Micromanagement
and Delegation
by: David Meye
Micro-Management and Delegation
Recently I had a long discussion with a friend of mine about Managers
and managing. She is a former HR Manager for several major companies
and was bemoaning the fact that training for managers has been cut
back so significantly in recent years and that managers no longer
receive the type of help, guidance and assistance that they received
just a few short years ago. My background has been in retail and
telecom. Hers was neither. Yet the same problems and issues seem
to rise in every industry. Of course, this is exactly the reason
that I got into coaching. Coaching allows those managers who want
to improve a very personalized venue to do just that.
We went on to agree that the common pattern these days seemed to
be for the department star performer to be promoted from contributor,
to team leader, to manager in seemingly record time. We agreed that
new managers have difficulty moving from the contributor to the
manager role because no one is willing to spend the time and energy
to coach them through the various hurdles that new managers and
leaders face. We agreed that this lack of training never seemed
to lower the expectations of the manager, just the performance.
Then we disagreed, strongly. What caused the disagreement?
Theconcept was micro-management. My friend explained to me that
she has "coached" many employees recently and that many
of them complained about one particular manager who was micro-managing
them. She told me that she helps the employees understand and come
to grips with "their problem". "You're not going
to be able to change that manager, she explained to me, "so
you've got to change the employees". She explains to them that
if they are being micro-managed, there's probably a reason for it.
They are probably doing something wrong. If they just identify that
problem and improve, their manager will stop the micro-management.
"The employees need to improve themselves. It's as simple as
that."
I wish my life was as simple as that.
She acknowledges that with that many employees complaining that
it's likely the manager is the problem. But changing the manager
is too much trouble, she says, so let's tell the employees it's
their fault.
While it is true that it is sometimes necessary to micro-manage
people, her explanation makes little sense to me. You might micro-manage
an employee if their performance is lacking. Or because the project
they are working on is very high visibility and any chance of error
must be minimized. But when a number of employees are complaining
about the same manager micro-managing them it implies one of two
things.
Either this manager:
1. Has a lot of problem employees and needs
to start weeding them out, or
2. This manager does not know how to let go
and properly
delegate to their staff.
Excessive micro-management is not the sign of
a healthy manager.
When someone is constantly micro-managing their
staff it's generally their problem, not the employees.
If you are micro-managing your staff, refusing
to delegate routine, and not so routine tasks to them for completion,
then you are setting yourself up for trouble. Have you ever heard
yourself say, "I would delegate this to someone else, but it's
just as easy to do it myself"? Or maybe you say, "This
task is too complicated to delegate. I have to make sure it's done
right."
If so, I hope you like your job. Because you
aren't going anyplace higher. Delegation can be difficult to learn
because it looks like a huge risk and a huge leap of faith. But
it doesn't have to be that way. There are techniques that you can
learn that will help you delegate and get you out of the detail.
And you have to get out of the detail if you really want to be an
executive.
David Meyer, owner of Coaching for Tomorrow,
has more than 25 years of management and leadership experience,
having worked for companies such as Nobil Shoes, McDonough, Allied
Stores, MCI and Nextel Communications. His mantra, "You Win
With People" is based on the deep-seated belief that hiring,
developing, and promoting the right people can lead to organizational
and financial success. As a management and leadership coach, David
works to instill that same passion in his clients by helping them
understand the importance of strong leadership, strong teamwork,
and strong players.
David has a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Elmhurst
College and has been certified by both ACTION International as a
Business Coach and the Coach Training Alliance. He also has received
his CTM from Toastmasters. He is an Officer in the Denver Coach
Federation and a facilitator/trainer for the Coach Training Alliance
and ACTION International of Colorado. He is also a co-author of
the book Creating Workplace Community: Motivation.
Married with two adult daughters, David is active in his local Kiwanis
club and Crossroads Community Church. He enjoys reading, golf, scuba
diving, and Civil War reenacting.
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