Micromanagement is the worst thing that managers can do to their employees in the workplace. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, it defines micromanagement as a form of management with excessive control.
Any manager who desires to see the growth of the business or organization, should never try to micromanage his or her team members, because it has a lot of devastating consequences on the employees, such as; low productivity, lack of creativity, heightened stress, etc. Micromanagement reduces the freedom of employees which also destroys the team culture.
Managers who are fond of micromanaging their team members are usually looked upon as a villain, which can unfortunately cause them to be rebellious. When managers feel as if they have total control over their team members, they often micromanage them.
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This often happens when a manager is a perfectionist and likes things being done in a certain way. They just can’t help but take control over every little thing that the team member does. Some common traits of managers who micromanage are;
- Taking away responsibilities of some team members without justification
- Always a strong critic of team members’ approaches towards a project, even if the outcome was a success.
- Frequently moving around the office in search of what to complain about.
- Take a controlling approach when completing tasks or projects.
Managers must understand that regardless of how intelligent they are, rather than criticize team members when they make mistakes, they should form the habit of always putting them through in a subtle manner. They must understand that no one is perfect, so they should be willing to overlook certain mistakes committed by the team members. Perfectionism is only a mirage, it is in human nature to err.
Let’s buttress some common signs of micromanagers;
They Have Difficulty In Delegating Tasks: These managers are not so comfortable with delegating tasks among team members. They always have the mindset that no one will be able to do it right, if not for them. Per adventure they decide to delegate tasks among team members, they won’t give them the freedom to properly execute them because they will always interfere in their work to change certain things.
They Keep Knowledge To Themselves: One common trait that is synonymous with micromanagers is that they have the habit of always keeping knowledge to themselves, I.e they do not love to share what they know that will benefit and improve the team members. They always want to be seen as a know-it-all, because it swells their ego. They feel that divulging such knowledge to their team members will someday undermine their position. Whatever knowledge they stumble upon, rather than share, they withhold to themselves in order to be seen as superior to others.
They Don’t Take Feedback: Proper feedback entails a breakdown of the opinion of the team members and possible suggestions for certain issues. With Micromanagers, they see feedback sessions as a room to tell the team members what to do, instead of hearing their opinion and what they think about a situation at hand. It is more about them and what they have to say, than the opinion of the team members.
Final Thoughts
Managers who micromanage team members must understand that doing so makes life unbearable for them in the workplace. It often leads to low productivity and an apathetic nature towards work. Managers must come down from their high horse and understand that no one knows it all, even them as the manager. Constantly micromanaging the team members without allowing them to implement their talents and intelligence undermines their ability. In order to have a thriving workplace, team members must also be allowed to proffer certain solutions to problems in the workplace.
