Micro-managing or Micro-managed?

Micro-managing or Micro-managed?
By Bob Moore, CMC, MCC, The Effectiveness Coach®

Word Count: 375 Words
Reading Time: less than 3 minutes

Unless you’re just entering the workforce, sometime along your career path you have probably been micro-managed. What exactly is that like? Many talented people tell me they work for a boss who checks up on them frequently—even for simple tasks. Let’s explore some of the reasons and what you can do about it.

The causes and the solutions are really very simple. In a word, it is FEAR. These fears usually fit into one of the following four possibilities:

1. Loss of control. Translated into behavior means, unless you stay on top of what is going on, the results will be less than you want. Often this is a quantitative issue with the belief that micro-managing gets more results. Fact is, the opposite—fewer results, are generally the case.

2. Loss of Approval. This fear is generally caused by attempting to please everybody—a mission impossible expectation. ,Those with this fear think by micro-managing they are actually helping others to look good; aka: I have a high need to look good and I don’t want you to mess up.

3. Loss of Security. Unless managers with this fear are “hovering,” often in low-key, subtle ways, they believe something will get rearranged or changed that will cause them irreversible harm or put them in danger (maybe losing their job or a pay raise).

4. Loss of Accuracy: This is often the most difficult to deal with because managers with this fear have difficulty delegating at all and are prone to procrastination. It is very easy to get caught in the cross-fire of frustration from their manager when projects or tasks miss deadlines. Who can argue with the belief anything worth doing is worth doing well? Many talented workers report frustration from redoing work and making endless revisions in search of perfection.

These four fears are associated with one or more of the four dimensions of behavior style. I recommend beginning by increasing awareness of each other’s style. Then, develop the skills to adapt your behavior to be more effective with more people in more situations more of the time. This approach will not only enhance everyone’s effectiveness but personal fulfillment too.

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to discover how to increase the effectiveness of your team through behavioral awareness.

Enthusiastically,

Bob

Bob Moore, CMC®, President
Effectiveness, Inc/The Effectiveness Coach®
Aligning Human Capital with Strategic Objectives
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