Getting into the Minutia…Six Rules for Micromanaging Effectively
Throughout my career I’ve railed against the existence of micromanagement. Despite my frustration with people getting into minutia – or my having to get into someone else’s minutia – it’s a reality existing in every organization where managers and subordinates co-exist. My guess is that you also despise micromanagement whenever it enters your life. But guess what? As much as it pains me to say, there are times when micromanaging is good.
For a seasoned professional there’s little enjoyment when a boss gets into the weeds on your project. However, sometimes it’s necessary and despite the negative connotations around micromanaging, it needs to be wielded. So if getting deeply into the details is going to happen, it might as well be done according to some rules of engagement.
Putting Micromanagement to Good Use
Each leader develops techniques, procedures, and processes to accomplish their art. Seen as tools in a toolkit, they use each one when the situation dictates to generate trust, produce a vision, or motivate a subordinate to deliver their goods. In this vein, micromanagement is nothing more than another tool in your toolkit. You use it when the situation dictates.
When is micromanaging good? In situations like these:
High-value, Critical Project. When there’s a high-value, critical project underway in your area of responsibility you do not have a failure option. Although your subordinate’s may be all-over the task at hand you need to be involved. Using excessive control and/or attention to detail is acceptable. Example? The project requires delivery of a result by a specific date where lives or large sums of money are involved.
Fulfilling Expectations of Superiors. Call it self-preservation. Call it pandering. I call it “smart”. Micromanagement sometimes needs to be deployed to satiate superiors who themselves wield micromanagement as their normal operating mode. Your job as a leader is to protect the interests (and sanity) of the people who work for you. If you have others you’re answering to whom micromanage, allowing them to get into your teams business is wrong. Instead, you get into the weeds and then feed the information upward.
Inept Staff. Not a happy situation, but you may have staff members that aren’t up to the task. Yes, you need to fix that either through training or getting new talent. But if that isn’t an option you will need to step in…sometimes with both feet and a microscope. Note: Make sure you document these situations so you can remove the team member at the earliest opportunity.
Micromanaging 101
If you do have to micromanage, ensure you do it correctly. Most people react to micromanagement negatively, so consider the following:
Let your team know you’re going to deep dive and why. Subordinates may not enjoy the extra involvement, but most often they’ll accept it if they know why you’re getting into the weeds.
Train your team so micromanagement goes away. If you’re team is new or not seasoned enough, get to work training them to anticipate what questions to answer and what information to push forward. Micromanagement is used most often used when there’s a lack of trust in a subordinate’s skill or blind spots in a projects path. Provide the training/mentoring necessary to instill the needed skill and give your team the recipe for what information is needed to illuminate the key aspects of the project.
Don’t micromanage as Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Using this tool is good if done so sparingly. If you’re using it on every project, then it’s time for some self-analysis. Constant micromanagement comes from a lot of bad stuff on behalf of the leader: lack of self-confidence, lack of knowledge/skill, perfectionism, ego/arrogance, etc. If you find yourself in the weeds constantly, step back and ask “why”.
“I never tell a subordinate how to carry out a specific goal. Dictating terms to a subordinate undermines innovation, decreases the subordinate’s willingness to take responsibility for his or her actions, increases the potential for suboptimization of resources, and increases the chances that the command will be dysfunctional if circumstances change dramatically.” Lt Gen Gus Pagonis
Christian Knutson, P.E., PMP is a leader, civil engineer, and author. He’s an accomplished professional specializing in A/E/C work internationally and author of The Engineer Leader, a recognized blog on leadership and life design for engineers and professionals.
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