The Tribune

THERE is nothing quite like being qualified and experienced in one’s field of work and somehow ending up under the management of a person who is not trained or even minded for the role.

Many managers get promotions after being on the job for a certain period of time and, perhaps, gaining the trust of the people who managed them. Doing well at a job, however, does not qualify a person to manage other people doing that job. When people become managers in this way, and without any training to prepare them for it, they can have difficulty moving from one role to the next.

They are often afraid of the management position and want to continue working at the previous level, and this leads them to meddling instead of managing. They do not know how to increase the chances of their team’s success, so they try to involve themselves in all of their work, becoming a surveillance system of sorts. They become micromanagers.

Micromanagement is ineffective for organizations, exhausting for all parties, and particularly frustrating to staff. Managers do not typically go in with a plan to micromanage staff, but it often happens as a result of the managers’ lack of management skills and training and inability to monitor and measure outcomes and performance so they, instead, obsess over the day-to-day work of staff.

These bad managers look over staff members’ shoulders and often have unnecessary criticism, spending more time insisting on different processes than they do on their specific responsibilities. People do not tend to think they are micromanagers, so it is important to assess performance and ensure that performance reviews are not unidirectional so staff can give managers feedback.

Are there micromanagers on your management team? Are you a micromanager? Here are eight common practices of a micromanager.

1 They want to approve everything. This manager  demonstrates a lack of trust in and respect for staff. They do not think people are able to consider the deliverable and the due date, then develop and follow a process to complete and deliver it. Even if a plan is provided, this manager wants to be consulted every step of the way. They want to give input on each of the resources being drawn upon, attend all of the meetings meant for staff to brainstorm, and see the draft of the draft. Nothing can happen without their oversight. They are the number one reason that milestones are not met on time. They are the bottleneck.

2 They are laser-focused on details. This manager is so anxious about results that they spend more time arguing over the details of the assignment and the way it is being done that they sabotage the results anyway.

3 They redo people’s work. This manager does not think anything is good enough until they have left their mark on it. There may be nothing to correct, but they will always find something to add, delete, rephrase, or call into question.

4 They incessantly request updates. The milestones and delivery dates are not enough for this manager. They “check in” far too often.

5 They call too many meetings. They hold regular staff meetings, and may even have one-on-one meetings with staff. They also call meetings to give information that could have been shared in an email, and they seem to like to hear themselves talk. They always want to know what everyone is else is doing in significant detail although they are aware of each person’s projects and the instructions they have laid out for all of them. There are meetings to talk about the meetings. There are meetings for them to rant about one issue that was already resolved, except for in their own minds.

6 They are afraid of failure.For this manager, there is nothing worse than trying something that does not work. They are not particularly interested in learning, especially if it happens in group or within the view of others. They would much rather go with the “tried and true” methods.

7 They are unable to delegate. No matter how busy their schedule is, this manager does not see anyone as competent enough to take on anything they deem to be within their portfolio.

8 They are not accountable. Even with all of their “oversight” (better known as interference), this manager cannot see how anything is their fault. No failure, no missed deadline, no miscommunication, and no drop in team morale is a result of their actions. Someone else is always blamed.

People do not want their competence to be questioned. Micromanagement suggests to the staff that they are not doing their jobs well, that the manager does not trust them, and that there is no room for them grow.

Micromanagement is a complete waste of time, energy, and talent. Micromanagers are focused on hovering over staff while staff are in a higher-stress environment, trying to do their jobs in ways that please the manager and, hopefully, will get them to back off. The incompetence of the micromanager eventually becomes clear, if only to their staff. Other managers may be privy to the poor management style, but reluctant to address it when they are in other departments and have their own goals to accomplish. Executives rarely pay enough attention to management teams to notice when managers are not equipped for the job. They usually start to see that there is a management failure when it is too late—talented staff, whether one-by-one in droves, resign or, in the best case scenarios, request transfers.

Executives and human resources department need to be attention to managers and their practices. They should not only read the reports of managers, but look at the performance of the stuff which is, in most cases, heavily impacted by management and management styles. By doing this, executives and human resources departments can prevent the loss of talent. Here are five effects of micromanagement that are always warning signs that talent will be lost.

1 Low job satisfaction. People come to work to be robots. They barely feel like they are using their brains because everything is prescribed. They are not excited about anything at work and have relegated themselves to simply following instructions.

2 High turnover. People working with micromanagers may not stay for very long. Either they quit because they are dissatisfied or they are fired because micromanagers cannot handle the challenge of staff who refuse to fall in line with their limited programs.

3 Less expression of opinions. People do not want to waste their energy sharing perspectives that they know will be brushed aside. They take the path of least resistance, following the lead of the manager. They do not take initiative on much, if anything.

4 Creativity is stifled. People do not share ideas. They may wish to, but they are tired of being embarrassed or ignored by the micromanager. They may be certain that their ideas would work brilliantly, but the smallest risk of failure means the micromanager will go in the opposite direction.

5 Approval becomes the goal. People work toward the approval of the manager rather than completion of the project in the most outstanding way possible. Both cannot be achieved since only the micromanager’s way will ever be approved, and that way is usually safe and, by extension, uninspired.

Micromanagement is not productive. It is not effective in getting the job done. Instead, it blocks progress. Projects move much slower when one person needs to see everything, approve everything, “correct” everything, and strip everything of elements that could cause anything other than the exact effect the micromanager has envisioned.

Micromanagers are not ready for management. They, at the very least, need training. They need to understand how teams work and, importantly, how people work. They need to know how to motivate people, and how to encourage them to think outside of the box, test ideas, courses correct as needed, and take accountability for the outcomes of their work. Managers need to know when it is the right time to offer help, and that they first need to understand what the team is doing, how, and why before they can offer valuable input. People at work are not children, and managers are not parents. The dynamic needs to be one of collaboration and support. The elements of micromanagement do not belong in the workplace, at least as long as there are still people in the workplace, doing the work.

Recommendations

1 No Escape. Secrets abound in this seven-episode series focused on Lana and Kitty—two young women who are running away and have definitely done something criminal—as they join the crew on board The Blue, all seeking refuge for different reasons. It has been compared to The White Lotus and Pokerface, both for its characters full of secrets that are revealed as their backstories start to become clearer and the switching between two timelines to build tension by giving just enough information while leaving unanswered questions.

2 Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi. Bitter is a teen attending an exclusive school for young people like her to cultivate their artistic talents. The school is like a refuge from the outside world where there is great injustice. Bitter struggles when her friends went to step outside of the safety of their school and home to be a part of the revolution. Where is her place in all of this? Join Feminist Book Club, organised by Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press, in reading and discussing this book. The meeting is hybrid, so you can attend in person Thursday, September 21 at Poinciana Paper Press, 12 Parkgate Road, or you can join virtually. Register at tiny.cc/fbc2023 to get more information.