According to a study, 79% of employees have experienced being micromanaged. In an attempt to carry out their responsibilities of helping organisations achieve their objectives, some managers struggle with being effective leaders without micromanaging employees.
Unfortunately, it turns out that micromanaging employees is ineffective, counterproductive and negatively impacts productivity. In this article, we consider the nature and signs of micromanagement as well as its impact on employees in particular and organisations at large.
What is micromanagement?
Micromanagement is a style of management that excessively monitors, supervises and directs most aspects of tasks being performed by employees, including paying attention to the minutest details.
Micromanagers try to remain in control of tasks already assigned to subordinates and often require too frequent reports. Rather than delegating tasks and trusting employees to deliver on projects, micromanagers typically exert influence on every inch of work progress while coming across as perfectionists who lack confidence in the competence of their own teams. Micromanagers technically take up the responsibilities of their employees.
How to identify a micromanager
Are you a micromanager? The following practices are what to avoid in order not to come across as one:
- Paying attention to the process and tasks being performed rather than the outcomes.
- Requesting feedback too frequently and failing to ignore minor details.
- Detesting employees making decisions and using their own discretion without getting you involved.
- Failing to delegate tasks out of fear that they would not be done to your satisfaction.
- Taking back delegated tasks and detesting others doing things differently.
Negative impacts of micromanagement
1. Reduced productivity and creativity
Micromanaging employees slows down the pace of work progress. Team members may halt their jobs to have them scrutinized every now and then before progressing and depend less on their own judgment and discretion, even when confronted with familiar situations.
By leaving those crucial tasks that only they can perform and unnecessarily meddling in tasks that should be completed by their subordinates, less will be achieved at every given time. 71 % of employees said micromanagement affected their performance.
Also, overdependence on the ideas and approach of the manager means the organisation will be deprived of creative ideas, innovation and diverse perspectives from the workforce.
2. Low morale and high turnover rate
A micromanaged workforce lacks job satisfaction. Micromanaging leads to 69% of employees considering changing their jobs and 36% actually quitting. A lack of trust in employees and excessive control can cause a dip in confidence and morale, make employees feel unappreciated and trigger “silent quitting”. Teams are not motivated and happy doing their jobs when the focus is usually on the negative aspects of the work done, which negatively affects the morale of 85% of employees.
3. Poor mental health
Employees who work with a micromanager suffer mental health issues, including loss of self-esteem and depression. They constantly work under unhealthy pressure and fear. In order to avoid being blamed, penalized or fired for mistakes, employees leave things undone until they are instructed. After all, the micromanager is never pleased.
4. Limited professional growth
Employees mostly grow on the job by learning to work independently, taking decisions and making mistakes. By preventing employees from relying on their discretion and deciding the right course of action, a micromanager prevents employees from discovering things and learning from their hands-on experiences.
5. Absence of teamwork
Since micromanaged employees are unable to work independently without the input and direction of their manager, they hardly work as a team. If individuals in the workplace lack self-confidence to successfully complete tasks and projects, they will also not seek the perspectives and collaboration of their colleagues to get things done as things can only get done with the approval of the micromanager. This denies the organisation innovative ideas, new perspectives and novel solutions and approaches to routine activities.
The bottom line
Micromanagement is an unprofessional practice in the modern workplace. Micromanagers do not employ or demonstrate emotional intelligence in leading their employees. As a result, they create an unhealthy work environment that discourages innovation, employee engagement, teamwork and professional growth. The ultimate brunt is borne by the organisation.
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