Still Micromanaging your team? Surely up for a disaster!

"Call log is filled up with more calls from bosses than wife"

"My boss misses me even during his vacations and ends up doing video calls (which are actually to check, if I am in the office"

We have heard so many of such tongue- in- cheek response, when people are asked about how bosses "manage" them. Bosses who are always trying to control everything at work...like every single detail of it as to how the set goal is achieved by the employees. My way or highway, impatient, giving unrealistic deadlines. Well, if you check all these boxes, you are a micromanager and what you’re doing is micromanagement. The words carry with themselves a negative connotation and micromanaging is known to kill productivity.

Guiding at every step of the way and hovering at every step of the way, these two things have a very thin line between them and this is also what distinguishes you from being a manager and a micromanager. A micromanager is known to be a control freak and is definitely feared or even hated by his employees. Now, this can be looked at in two ways. One could be that the employees become more productive out of fear of being called out time and again; another could be that they end up being even less productive because of the constant nagging by their manager. It is the latter case more times than not. So, it is pretty much established until now that micromanaging is not helpful, neither to the manager himself nor to the ones he’s managing.

The ways in which micromanaging could be killing productivity can be-

• The manager himself fails to pay attention to the things that need the most attention and is only consumed by the minutiae.
• The employees who are being micromanaged become victims of burnout, are anxious at all times, and may even end up leaving the organization.
• A micromanager by his behaviour is basically telling his employees that he does not trust them with the way they perform which is definitely not good for their productivity.
• Reviewing an employee’s work time and again basically means you do not value their time, and you doubt their ability and negative and/or constant feedback diminishes productivity.

If you’re a manager your employees need not walk on eggshells around you. If they do, you’re doing something wrong. You need to work on being less hostile, more approachable, be your employees’ go-to person. You need to sit back and relax a bit, have faith in the ones working under you.

Now that why you should not be a micromanager is clear, here are some tips as to how you can stop being one-

• Delegate work, try assigning work perfectly instead of keeping an eye on how perfectly the work will be done.
• Set clear expectations in front of your employees, micromanaging is also an outcome of fear and it happens because you fear your vision is not clear to your employees.
• Stop aiming for perfection; this only irks you throughout the process. At times, letting go of control and leaving things in the hands of your employees’ results in amazing outcomes.
• Hire the right people for your work, this will not leave any room for doubt as to whether your hired person will be able to do the work or not.
• Take into consideration how your employees want to be managed rather than how you want to manage them. Try being a teacher to them but only when needed.

As a manager, you have bigger responsibilities; you have people working under you to take care of the tiny little things. Just keep your focus on the bigger picture at all times, how it is reached does not need your constant attention. End of the day, try and see them as people who are trying to do their best and would fail at some point of time. A lot more faith and nudge when required, will go a long way in bringing the mutual respect and ownership at work, getting you the results better than you expected.

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