Why do managers still micromanage?
Steve Mostyn
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Steve Mostyn
Associate Fellow Sa?d Business School, Honorary Professor Adam Smith Business School
This week on OELP I made the statement to the global cohort of participants ‘Don’t Micromanage!’
A rich discussion then emerged that included:
Micromanagement is killer because the followers will have no room to move or develop while the manager as a micromanager gets involved and squeezing themselves into every single issue’
So what does this community think of why managers micromanage?
VP - Branch Manager: Helping clients own their tomorrow
4 年I think a lot of it goes back to promoting people into leadership because they were a strong individual contributor. That is fine, as long as they have the capacity and willingness to learn how to lead, and to have the education, support and mentoring in place to help them develop. Otherwise, they will naturally revert to what made them successful previously, which was to do the work themselves or have the work done as if they were doing it. If that self-feedback loop develops for them, they will only continue to do it, reinforcing their "leadership" ability as they go. We need to stop #micromanagement early by preparing these people to lead, and making sure they have good examples to follow ourselves.
Global Executive & Leadership Development, Organizational Effectiveness, and Change Management Leader (Global MBA, SHRM-SCP, Prosci CCP, CCMP, CMgr, Emergenetics Advanced Associate, Brain-Based Coach)
4 年Managers tend to micromanage may be due to their structural preference, detail-orientation and way of demonstrating being focused and driving. I have spoken to leaders who may be "micromanaging" but they are not aware of it as they are just acting based on their preferences. So it is very important for them to be self-aware and being open for feedback to better manage the tendency to "micromanage."
Manager at L&T-Energy (On-Shore)
4 年Lack of trust on the team is one of the biggest reasons for Micromanagement
Changing Lives Through Learning with drive, passion and inspirational leadership.
4 年Lots of really interesting comments here. Many many years ago I was subjected to micromanagement - it really knocked my self confidence and made work pretty unpleasant. However from this experience I learnt early in my career that I would not micromanage due to the negative impact on individuals and teams.
Associate Fellow, Sa?d Business School, Oxford University, Programme Director, Tutor, Leadership Coach. Leadership Development/Reflective Practice/ Executive Education.
4 年Great question. perhaps to avoid the real work? - the comfort of being busy and feeling necessary; perhaps lack of belief in the efficacy and agency of the team, which only further compounds it; perhaps because they are wedded still to their technical expertise which is important to their identity; perhaps because of doubt in their own abilities in their new role...so many reasons!) Perhaps they do not even realise that this is what they are doing. What would be a good question to put to one's team to find out?