Are You Micromanaging Your Team? How to Find Out and How to Stop

Micromanagement, like bad breath or poor manners, is easy to recognize when we encounter it in others. However, few of us know when we ourselves have the offending problem, or if we do, the extent of it. As Ashkenas(1) says, “Over the past few decades I’ve worked with hundreds of managers, and many complain that they work for micromanagers. But strangely I don’t recall anyone who ever admitted to being one.”

Perhaps it’s difficult to recognize when we are micromanaging others because no one wants to be a micromanager. If we’ve ever felt that we ourselves have been micromanaged (and many of us have), we know firsthand that it is no fun. Yet it’s all too easy to justify micromanaging because of our employees’ shortcomings or because they’ve made mistakes or let us down before. We can be lulled into thinking that micromanagement is essential for good management. But, of course, it isn’t.

Knowing how much supervision to give your team can be difficult. If you give too little, your team can become unproductive, and a host of other problems can develop. But giving too much supervision can end up with what The Omnia Group(2) calls “freaked-out, demoralized or invisible employees.” So are you micromanaging your medical practice team, at least to some extent, or with at least some of your employees? Let’s find out. And if you are, let’s learn what you can do about it. But before we do that, we need to understand what’s behind micromanagement in the first place.

Why Well-Intentioned Managers Become Micromanagers

Medical practice managers may micromanage their employees for many reasons. But by and large, the desire to exercise power is not what’s behind micromanagement. Very few medical practice managers micromanage because they enjoy throwing their weight around or because they like to make their employees miserable. In fact, the vast majority of micromanagers fall into the habit because they have good intentions. They want to do what’s right, effective, and best for the medical practice. They convince themselves that unless they hover over the subordinate and give step-by-step guidance and supervision, the task won’t get done the correct way, or at all. Or they micromanage to cope with very normal feelings that often come with the job of manager, but that they are not aware of. Here are five of the most common reasons that well-intentioned managers fall into micromanagement:

1. Concern about being disconnected and out of touch: As managers rise through the ranks, they often become concerned that they’ve lost touch with the hands-on, day-to-day work of the medical practice. This can lead them to feel isolated. One way to reduce or alleviate this feeling is to overcompensate by getting involved in the minutiae of daily tasks. Another is to seek information about what’s going on in as many ways as possible, such as through lots of reports, meetings, and one-on-one conversations. According to Ashkenas, this attempt to stay connected is largely unplanned and “driven by idiosyncratic anxiety.” Therefore, Ashkenas suggests, micromanaging can become an unconscious strategy managers use to cope with their discomfort and their desire to stay in touch.

2. Micromanaging is natural: According to Kardashian,(3) we may be biologically programmed to micromanage. Says Kardashian, “We evolved to be active beings, always hunting for food and avoiding predators. Thus, we have a hard time sitting back and directing others.”

3. Lack of priorities: Walters(4) suggests that micromanagement is often the result of a jumble of tasks that get dumped on an employee with little or no guidance as to priority. He explains, “If a manager doesn’t make the priority of work clear [to the employee], precious time may be spent on a low priority task, setting the subordinate up for increased pressure to avoid missing expectations for a higher priority task.”

4. A desire to stay in their familiar operational territory: Change can be difficult. Many managers are unable to let go of their old jobs or their old ways of doing their jobs. This is especially likely when managers have been promoted based on their ability to achieve goals, manage budgets, and solve problems—managers at higher levels usually need to dial down their operational focus and learn how to be more strategic. They have to trust their people to manage day-to-day operations and coach them as needed, rather than trying to do it for them. As Ashkenas warns, “For many managers this is a difficult transition and they unconsciously continue to spend time in the more comfortable operational realm of their subordinates.”

5. Fear of failure or pressure to succeed: According to Artale,(5) pressure from above or from ourselves to deliver results with unclear or unreasonable expectations can drive managers to micromanage their teams. It can be challenging to trust others when we feel that a lot is at stake.

If you believe that any of these factors may be at play in your own management, your next step will be to dig a little deeper to determine if you are indeed micromanaging your employees. (See the sidebar “Ten Signs that You Are a Micromanager.”)

What Micromanagement Is and Isn’t

The line between management and micromanagement often is a fine one, and each employee and manager may draw that line in a different place. However, employees can’t legitimately claim that you are micromanaging them simply because you want to know what they are doing. As well, they can’t cry “micromanagement” just because they don’t like something you do.

Micromanagement occurs when control and attention to detail become excessive.

Management requires at least some control and attention to detail. Micromanagement occurs when that control and attention to detail become excessive. Micromanagement also frequently involves requests for unnecessary and overly detailed reports. A micromanager tends to require constant and detailed performance feedback and to focus excessively on procedural trivia (often in detail greater than he or she can actually process), rather than on overall performance, quality, and results.

