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Micromanaging – A Miraculous De-motivator!

By Jody Urquhart

The First Cut is the Deepest

Breathing down people’s throats will yield cynicism and chaos. Imagine this, a manager aggressively courts an employee to take on a project. The ambitious employee takes it on only to have their manager peeking over their shoulder and meddling with details. It only has to happen once and the employee learns it’s exhausting to take on new projects. They will be reticent to take initiative in the future, because the first cut is the deepest.

Some managers make the mistake of micromanaging their employees’ work. They regularly step in and try to control the process or the outcome, doing more harm than good.

Pitfalls to micromanaging:

It creates extra work. Beware, you may find yourself futzing around for weeks only to redo work that has already been done. If you are going to step in on someone’s territory you need to research what has taken place so far. Who is taking care of what? Where is the information? What agreements (verbal and non verbal) have been made? This could be a considerable learning curve. If you don’t do this you may end up frustrating many people and creating a lot of work.

It confuses people. When a manager steps in and takes charge it makes the baffled employee wonder, “is this still my role, what am I responsible for now?” Other co- workers will also wonder who to direct inquiries, information, and customers to.

It shows lack of trust. People will be less likely to take risks, will doubt themselves and proceed more cautiously before taking initiative.

Different Faces- Different Places

To effectively delegate, you have to learn to manage the different styles in your workforce. Someone’s approach may fly in the face of the thoughts and processes you rely on, but that doesn’t make them wrong. Don’t rake people over the coals because they aren’t like you. Instead work with the resources you have.

Before delegating a project you need to know two things:

1) what kind of person you want to work on that project

2) What unique style each of your staff members bring to the table

Things to consider before delegating:

Time Management. Most people manage time differently. Some are propelled to do things right away or it won’t get done. They require a single -minded focus, if you ask them to do something, they need to get started right away. If you are working on a short- term project that needs to be completed very quickly, this is your man (or woman). Others manage a project towards longer deadlines more efficiently and still others meander around details for months and race to complete the project before the deadline is up. What kind of time management does your project require?

How big is their picture? Some folks are great at managing details, but when it comes to the big picture they shrivel. Others will suffocate in too much detail but are great at overseeing ideas. If you chose someone who is detail oriented remember you will have to fill in the big picture for them. If you chose someone who is a big picture thinker they may need support in managing the details.

Direction and support. Some employees will plow through a project with very little guidance from you. Others will continually barrage you with questions in search of guidance and recognition. Decide how much guidance you are willing or able to give on this project and how much you need to control the outcome. Some projects you can just “ hand over” to others and let them take control while others you can’t.

Delegate Gradually. Start with smaller tasks, ask the employee if they feel comfortable completing it and how you can support them.

Clearly Define Outcomes:

Make sure when you delegate to someone else they know this is now their job and what specific outcomes are expected. Never leave it up to their interpretation. This also sets standards that are easier to judge and avoids judging the outcome by what you expect you would do. Instead you judge others’ work by specific outcomes set out in the beginning of the project.

To enable someone else to do the job for you, you must ensure that:

They know what you want.

They know how to do it.

They have the authority to achieve it.

By giving others authority, a manager does not lose control, he or she gains it. Empowering people makes the organization and a manager stronger. Leaders cannot be in two places at once and the more authority others have the more able they are to respond to situations and events.

Tips for Delegating

1) Be clear on what needs to be accomplished, what skills are needed and who is the best person for the job.

2) Have set outcomes and objectives

3) Make it clear to employees that their customers are their customers.

4) Don’t step in and “take over” unless you have to.

5) Have clear deadlines and regular updates that ensure things are being completed.

6) Manage the bigger picture. Take a step back and make things happen through others.

Let clients know that your employees will take care of them. If a client complains about an employee the temptation for a manager is to step in and fix it. Avoid doing this at all costs. Always direct the client back to the employee they are working with. Next discuss with the employee the concern and find out how they can better manage the situation. You may need to arrange a three way meeting with the employee, the client and manager.

Stepping on toes

Sometimes you have no choice but to step in. Someone may be incompetent, slacking off, or just unable to manage the workload and you don’t want business or customers to suffer. When work needs to get done, this is priority. Be careful not to deal a body blow to the already weakened staff member. To make the process smoother:

Talk with the employee and explain you are going to step in and help out and why. Work to gain their acceptance so they will be helpful in the transition. Get as much information as possible about what has been done so far, what commitments were made to who, etc.

