All of us at some time or the other have micromanaged or been micromanaged.
Infact according to Dr. Robert Trestman, vice chair for clinical affairs at the University of Connecticut Health Center, micromanaging is so widespread that 79 percent of us say we have been micromanaged, reports Harry Chambers, author of My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide.
There are three main causes or characteristics of a micromanager:
The first is an extreme detail orientation (also known as perfectionism). “This kind of manager will always need to stick in refinements.”
Second: “Some managers really just love to micromanage; that is, he or she believes he is the center of the universe.” This persona is also known as the Diva.
And third: “When the manager is nervous about results, it can trigger micromanagement.” (Judith E. Glaser, author of The DNA of Leadership)
But this hyper actitivity results in severe loss of morale and creates resentment among your staff.
They come to work and work only for their salary. They do what you ask them to do, nothing more nothing less.
Sometimes you can almost sense their resentment. There is no sense of belonging to the organisation or even to lesser extant to their work.
You can find that there is no interaction or any new ideas coming from your staff.
Because when you micromanage, you are actually not letting the staff do their work.
Each may have a way of doing things, arriving at solution or in taking a decision.
When you in good faith micromanage their work, you are subjugating their personality,killing their innovativeness and denying them the satisfaction of arriving at a solution by themselves.
You are truly bossing over them.
It would be easier for you to stop micromanaging your staff if you realize that all work in your organisation is accomplished by team work.
Learn to let go. You cannot do everything or even if you tried you will only end a nervous wreck.
Don’t be process driven or feel that your way of doing things is the only way. And to use a cliché don’t make a mountain out of mole hill.
Don’t react as if the heavens have fallen. Learn to accept that when you delegate others may make a mistake or worse even fail.
It would be in the interest of your organisation, if you would as a manager stop being a doer and become a coach or mentor to your staff.
That way you can ensure that the work gets done, your staffs have a sense of belonging and your organisation as such grows.
