A strong and stable management team is the key to success in any corporation. However, sometimes managers become victims of a particular behaviour called micromanagement. The meaning is what it sounds like; someone monitoring the micro things of every move of the subordinates.
There are many reasons why managers use the Micromanagement technique. Some are due to psychological components. Others are reputation-based reasons. Whatever the reason, it only leads to a downfall performance among the subordinates.
Although total control over the subordinates only gives numerous unwanted outcomes, it can result well if used in the right circumstances. Managers can benefit the most out of it when working on a small scale.
However, managers always have the choice of changing the management technique. A substitution method of total control is the usage of the OKR. OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. It is a framework that helps organizations specify goals and then track the results. Employees can achieve high-level targets, and at the same time, they will not feel that the boss is not breathing down their necks.
What is Micromangement?
All managers want to perform the best as leaders. Although managers have a difficult task to maintain a well-reputed performance from his employees or subordinates, there should be a perfect balance in the overall management.
Some managers look into the minor details of the work of their subordinates. Micromanagement is a type of managing style where the manager keeps a close observation of all the activities of his employees. Moreover, he pushes for regular detailed feedback.
Why do Managers do Micromanagement?
There are many reasons why managers become tend to take total control of everything. The main reason for micromanagement is the feeling of fear. Some managers feel that it is necessary to show authority to maintain a high-grade standard.
Surprisingly, your job title may get bigger, but your personal control gets smaller. For example, when an individual programmer makes a mistake, it is easy for him to fix the error in a blink of an eye without anyone’s notice. While at the management position, when something goes wrong, the manager can not just sit on the computer to fix the problem himself. He will need assistance from other employees to solve a particular issue, which might affect his reputation. Sadly, this is one of the few setbacks when it comes to managing your team.
Others have a feeling of fear which comes from having a healthy ego. At one point in their career life, all managers have worked as individual contributors. Due to their excellent performance, they stood out from the rest. As a result, this promoted them to a supervisory level. Hence, as a boss, it becomes difficult to let a beginner take credit for the work when the boss could have done a better job himself.
Above all, the most prominent reason for managers to act bossy is the fact that they want to be experts. An online test titled “Are You Motivated By Power Or Achievement?” was conducted. More than 5,000 leaders took this test. Based on the result, about 41% of the leaders have a strong urge for power.
Positive use of Micromanagement
There is another way to look at micromanagement technique. This technique can work well if used in the right circumstances. Hence, it can give high rewarding results when managers use it on a small scale team.
When working with a few subordinates, tracking every move and asking rigorous feedbacks gives total control of all the activities. It lets the manager keep a check on all the activities and makes the employees push to achieve impressive outcomes.
It also comes handy when there is a specific custom order from a client, which needs a precise manner for completion. Micromanagement is the only way to carry this particular order.
In other words, as long as the team is small, and there is not too much information, it gives satisfying outcomes.
An alternative to Micromanagement
Objectives and Key Results is an excellent management technique which includes all the useful features, but there is no need for total control.
How Does it Work?
Managers and Employees all agree on various targets and objectives together. After agreeing to the targets, the managers can set a schedule to update the progress once or twice a week.
The targets and goals set are particularly well-though-out. These targets must be tough to reach yet achievable. In other words, the goals should be set high, but they will only be able to complete 75-80%. If the employees obtain the target 100%, then next time the set goals should be at another challenging level.
The idea behind these goals is to make the employees strive for excellent performances. The objective behind this strategy is to stretch the efforts to reach the challenging goals.
A content mother, a former student of Hisham Sarwar, and a professional SEO blogger on multiple niche giving services at Fiverr.
Tathir says
Very well written! Insightful, indeed.