Why not micro manage?
Micro management is always treated as the negative way of management. But it is also useful in certain situations. In this blog, I will…
Micro management is always treated as the negative way of management. But it is also useful in certain situations. In this blog, I will provide ways to use micro management for getting results.
There are many, many articles that says micro management is negative way of doing management. But if you read carefully, in the same article, it will be written that micro management can be used when certain situations arise.
But none of the articles elaborate about when micro management is useful and why. In this blog, I will elaborate exactly that.
Micro management may be the worst way to do management. But if the situation demands then it can get you the results that no other management style can help in achieving.
What is micro management?
It is another management style like situational leadership or delegation.
In micro management style, manager gets involved very closely in the ongoing activities. The manager expects the team members to follow every letter that has been provided as an instruction.
In this style, manager acts in a more commanding position, due to which there is no room for team members to suggest anything. Manager’s instructions must be followed no matter what is the situation.
In this style, there are no shared responsibilities between manager and team members. Manager owns every responsibility and expect team members to just follow the given instruction.
Due to the above,
- a manager checks on the progress more frequently,
- a manager will never be satisfied with any outcome,
- a manager will do scrutiny of every action taken.
In this style, a manager will not create an environment where it is friendly for the team members to grow or learn.
When does a manager choose micro management style?
In software development organisation, following are the few reasons.
- manager does not know how to keep a control of what is happening,
- manager does not trust anybody in the team,
- manager is simply not trained in the right way to manage a team,
- the team has failed to deliver without micro management,
- the team has strict deadline which requires micro management,
- the team works in silo as there is no process or system in place,
- pressure from senior management to get things completed on time.
The organisation environment also sometime makes middle managers to use micro managing technique to satisfy the senior management.
There could be many other reasons. But it generally boils down to gaining control on the progress. This is to make sure there is no delay in completing the work.
When to truly adopt micro management?
Irrespective of your position in management, chose micro management only if the situation demands for it.
In my opinion, following are few situations when micro management will help you. The below list will act as a guiding principle for adopting micro management style.
- the team is new and you need to build a rhythm within the team
- the project is very complex and requires close watch
- the project is coming to an end and there are many task piled up
- the project has many escalations and needs closer watch
All items above, needs close watch and it requires manager to be on top of every aspect of what team is supposed to do. Hence micro manage.
You can handle the above situations using other management styles — the results may take time and in cases it may not yield the required results.
The reason is other management style depends on trust and transparency. When both are not present, then only micro management style works.
Right way to use micro management
As mentioned earlier, micro management style is the most negative of doing management.
So in case you have to use this style then keep the following in mind for better results rather than creating a negative environment.
- Tell the team why you will be micro managing
This will help to set the right expectation with the team. The team will be aware and they will be mentally prepared. - Use micro management style for a limited time
Use this style until you get control or bring clarity to the team or build a rhythm within the team. In this way, before the team starts feeling the negativity, you can stop and use other styles for management. - Use micro management with a subset of team members
Use this style with only those team members who will not perform without constant supervision. Better to segregate them from the rest, so that there is no impact on the rest. - Use micro management only with low performers
Inform HR and other stakeholders about the low performers and about micro managing them. This will help you to set the right expectation with all the stakeholders and you don’t get into trouble.
Conclusion
Micro management style may be the worst way to manage a team. But it will come in handy for certain situations.
Use micro management style wisely to build rhythm within the team and to control the direction of the project.
Use micro management only for limited time or use for managing a subset of team member or only low performers.
Highlighting to HR and other stakeholders before using micro management will help you to be transparent on the reason and helps when you need further support from others.
So before adopting micro management, carefully assess the situation and only if it is necessary use the style to get the desired results.
Happy management!
Further reading
