The Dread Micromanagement

By Lisa DeWaard, Ph.D.

Photo credit: Aristov_tmb via Shutterstock

Take a look at this photo for a moment. The scene is the Kronotsky Reserve in the Kamchatka region of Russia. The bear pictured is on the shore of the Kurile Lake and appears to be looking at the Ilyinsky Volcano. The photographer was able to capture this photo without alerting the bear to his presence and the result is a photograph of the exquisite natural beauty of this northern land. 

For me there is a metaphor here. As I was preparing to write about management styles, this photo came to mind. I, like many of my American counterparts, prefer working like this: on my own to contemplate my goal, free to pursue it in my own way, at liberty to be as creative as I want and try out new approaches to see if I can create a more efficient way to achieve my task. And as I reread my last sentence, I see my American cultural values peppered through it: “on my own/in my own way,” “free to pursue,” “at liberty,” “try out new approaches,” “a more efficient way.” If I may be so bold, I think this is how many of us raised in the United States like to work. We like the challenge of creating new methodologies, we want to be entrusted with the task yet free to do it our own way. When I talk to people in the US about management, the worst context they can envision is one in which they are micromanaged. So I have dubbed this The Dread Micromanagement. We feel suffocated if we are given too much structure. We feel our supervisor does not trust us if they check in on our progress too often. If we are told what to do, how to do it, and when to have it finished, we begin to complain. We don’t really want to be supervised. We want to have a clear, unobstructed view of the volcano. In fact, we believe so strongly in our approach that we are busy exporting it all over the world. Management by Objectives, anyone?

If you were raised in the US, you may be thinking, “Yes! If you hired me, it’s because I can do the job. Now get out of my way and let me do it.” If you were raised in a very hierarchical culture, you may be thinking, “What is the point of the supervisor, then? And what kind of a lazy supervisor fails to set the proper parameters and check in on the work of their subordinates?” 

If we consider the Hofstede 6D Model of National Culture, we see why these interpretations of the same style exist. Let’s review some fact points we set earlier in the series:

• Roughly 85% of the world’s population lives in hierarchical cultures (the Power Distance Index in our model) where inequalities in power are accepted (even deemed necessary). The small group of countries where egalitarianism is the norm are Anglo-Saxon countries like the US, Ireland, and Australia, the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, and Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and a few others. This means that Management by Objectives and other US-born management approaches are only a natural fit for around 15% of the world’s population.
• The US has low Uncertainty Avoidance. This means we like to experiment, try new approaches, see if we can come up with “a new way.” Our combination of low Power Distance, low Uncertainty Avoidance, and high Masculinity (achievement orientation) makes Management by Objectives a good fit. Cultures with high Uncertainty Avoidance hate surprises. Once a process is established and well known, deviating from it is seen as a waste of time. They stick with what works.

Let’s look at France versus the United States. We see that both countries are individualist (indeed, our Revolutionary Wars happened at around the same time and both were focused on freedom for the individual). France and the US follow different paths on all the dimensions, however, we are going to look specifically at the differences along Power Distance, how it interacts in this instance with Individualism, and Uncertainty Avoidance, as they relate to management.

When discussing French management, it is common to hear the following: “People only respect what you inspect.” What does this mean? France has a combination of high Power Distance and high Individualism, which bucks the primary trends of low Power Distance + high Individualism and high Power Distance + low Individualism. This, combined with a very high score on Uncertainty Avoidance, creates the following profile:

• Employees expect to be given assignments by their supervisors (the mandate), expect to be told how to do the assignment (=which process to follow) and expect their supervisor to check in on their progress (often the expectation is a daily check-in). This is the responsibility of a good boss. Anything less makes for a lazy or inept boss.
• HOWEVER, the high French value of individualism inspires a love-hate relationship with this system. French employees often want to do things their own way. French bosses know this, so they check in to make sure things are being done their way. It is necessary for employees to ask for validation of their ideas and approach before they can begin. 
• Neither the bosses nor the employees are likely to be comfortable with the unknown, so process will reign supreme.

If this seems a bit push-and-pull to US readers, that’s because it is. If you are a US expat manager heading to France, you will need to adapt to the French management style to be successful. Check in with your employees, build relationships, keep open dialogue. Expect them to come to you for validation of their ideas and work before they begin the work itself. Respect process.

Now let’s look at the United States and India. How do management styles differ across these two countries?

First of all, we see a reverse pattern on the first two dimensions. India is hierarchical and collectivist (=life is lived in groups in which responsibility for all is shared by all), while the US is the opposite. Some important implications for management:

• In collectivist cultures, such as India, relationship is key. To be a successful manager, you must spend time getting to know your employees. Speak to them, learn about their families, their pastimes, keep track of birthdays and celebrations. While in the US many like to keep their work life and personal life separate, they are not considered separate spheres in India. If you are not comfortable sharing details of your own life, that’s okay; but do note that whatever you are willing to share, even if it’s something as simple as a hobby, will go a long way in building relationships. Relationships build trust, which makes work more efficient and effective (and fun). Plus, you may discover friendships that last a lifetime and enrich your own life.
• In high Power Distance cultures, the definition of a good boss is one who sets the what, the how, and the by when, and then checks in daily to see how things are going. If we go back to the phrase “people only respect what you inspect,” we see that tasks that are checked in on daily to get the most effort and the best results. That’s because you’re showing which tasks are the priority by whether you check in on them. Checking in can be done virtually or in the office and can be done quickly. Send an IM, ask how they are, spend a few lines building relationship, then inquire about the project.

If you are an expat manager heading to the United States, know that we are the bear looking at the volcano. Involve us in the task by asking for our input on it (however strange or unimportant this may seem to you), give us flexibility in our approach, make us aware of deadlines, but let us go at the task with a lot of freedom. Don’t check in daily. Spread your check-ins out. While we consider work and private life separate, we do like to talk about sports (we are especially passionate about our university sports, says this Alabama grad), hobbies, the weather, and the weekend. Avoid talk of politics and personal issues such as health and family until you get to know your employees better and have a sense of what they are willing to share. There is a long list of unacceptable/off-limits topics in the US that you can be fired for, so check in with your HR contact if you have any questions. An ounce of prevention is worth continued employment in this case.

What does this have to do with mergers and acquisitions? Quite often, as companies grow and expand into other cultures, there is a great reliance on expat managers to recreate the home office in the new country. And expats are often sent abroad with only a superficial notion of the cross-cultural differences they will encounter at work. So naturally they tend to rely on the management style they used in their home office, unaware that these kinds of differences exist and how difficult they can make things. In next week’s article, we will look at the benefits and drawbacks of using expats during and post-integration.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions about management in a particular culture. While I may not have the answer myself, one of my 130 colleagues across 61 cultures will. Culture is what we do and we have data and analytics to make it tangible and manageable. Email us at [email protected] to schedule a complimentary needs analysis call.