Is micromanaging something needed from time to time? Or should it be avoided at all costs? Today’s contributed post explores 5 situations when micromanaging is important. We’d love to know if you agree.
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We all know that no one likes to be micromanaged. The Journal of Experiential Psychology even published a study which showed that people whose employers watch them tend to perform very poorly, as opposed to employees that are given more autonomy.
This could be due to the fact that being watched while working makes most people feel incompetent or mistrusted, which obviously leads to feelings of resentment.
So why is micromanaging still a thing for modern-day employers?
Simply because it does provide some value to the company in certain situations and we’ll be sharing just what those situations might be in the sections below.
When a Company is in a Crisis
When a company is going through some form of restructuring or major transformation it only makes sense to have all hands on deck. As a result, some employees might have to perform double-duty, which is why managers need to keep a close eye on everyone to make sure that everything goes smoothly.
Micromanaging, therefore, becomes a short-term solution that will need to be phased out once the company has been turned around.
During this stage, all employees will be required to provide daily status reports in order to give an indication of how far or close the company is to reaching its goals. Maintaining this ongoing communication between managers and employees will make it easier for the former to determine the latter’s needs, while ensuring that all actions taken are for the good of the company, no matter how trivial.
It will also enable managers to take care of employee’s needs so that they can perform their work without any issues. At the end of the day, the manager’s job in this situation is to ensure that employees are always acting based on the company’s best interests.
With all that said, the need to employ micromanaging tactics could also be a sign that the manager hasn’t been able to adequately develop the employee’s ability so that they can perform tasks without supervision.
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When an Employee is New to a Task
It also makes sense to micromanage an employee who’s new to the job because even though they’re qualified to do the work, they may not be acquainted with the company culture and the unique skills required to perform well in this new environment.
As soon as the employee has developed the skill set needed to perform the tasks to a satisfactory level on their own, the manager should cease micromanaging them.
Not only does providing guidance to employees at the beginning of a task help them develop their skills faster but they also appreciate a manager who knows when it’s time to let go.
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When a Company Wants to Create a Culture of Collaboration
Sometimes micromanaging can be an important part of collaboration in a company. For example, a lot of tech companies encourage collaboration between senior and junior coders, as that enables the latter to learn from the former and vice versa.
Not only do both coders work on the same computer but the senior coders tend to be the ones giving the most instruction to facilitate faster learning. This obviously works really well to foster collaboration moving forward, and helps to integrate junior coders into the company much faster.
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When an Employee Asks a Lot of Questions
Employees that are constantly asking questions and whose work is always accompanied by detailed emails are usually doing so because they need help with their tasks.
Managers should see this as a clue that this particular employee needs more support in the form of micromanaging.
For cases like this, micromanaging the employee for one month is usually enough to build their sense of self-reliance. On the other hand, if the employee in question is someone that holds a senior position within the company, then it might be a good idea to reconsider their placement because they may be in way over their head.
Whatever you do, don’t fire them right off the bat as they might end up looking for loan matching centers like WhoNeeds500 to keep things afloat due to being out of work. Rather focus on developing their skills to bring the best out of them as an investment in your company.
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When a Company is Venturing Into a New Market
It might also be a good idea to micromanage your team when your company is penetrating a new market. This is especially important if most of your team doesn’t have experience in this new market and your managers are only partially experienced.
The process will involve a lot of back-and-forth communication on a daily basis until the whole team is able to manage on its own without any supervision.
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Conclusion
While micromanaging an employee might be a good idea and even unavoidable in some situations, it can become an obstruction to the employee’s growth when it’s done perpetually. If the person you’ve hired needs constant supervision then it might be a sign that they’re in the wrong position or have an excessive workload.
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