Do you get deeply involved in the work of your subordinates, frustrated by their lack of perfection and attention to detail? Are you constantly seeking reassurance, breathing down their necks? Does their performance rarely meet your standards? Do you find them morose, pessimistic and lacking in creativity?
If you answer ‘yes’ to any one of these questions, beware – you may just be a micromanager!
Successful business management is among the most complex tasks on earth. No individual has the ability to be the perfect manager. It needs a team with diverse skills and perspectives. That’s why the most critical task of any manager is selecting and building a team of competent subordinates.
Identifying individuals who complement you and your team members’ skills; building a cohesive unit; taking account of the job at hand and matching each person’s strengths and weaknesses to it; and aligning everyone toward the organisation’s goals is no easy task.
Building a great team is a job that’s never complete. Circumstances change, people change and relationships evolve, demanding constant vigilance and adjustment. Conversely, to destroy team spirit, to hinder the growth and capacity of team members, and to create a constant turnover of managers is quite easy. Just become a micromanager!
John Maxwell, author and leadership expert, aptly describes micromanagement as “a cancer that slowly eats away at an organisation’s morale, creativity and productivity”.
Michael Hyatt, a leadership, productivity and goal setting author, puts it more bluntly: “Micromanagement is the most toxic leadership style. It kills morale, crushes creativity, and extinguishes innovation. It’s a recipe for failure, disguised as control.”
I once had a taste of it. I thought I had landed the dream job. The newly appointed MD, let’s call him Paul, was a charming man. I took to him immediately at the job interview and was thrilled to be appointed. However, my euphoria was short-lived. Paul never gave me a moment of peace, constantly knocking on my door or calling me on the radio.
He emailed and texted with suggestions and asking for feedback. He insisted I copy all my emails to him, even reviewed them for spelling and language errors, a habit he imposed on all subordinate managers. Despite my requests for him to back off and let me do my job, he simply couldn’t help himself. The next day he’d be back nit-picking, nagging, and driving me to distraction.
He trusted no one
The last straw was his request of daily reports from the vehicle tracking company on the location of managers’ vehicles, subsequently questioning the purpose of some of the trips undertaken.
I was one of the first to leave, but was followed soon after by many others. It didn’t take the owners, a well-known and successful overseas-based family, to realise that something was amiss, and Paul was shown the door. I felt sorry for him. He was intelligent, courteous and ambitious, but his downfall as a manager was his overzealous sense of perfection, his deep fear of failure and his inability to trust anyone.
The impact of a micromanager
Micromanagement has detrimental effects on both employee and the manager concerned.
On the employee:
- It causes frustration and low morale.
- Results in a lack of commitment.
- Damages employees’ confidence in their own abilities.
- Stifles fresh perspective, innovation and creativity.
- Limits personal growth.
On the manager:
- It restricts exposure to different viewpoints and new ideas.
- Limits their personal development.
- Strains relationships with employees, causing stress for both parties.
- Distracts attention from key business priorities.
- Demands significant time spent on recruitment, selection and inductions of new employees due to high staff turnover.
- Negatively impacts company performance, tarnishing the manager’s reputation.
Micromanagement is bad for managers, employees and the company. If you have a tendency to be a micromanager, there are ways and means of curbing this tendency. More of how to go about shedding yourself of this career-damaging habit next time.
Peter Hughes is a business and management consultant.
