The High Cost of Micro-Management

By Andrew Coutermarsh
Reprinted with permission from the July 2002 Issue of Identity Marketing

How can you keep your eye on the big picture when you are so busy being a micro-manager? The obvious answer is that you can't. In 20-plus years I have seen more micro-managers than macro. What drives a micro-manager and what are the effects of micro-managing on staff members?

We could, if we wished, delve deeply into the psychological background of the micro-manager, looking at such issues as character disorders, neuroses, co-dependency, etc. Obviously, a manager with deep-seated psychological problems could have a devastating effect on the workplace. For the sake of this piece, let's assume that the micro-managers we are dealing with have no more psycho ills than you or I.

There are numerous forces at work behind the micro-manager. Some of these are related to personality, some behavioral, and others that develop from the manager's skill set, or lack thereof. Often times, a manager will hire very competent people to bring to the organization new ideas and new ways of doing things. Unfortunately, the manager feels threatened because these new ideas are outside his or her experiential comfort zone. The very reason the individual was hired becomes the motivation for micro-managing Ð the manager cannot deal with that which he does not know.

Most of us have some kind of control issues, but with some awareness and a great deal of effort, we can overcome the tendency to control every situation. The micro-manager lacks either the awareness or the ability to "let go" of this need to control the process, outcome, or people involved.

Sometimes you will find a micro-manager whose ego-induced arrogance prevents him or her from admitting that there might be someone who could do things as well Ð or better. Again, lack of self awareness prevents this person from seeing himself as others do. In addition to believing that they are the only ones who could possibly do a task the "right" way, these individuals usually have a very unreal perception of how others see them. Often they believe that they are the beloveds of the workplace and also believe that they are perceived as good managers.

Fear of losing one's place often drives micro-managers. Micro-managers develop a sense of being indispensable because they are so busy and perceive themselves as needed by the organization. They lull themselves into a false sense of security and cannot see that the real organizational needs are for healthy managers to handle the tasks and responsibilities of the position and to manage the work of others.

Micro-managers very often are guilty of providing inadequate training for staff members. Proper task training and process training are essential for effective efficiencies in any system. If the micro-manager is working with inadequately trained staff, then task completion and process compliance issues must be referred to the manager. Proper training is essential for real empowerment of employees. Micro-managers have a tendency to talk the talk, but cannot walk the walk of empowerment.

Strong, effective managers take the time and thought necessary to clearly articulate job expectations for their staff members. Micro-managers do not. Identifying and communicating expectations is the primary building block for improving and managing staff performance and is the other essential element of effective empowerment.

Dr. Lawrence J. Peter and Raymond Hull gave name to "The Peter Principle" in their book of the same name. This principle discusses how a person is promoted to the level of their incompetence. This is often the case with micro-managers, although the real issue for the manager is not necessarily inherent incompetence, but rather a lack of training for that manager on how to be a manager.

Basically, the micro-manager does not fully understand his or her new role. People are often promoted into management because they are good technical people. If they are not properly trained for their new roles and do not understand the expectations of a manager, they will tend to fall back on what they know Ð their former technical position. They must complete technical tasks in order to feel productive.

Micro-management also can come from the manager's inadequate interviewing skills. Without an ability to interview effectively, the chances of hiring incompetent or problem employees increase dramatically.

The Effects
Now that we have explained the phenomenon of micro-management, let's take a look at some of the people and organizational effects that are caused by this all too common occurrence. We already have mentioned that an empowered workforce and micro-management are mutually exclusive. Additionally, if the organization is espousing empowerment, but allowing micro-managers to continue, the organization's behavioral message is incongruent with the stated message, causing mistrust, disillusionment, apathy, and a host of other organizational viruses.

Micro-management contributes to an individual's feelings of low self-esteem, anger, frustration, inadequacy and powerlessness, all of which can lead to a drop in productivity, absenteeism and tardiness issues, employee theft, high turnover, and union organizing attempts.

Micro-management dilutes and erodes individual accountability and ownership of tasks, contributions, and errors. This promotes blame, accusations and a breakdown in the sense of team. Problem solving tends to be linear, with little participation, and lacks systemic thinking.

Micro-management promotes an unhealthy reliance on the manager. This bogs down the system, slows decision making and response time to customers and creates a bottleneck at the manager's desk. It stifles creativity, spontaneity, and enthusiasm Ð all of which lead to a culture unwilling to try innovative approaches to problem solving.

One of the saddest results of micro-management is that it traps the manager and prevents him or her from moving on or being promoted. In effect, the micro-manager has become indispensable, but only in his or her current position. They are locked in because they have not developed a replacement for themselves.

Their section of the organization is characterized by high turnover, so there is rarely time to properly train, even if motivated to do so. With less than competent staff, the micro-manager spends the day making all decisions and telling people exactly how to do particular tasks. He or she feels overworked, puts in too many hours, and is clueless as to how to rectify the situation. The micro-manager is doomed to remain trapped in this position, or change jobs only to repeat the same role. How sad.

The only way out of micro-management is self-awareness and diligent effort at changing one's behavior. If you see yourself in this description, or think you may see yourself, ask your peers and your staff for feedback. Try to get through the smoke that will be blown your way and get to the meat of the matter. Ask persistently until you feel you're getting an accurate picture of yourself. When the little voice inside your head stops nagging at you, you will have arrived.

If you manage a micro-manager, look first at your own management style and see if you aren't contributing to the situation. Give the person the necessary feedback. Let him know how he is perceived by others. Coach and guide him along the path to recovery.

If you work for a micro-manager, drop a copy of this article on his or her desk. Think how you can provide your manager with feedback that will help him overcome the behavior. You might as well. It's not going to get any better without your help.

Andrew Coutermarsh has an MS in management from Antioch University/ Antioch New England Graduate School where he is a member of the adjunct faculty teaching human resources development. He holds SPHR (Senior Professional Human Resources) designation from the Certification Institute of the Society of Human Resource Management. He also is director of human resources for Prime Resources Corp.