Re- delegate or do it yourself. Many mangers just take over and do it themselves. That’s ok, but what about the next crisis? First ask, can I delegate this? Or you may be swimming in a cesspool of work. Communicate to all key players, customers and co-workers the change (ie- now you will be talking to Charles about the Brampton project)

You light the flame and I’ll Carry the Torch

When a manager delegates a project make sure employees get full credit for their contribuion. Managers should never stomp in and take credit for others work. Employees deserve full credit. People don't want to work hard just to enrich the bosses image.

Dealing with Error or Mistakes Without Killing Someone’s Confidence

Part of delegating is people will make mistakes when wading in new and unfamiliar territory. Errors and mistakes are inevitable and should be treated as opportunities to learn and grow. There are many reasons mistakes occur and often it is because of unclear instruction, not enough feedback or not enough authority to get the job done. Many of these things aren’t the fault of the employee doing the job but managers not being prepared to delegate in the first place. If employees are afraid to come forward with mistakes, what do they do instead? Cover it up. Pretend it didn’t happen, and the mistake then grows and worsens the damage.

When giving feedback on inadequate performance your goal should be:

To help the stymied staffer understand the problem

Give them the confidence to do it better next time

Make sure it doesn’t happen again

And remember never reprimand others for things out of their control.

Solutions Oriented Not Problem Focused

Behavior that gets recognized gets repeated, good or bad. Often managers spend most of their time focusing on the problem, sometimes at the expense of the solution. Being solutions oriented means recognizing the problem and why it occurred and immediately shifting gears to the solution. What will we do differently in the future? This should be foremost in this discussion. To give employees the confidence to do something better the next time you need to believe more in them than they can believe in themselves. Employees who just made a mistake may feel embarrassed and lack confidence in their own abilities and this can have a downward spiraling affect on performance. If managers could temporarily boost others esteem by believing more in them than they can believe in themselves this restores confidence and builds a stronger relationship and commitment to the job.

How to Deal with Employees Catching Colleagues Making Mistakes

Mistakes should be reported and dealt with. Often those at the front lines noticing errors are other employees. Many organizations use peer reporting to chastise fellow employees and this can cause a climate of blame. Employees are actually out to catch their coworkers making mistakes. It makes sense to have employees report mistakes in performance but you need to establish some ground rules.

Firstly, errors should be noted specifically and not just general interpretations of what someone interprets as right or wrong. Colleagues should only report on errors in the tangible aspects of others’ work. Don’t accept or solicit generalities like “Mike just isn’t a team player”.

When possible, encourage employees to go directly to the person making the mistake and explain the way it should be done. Some training on advancing errors to others may be in order. Make sure employees know blame is not the game and the goal is to help be aware of where they are making mistakes so they can fix them.

When a mistake is reported don’t treat it like a bad thing

Allow employees to learn from each others’ mistakes. Remember if mistakes are treated as opportunities to learn and grow, people shouldn’t be afraid to come forward when they make them. When mistakes are openly communicated, others learn from them and avoid making the same mistake. This also creates a climate that encourages others to come forward with questions to avoid errors happening in the future.

If you are an avid micromanager, the path to reduced stress, improved communications and better delegation is to put more trust in your staff.

Comments to: ido@idoinspire.com

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About the author:

Jody Urquhart, a popular speaker and writer, is recognized in Canada, the United States and Europe, She has presented her signature topic, Joy of Work, to 65 organizations last year alone. Her monthly column on the same subject appears in over fifty trade journals. Jody is also an associate speaker for the Individual Development Organization in Vancouver where she works with Bill Clennan, the Dean of Canadian Speakers.

Jody holds diplomas in Professional Speaking and Writing from Mount Royal College and in Management and Marketing from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. She studied Management for three years at the University of Calgary. Her business experience includes management positions in both the banking and retail industries. Jody is a proud member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and holds the distinction of being one of its founding board members. Jody is the author of the book “ALL WORK & NO SAY TAKES THE PASSION AWAY”. To order your copy, or to discuss having Jody speak at your next meeting, feel free to email her at ido@idoinspire.com