Micromanagement - what drives it and how to resist it

It's important first to make a distinction between micromanaging and being a meticulous boss. The latter are on top of everything and always aware of precisely what people are working on and why. However strict, they may work people hard, but can also be highly effective. Micromanagers, on the other hand, actually reduce effectiveness by undue or inappropriate interference and getting in the way of people doing a good job. This in turn creates resentment, alienates ownership, damages trust and leads to employees feeling frustrated and often actually leaving.

Curiously, many people recognise the experience of being micromanaged, but only a rare few own up to being a micromanager themselves!

Defining traits

In his book My Way or the Highway, Harry Chambers shows that micromanagement can be objectively identified and successfully resisted, both by those who (often unknowingly) inflict it and by those who are on the receiving end. He identifies several key characteristics of those who are guilty of micromanagement.

• placing their own self interest above everything else
• controlling and manipulating time
• attempting to determine exactly how everything must be done
• requiring elaborate approval processes
• establishing dysfunctional monitoring and reporting requirements

Dealing with micromanagers

Chambers identifies what he calls 'the four realities' for dealing with this situation:

1. You do not have to be a victim of micromanagement
2. It's not about 'fixing' the manager
3. Focus on what the situation is, not what it 'should' be
4. Take steps to influence what you have control over through preemptive anticipation

Resisting micromanagement by preemptive anticipation

By this, Chambers means finding out what information micromanagers want and providing it in advance - before it's required. Doing this requires an understanding of what is driving the manager and anticipating what they need. For example, he suggests writing a Monday morning update for your manager, summarising your awareness of key issues, reassuring them of your commitment to those issues and your commitment to deadlines.

What if you're the micromanager?

And if you fear you yourself may be guilty of habitually micromanaging, it will help to understand what is driving it and recognise what you need, so you can communicate this better - perhaps it's because you care so much, you're under pressure to get results, you don't trust your team to deliver, or you just have an innate tendency to notice detail. Being humble, apologising and being open about your challenges is a good start. You need to start rebuilding trust, and that takes time and consistency.

"Practice hands off management as much as possible and hands on management as much as necessary."