How to Stop Micromanaging Your Team: Ten Strategies

Fortunately, micromanagement is not a terminal illness. There is a cure. Here are 10 steps you can use to rid yourself of the micromanagement habit:

1. Recognize that you may be the problem. Does the word delegate make you uncomfortable? Do you feel that everything will be better if you do it yourself, or if you keep a controlling hand on everything? Coming to terms with your feelings is a great first step.

2. Own your micromanaging behavior. Revisit a few specific times when you know that you micromanaged one or more employees. Call it micromanagement. Don’t use euphemisms. Don’t lull yourself into thinking that you have no choice but to micromanage, or that micromanaging your employees is OK. Then consider how you could have handled the situation differently, and better.

3. Envision a new way of managing your employees. Mentally walk through a day in your practice where you don’t micromanage, everyone is highly motivated and on task, and everything gets done beautifully. Visualize your employees the way you want them to be, without your having to micromanage them.

4. Commit to changing. Make change your priority. Only you can change your micromanaging behaviors.

5. Find an accountability partner. Tell a mentor or a close friend that you’re trying to change your management style. Ask for ongoing feedback.

6. Start off with small tasks. Tell your employees what to do without giving them step-by-step instructions. Hang back and remain available for questions.

7. Stop and ask yourself why you’re changing an employee’s work. You don’t need to put your personal stamp on every item that passes your desk. Making changes to an employee’s work simply for the sake of making changes is a habit worth breaking.

8. Keep the check-ins in check. Constantly inquiring about routine assignments rarely helps employees to get them done any more efficiently. Provide clear directions upfront, check in once if need be or on a reasonable schedule, and then trust your team members to do their jobs.

9. Intentionally loosen your grip. Assign a specific portion of a project to an individual or group. Dish out “test” assignments to get more comfortable with your staff’s performance. Be available for guidance, but only if it’s requested.

10. Empower your employees. Give team members the freedom to make decisions, as well as to make mistakes. Allow them to fail, within reasonable limits. That’s the only way they’ll learn to think for themselves.

But What If Employees Need Micromanagement?

You may encounter some employees who makes a lot of mistakes or goof off unless you micromanage them. In those situations, you may be tempted to continue micromanaging. However, in the long term, that is not the best course.

It’s up to you to set the bar for your employees’ performance. Your team should be able to achieve its goals without you constantly scrutinizing, assessing, and correcting their work, and they should not need you to remind, prod, or nag them. If you have employees on your staff who cannot perform without your watching their every move, they do not belong in your medical practice. Be firm and specific about the performance you expect. Give them ample opportunities to improve, and formal and written warnings if they don’t. Ultimately, if they don’t shape up, let them go. This can be difficult. But it’s in your practice’s best interest to have a team that can do its job without excessive supervision and prodding. Micromanaging is not an effective management style in the long run.

References

1. Ashkenas R. Why people micromanage. Harvard Business Review. November 15, 2011. https://hbr.org/2011/11/why-people-micromanage . Accessed January 11, 2017.

2. The Omnia Group. Micromanaging your employees: why it’s bad and how to stop. Omnia. May 24, 2013. www.omniagroup.com/micromanaging-your-employees-why-its-bad-and-how-to-stop/ . Accessed January 11, 2017.

3. Kardashian K. Inside the souls of manic bosses: a brief history of micromanaging. Inc. June 2014. www.inc.com/magazine/201406/kirk-kardashian/why-people-micromanage.html . Accessed January 18, 2017.

4. Walters C. Top 5 causes of micromanagement and what you can do about it. Carolinas IT. May 30, 2012. www.carolinasit.com/leadership/top-5-causes-of-micromanagement-and-what-you-can-do-about-it. Accessed January 18, 2017.

5. Artale J. Three reasons why your managers micromanage. ActionSpace. April 27, 2015. http://actionspace.com/blog/3-reasons-why-managers-micromanage. Accessed January 17, 2017.

Ten Signs that You Are a Micromanager

Micromanagers often are unaware that they are micromanaging their employees. But if you can take a step back and look at what you do as objectively as possible, you may be able to uncover micromanaging behaviors. Here are 10 signs that you may be a micromanager(1):

1. You have a big ego. You believe that you’re smarter, faster, and more skilled than the people who work for you. You think you’re better with patients, possess higher quality standards, and perform every task better than anyone.

2. You don’t delegate properly. You’re always swamped at work because you didn’t delegate. Or your version of delegating involves hoarding all the creative, important work for yourself, while doling out the easy, boring scraps to your subordinates.

3. You’re the textbook “hoverer.” You need to know where your employees are and what they’re doing at each moment of the work day, or you can’t be at peace.

