By Leah Fennema Hall
Lux Consulting, Ltd.
Have you ever accused someone of micromanaging? Or been accused yourself? Micromanaging is a dirty word in business, for good reason, and it comes in many forms. You may be micromanaging if you provide help where it isn’t needed or wanted, or if you often find deliverables to be substandard. You may give tasks to others, just to take them back so you can complete the task the way you would do it. Most micromanagers fail to delegate because they fear what may happen when decisions are made without them and, consequently, end up spending most of their time overseeing others, focusing on minutia, and generally checking-in way too often. Subordinates may feel that micromanagers ignore their opinions and experience and provide far too much negative or off-the-mark feedback. Moreover, micromanagers try to do when they should manage; they provide far more cues than are necessary to encourage performance and independence on the part of their subordinates.
So, what happens when we micromanage? We know from science that when the same level of help or prompting is given for an extended period of time without diminishing and allowing for autonomy, people will quickly become dependent on cues from management to know when and how to act, even if they know exactly how to perform their job duties to standard. This means that micromanaging is a great way to build an army of people who never act unless and until instructed. While this may sound appealing to the power hungry among us, it goes without saying that strong teams are not built with weak individuals who cease to think and perform in the absence of leadership.
In addition to being perceived as just plain annoying by their subordinates, micromanagers are still human, and therefore, prone to errors themselves, especially as they are likely to burn out quickly as they attempt to do their job as well as everyone else’s. This method of management isn’t scalable, damages trust in teams, and ensures that subordinates will stop thinking for themselves and forget why they do what they do – just before they become completely demoralized and quit. In short, people will never perform independently to the best of their abilities as long as someone is hovering over their shoulders.
But wait! Don’t get caught up on what micromanaging looks like and assume that every time your manager reminds you of your responsibilities or corrects your work that they are guilty of micromanaging. In fact, reminders and other varieties of feedback are certainly within the bailiwick of those in management positions. As a subordinate, first take a hard look at your own work and make sure it is aligned with performance expectations; if you are unsure about expectations, get some clarity. As a manager, ask yourself, “in the past, has this person ever been known to complete this task correctly?” If they have, give them some space; your feedback should come after they complete the task, not before or during completion.
The time for lots of prompts is when people don’t yet know how to execute tasks associated with their responsibilities. After employees have proven to be competent, you must allow them to perform before providing help. Yes, this means they may fail from time to time, and that is completely fine. To all those prone to micromanaging: just remember, the test of a good manager is what their people can do without them.
Leah Fennema Hall, MS, BCBA
Director, Lux Consulting, Ltd.
Leah is a Board Certified Analyst (BCBA) with 10 years’ experience of motivating people to engage in behaviors needed to meet their personal goals as well as those of their organization. She has practiced applied behavior analysis (ABA) in multiple capacities including: 1:1 coaching, training, mentoring, and organizational behavior management consulting. Leah has a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavior Analysis, and a Master of Science degree in Psychology with a focus on Behavior Analysis. Leah began her work providing assessment, therapy and consultative services to individuals in home, community and school
settings. More recently, she has practiced organizational behavior management consulting, a subfield of ABA. Organizational behavior management helps individuals find solutions to frustrating workplace issues, builds a foundation of positive reinforcement within the workplace, and improves critical business results. Areas of application include systems analysis, management consulting to support individual and organizational outcomes, training and performance improvement.