Micromanagement Training
If everyone hates it, why does it constantly happen?
About a month ago I asked my Facebook network “What’s the biggest difference between the best boss you ever had and the worst one?”. While there were several interesting responses the most frequent complaint about worst bosses was micromanaging.
More than half of the people who posted said their worst boss micromanaged them. That’s not entirely surprising. No one likes to have someone constantly looking over their shoulder when they’re trying to get things done.
What is interesting though, is how often the leaders I work with tell me they wish their employees were more able to work independently.
Turns out bosses hate micromanaging almost as much as staff do.
So then, why does it happen so much?
Part of the problem may be a basic disagreement about what micromanagement really is. Some people are resistant to any kind of supervision, correction, or accountability. They may see every involvement of their leader as interference. Similarly, some leaders (often driven by insecurity) are unable to give up any responsibility to their direct reports. They really are constantly searching for mistakes.
But in many cases the people involved are mature and responsible. They aren’t making these unhelpful assumptions.
In most cases micromanaging isn’t a matter of precision, but of intrusion.
People don’t mind being accountable to high standards as long as they know what they are, an they’re given the information, resources, and time to get the job done.
Overcoming micromanaging comes down to two things: Clarity and Trust.
The degree of clarity for any assignment needs to match the precision required. If there’s room for creativity and exploration let them know. If not, be very specific in the instructions. A lack of clarity is fertile ground for frustration.
The sign of clarity is mutually agreed expectations.
Trust is the belief that someone has both the competence and the character to do what they’ve agreed to. Building trust is a process made up of both successful task completion (competence) and interpersonal comfort (character). If either is lacking things may need to slow down and more frequent supervision needs to happen. And while some people find trust very difficult, there are as many failures from trusting too much as too little.
If micromanagement is frustrating people; whether supervisors, staff, or both; in your organization the fix is in developing clarity and trust.
Read more about Clarity and Trust in my book The REACTION Dashboard.