Micromanagement is a management style where the supervisor monitors down to the smallest detail of what employees do. Although it’s recommended in some situations, this style stands out more for its cons than for its potential benefits.
But what are the risks we can associate with micromanagement?
From loss of trust to a decrease in productivity, let’s talk about some of its dangers to better understand why it is a harmful way to manage your business or employees.
1. Frustration
When colleagues feel their work is being heavily monitored and criticized frequently, it’s natural for them to feel frustrated and unsure about whether what they are doing is right or wrong. According to this study, 85% of employees feel micromanagement has negatively impacted their morale, and 71% feel it has interfered with their work progress.
For example, you work in Marketing and you’re in charge of an email marketing campaign. You have a boss who asks you questions all the time and questions a lot of what you do. Wouldn’t you feel awful in that situation?
Many times, this results in a decrease in employee effort, creativity and initiative, which results in poorer, substandard work and a loss of quality, but more importantly, the need to look for a new workspace where the employee feels more comfortable.
2. Loss of confidence
One of the common traits of micromanagement is the constant supervision of bosses over the work of their employees, taking this down to the smallest detail of what they do in their routine.
In this situation, when employees feel their bosses don’t trust them to do their work independently, trust is lost between both parties, and workers are less likely to admire or respect their bosses as before.
This lack of trust consequently undermines team communication and cooperation, making it difficult to consolidate and accomplish common goals.
3. Increased stress levels
Micromanagement can be a major source of stress for supervisors and employees alike.
On the one hand, the employee is under constant scrutiny and pressure for what he or she does, which can easily lead to irritability, anxiety and burnout. On the other, the supervisor may frequently stress about what his or her employee may or may not be doing.
Chronic stress can have serious consequences on people’s physical and mental health, which can increase absenteeism, job turnover and medical costs.
4. Productivity decline
Contrary to what some people might think, micromanagement doesn’t promote productivity, but rather decreases it.
This isn’t so far-fetched because, as we mentioned, employees who feel heavily watched are likely to become stressed and overwhelmed, which will make it difficult for them to concentrate on their work.
Plus, micromanagement can be very time consuming for employees and supervisors, taking time away from their tasks. This can happen especially if employees have too many status update meetings.
5. Higher labor turnover
Simply put, micromanagement generates all the conditions necessary for an employee to decide to resign and work elsewhere. According to Trinity Survey data, 69% of people suffering from micromanagement said they were considering quitting their jobs because of it.
Put yourself in their shoes. If you’re in a place where they don’t trust you, you feel stressed, overwhelmed and more, would you want to be there? There’s your answer.
Job turnover leaves several problems for companies. For one, it prevents the rest of the team from devoting their full time to their activities, as they will have to set aside time to train new employees.
On the other hand, terminating an employee represents different expenses for the company. One of them is the compensation to the outgoing worker, but we must also evaluate the cost of training your incoming workers, and other costs.
6. Lack of innovation
When you keep a close eye on your employees and limit their leeway, you are killing their chance to innovate and break out of the margins. Micromanagement represents the death of the creative spirit, which is very dangerous for companies.
It’s true, not all ideas are good, but there will always be some that are and will change your company for the better. These are the ones you won’t be able to implement if employees don’t feel comfortable sharing them or, worse, are incapable of generating them in the first place.
7. Dependency
Last but not least, micromanagement generates dependent employees on their bosses by not giving them enough freedom and trust to make their own decisions, which hinders their growth and performance.
It’s a natural consequence of being watched and questioned all the time by your boss and not having his or her trust and support. You start asking all the time if what you are doing is right or you consult too much about whether a certain decision is the right one or not. You’re unable or feel unable to work on your own, so you constantly turn to your bosses for validation.
In the medium and long term, this will cause employees to resign or run away from decision making and responsibilities, which will delay processes and promotions at the work level.
4 ways to avoid micromanagement
You now know micromanagement is negative and that it brings more problems than real solutions in most instances. So what can we do to avoid it and create a more favorable work environment for everyone? Here are some tips.
1. Make room for learning
Not everything has been said, there’s always room for new ways of doing things, to experiment and break out of the mold, and this is something you should cultivate within your work culture so that the best ideas come out.
Allow your employees to make recommendations and suggest new tools in the work process, such as meeting scheduling apps. There are many to choose from, but when it comes to Microsoft Bookings vs Calendly, two of the most popular, the selection becomes much easier.
2. Let go of perfection
Many times, managers try to avoid wrongs by being very controlling. This is a serious mistake, as it not only creates dependency, but also avoids possible new insights.
Therefore, accepting that there will be mistakes from time to time is the best way to proceed, as it will free you from constantly monitoring your colleagues, allow them to have autonomy and take responsibility and, in general, helps to streamline internal processes.
3. Set clear expectations
Communicate clearly and precisely where and when your employees can expect feedback and intervention from you.
This way, you’ll set precise boundaries for your actions, and your colleagues will know exactly where you have leeway and where they must take leadership and initiative.
4. Learn to delegate
Sooner or later, you’ll realize you can’t and shouldn’t take care of everything, even if you have the time and skills to do so. That’s when you’ll have to learn to delegate and, more importantly, to trust other people.
Delegating tasks is a crucial moment in any work team and, if well managed, will allow everyone to evolve. You will develop new leadership skills, help others develop their own talents, and help build a relationship of trust between everyone.
Micromanagement is not a style you want to apply in your work environment for many reasons. You’ll waste time, you’ll waste your employees’ time, and you’ll damage trusting relationships within your work team. You’ll also not help them to boost their capabilities or take responsibility but to cause them dependency.
A true leader allows his employees to develop leadership and make important decisions in the team, but, more importantly, he or she gives them his trust and allows them to work without constant supervision, something that doesn’t fit at all in the micromanagement scheme.
Leave micromanagement only for one-off situations and for the rest, allow your employees to have enough freedom to innovate and decide on their tasks and the team’s objectives. In the long run, it’s the best course of action.
