions with employees.
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might consider taking a step back and loosening the reins a bit. For those open to doing so, here are several recommendations for consideration.
According to a recent Gartner HR study, managers now have 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage. Micromanagement is exhaustive, time-draining, and burdensome. Getting employees more involved, delegating where you can, and growing skills within teams, are keys to long-term success. These are also examples of ways to demonstrate trust, and relinquish control to those ready, willing, and able to take on more responsibilities.
The skills gap is broadly recognized as the difference between skills required for a job and those held by employees. At this point in time, the skills gap has never been wider, or the effects of it more apparent. The default consequence of this trend is felt primarily on the front line and is recognized most notably by supervisors. Retaining control of decision-making, given the scenario, is an option often taken for a variety of well-intended reasons. The short-term benefits of this choice, however, come at a great cost over time. Coach employees, grow from mistakes, and lean on experienced team members where you can to mentor others when they can.
At its core, micromanagement is about control. It's about minimizing internalized vulnerability and trying to dictate the means to an end. To succeed, your employees must succeed. That requires transitioning from dependency upon you to a culture of independency, whereby performance outcomes are understood and accepted by those doing the work. Start slow, and allow this transformation to take a course and pace of its own.
72% of the incoming generation prefers participated management or leadership practices. Functionally, it means having a voice or say in a team-centered setting. That translates to providing opportunities for input and involvement, everything, in essence, that micromanagement is not. Get to know your employees, build trust and credibility through actions and examples, and demonstrate value for their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.
Relinquishing control involves delegation of tasks and conveying ownership of responsibility, which, by definition, is independence. Ultimately, supervisors should do everything possible to promote and advocate for team-based cultures whereby employees look out for one another. Interdependency is a traitor characteristic shared by the world's best-performing teams. In practice, it results in conveying responsibility for operational outcomes to the teams performing the work. Where it exists, supervisors paint a picture of what success entails and offer support to those responsible for delivering it.
Micromanagement involves an unnecessary level of management oversight for the purpose of controlling employee decisions associated with and behaviors involving the performance of their job. It typically results from perceived vulnerability and involves practices intended to minimize the likelihood of failure. While often well-intended, micromanagement is a primary source of frustration among employees, resulting in disengagement and turnover. Taking steps to transition responsibility for success to employees and ultimately to teams is a key to success. It also aligns with the expectations and preferences of those now entering the workforce, resulting in a win-win scenario for all involved.
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