Mythbusting Micromanagement

Domain: Execution - Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

"But sometimes, you have to micromanage an employee to ensure the work gets done. Right?"

When talking to people about what I do, I will sometimes mention that my philosophy includes trusting your people with the autonomy to perform at their best.

I'm surprised how many leaders will respond with an unsolicited defense of micromanaging in response to this approach.

On the other side of the coin, I've heard individual contributors complain about their micromanaging boss and then describe a behavior that is largely not micromanagement.

With these types of complex and misunderstood topics, I find it helpful to first create some clarity on the definition. This shared understanding helps us later when we provide specific strategies and tactics. So today we're going to start with addressing a few micromanagement myths to clarify what it is and what it isn't….

Defining it

Let's start with a baseline definition of what constitutes micromanagement. There is no one answer here as this is an issue that is highly dependent on context. With that said, a simple definition that I like, and that many management experts seem to align with is this…

Someone in authority who is highly involved in the work of their subordinates, specifically how that work is done.

With that out of the way, let's discuss a couple myths around micromanaging…

Myth: You should never micromanage.

Never is a tricky word when talking about personal behavior. I try not to coach people on "never" doing something as there is almost always an exception to the rule.

My belief is that while micromanagement should be used sparingly and as a last resort, it is still a tool that has an appropriate use.

Consider a situation where you are training a new hire on a process that has regulatory or safety implications. If work absolutely has to be done a certain way to be compliant with the law and/or keep people safe, then it's fair to practice a little micromanagement for somebody still learning the process. Ideally, you would have other controls in place to help address those risks but micromanagement will likely be one of the temporary tactics. At the end of the day, micromanaging will always be the lesser evil to personal harm.

Myth: So you should micromanage all new employees to make sure they are on the right path?

No. If safety is not an issue, a new employee or even a new process is an awful time to micromanage. This is an opportunity to let the individual exercise problem solving using their unique skills and perspectives.

You are going to learn so much more about both the process and your people by giving them the space to operate independently. Will there be missteps? Probably, but that's the point. This is a learning opportunity on multiple levels so don't sabotage that by micromanaging out of the gate.

Myth: You have to micromanage when the risk for failure is extremely high.

Let's start by addressing the fact that the fall-out from failure is not usually as high as we believe. Most errors can be corrected and learned from. That's a great thing.

But let's assume that you have a situation where the risk is truly high. We've already covered personal safety so let's focus on the risk of a business failing due to work being done incorrectly. If the stakes are that high, should the individual in question be performing the task? Are there other controls that could be put in place to mitigate the risk without micromanaging the work? This is another example of not allowing micromanaging to be our go-to approach.

Myth: You should micromanage employees who are experiencing performance issues.

Surely if an employee is having performance issues, it's appropriate to manage how they are doing their work. Right? Not necessarily.

A performance issue is just another unique problem that they are responsible for solving. In many instances, performance issues stem from unclear expectations. Before we resort to micromanaging, let's make sure we've done our part as managers by communicating expectations as clearly as possible. This would be expectations on the result, not the method.

Myth: My boss micromanages me by constantly asking for status updates on my projects.

Micromanagement can mistakenly be used as a catch-all for any behavior that an employee doesn’t like. Your boss following-up for status updates is not micromanagement. At least not on its own. Status updates are typically about the progress of the work, not the steps you are taking to complete it.

What's more, this issue can often be avoided by providing proactive status updates to them so that they are not coming to you. If there are unexpected delays, include your plan to address them to show that you are proactively resolving the situation.

Myth: My boss micromanages me by constantly providing feedback on my work.

This one is a little trickier, but in my experience it's usually not micromanagement. The distinction depends on the type of feedback they are providing.

If they are providing feedback on behaviors and outcomes, it's probably not micromanagement. If they are dictating the specific steps you must take to complete the work when there isn't a clear reason for doing so, there may be some valid concern.

Thank you for reading. My hope is always that you've found something helpful and easy to implement. If you have feedback, suggestions or questions, please reply to this email.

If you are interested in exploring one-on-one coaching to transform your leadership, email me at [email protected] and we’ll coordinate a free, one-hour discovery session.

This week’s action items:

1. Reflect on whether or not you have adopted any of the myths listed above.

2. Identify alternative tools and tactics that you could be leveraging in those situations.

3. When assigning new work, focus on expectations around outcomes rather than methods.