4. You regularly call the office “just to check in.” You call at least three, four, or five times a day while you’re away, even if you’re confined to bed with a raging fever or sunning on a beach in Puerto Vallarta.

5. You dictate the “how.” You set the terms precisely when that’s not necessary. You don’t allow your employees to figure out how to do anything.

6. You keep your employees on a very short leash. You require a stream of unnecessary reports. You inspect their work at every stage of the process, even when you don’t need to, and even if that means clogging the pipeline and causing delays. You are overly critical, pointing out the smallest of mistakes as a learning exercise. At the first sign of trouble, you snatch the task away from the employee and do it yourself.

7. You frequently assert your authority because you can. You get a rush from controlling others. But deep down, you suspect that you’re afraid of failure.

8. Your staff is walking on pins and needles for your approval. They appear timid, tentative, and paralyzed when performing even the most mundane tasks.

9. Your employees make lots of excuses to avoid meeting with you. They seem visibly uncomfortable when they do meet with you.

10. Your employees tell you you’re a micromanager. Of course, they may be wrong. But ask them to give you examples. It just may be that they’re right.

Reference

1. Fishman M. 10 Signs you’re a micromanager—and how to reform. Open Forum. July 5, 2011. www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/10-signs-youre-a-micromanagerand-how-to-reform/. Accessed January 18, 2017.

Ten Problems with Micromanagement

If managers micromanage their employees to ensure the success of their medical practices, what’s so bad about that? Unfortunately, even though micromanagement may come from the best of intentions, it can lead to big problems. Following are 10 of the most challenging problems that are likely to result when an employee feels that he or she is being micromanaged:

1. Micromanagement stifles autonomy, creativity, and innovation. As Wallen(1) warns, “If you micromanage too much, your employees’ skills, talents and insights can fall to the wayside, leaving you with a team that only knows how to do what it’s told.” Micromanaged employees often feel that they and everything they do are being scrutinized, because, in fact, that’s the truth. They may avoid trying new and different approaches to their work for fear of making a mistake. As Wallen suggests, “A lack of autonomy will squelch growth in your employees.”

2. Micromanaged employees may resent what’s happening to them. They may feel frustration and discontent. As The Omnia Group(2) suggests, “Micromanaging breeds resentment and causes people to feel untrusted and unfulfilled.”

3. Micromanagement can lower employee self-esteem and performance. Micromanaged employees generally feel do not good about themselves or the work they do. The lack of autonomy can lead to disengagement. As Heiman(3) warns, “Over time performance will drop as well.”

4. Micromanagement supports and creates the kind of employee who needs to be micromanaged. Micromanaged employees may become afraid to make a move without you and increasingly more dependent upon you. Their confidence may plummet. As well, micromanagement can interfere with employees’ self-motivation. Employees may learn to work hard when you’re watching them and to slack off when you’re not.

5. Micromanagement limits your tools as a manager. When you micromanage your staff, the management tools at your disposal become narrowed, until the only tool you have left is control. And as Wallen warns, “The funny thing about control is that when it’s your only means of management, you usually end up losing it.”

6. Micromanaged employees will regard you as their adversary. Wallen suggests that they will regard you as “a despot whose only desire is to wall up its staff until the only thing they see is the job.”

7. Managers who micromanage are prone to burnout. According to Wallen, micromanaging your staff is “downright exhausting.” Looking over so many shoulders every day will very quickly burn you out, Wallen warns. Micromanagement can take a terrible toll on the manager’s physical and mental health.

8. Micromanaged employees may retaliate. As The Omnia Group suggests, your staff may react to your micromanagement by “resisting, arguing, and generally trying to be unpleasant back.” That’s because, The Omnia Group says, being micromanaged is incredibly unpleasant.

9. Micromanagement displays a lack of trust. There’s only one reason to micromanage an employee: because you don’t trust that he or she will do what’s needed or wanted. Withholding trust will ultimately kill employee drive. As Heiman suggests, “Most employees need trust to thrive.”

10. Micromanaged staffs have higher turnover. Wallen explains it simply: “Most people don’t take well to being micromanaged. When employees are micromanaged, they often do one thing; quit.” Having constantly to train and re-train staff not only robs your medical practice of momentum, but it also affects its bottom line and destroys morale. With high turnover, friendships are constantly made and destroyed. Wallen warns, “Eventually this will crush the spirit of your staff.” Unfortunately, the problem is more widespread than you may think. According to Fishman,(4) “Micromanagement is a leading cause of employee turnover, with nearly 80 percent of workers reporting run-ins with overbearing supervisors at some point in their work lives.”

References

1. Wallen J. 6 big dangers of micromanagement. Pluralsight. January 5, 2015. www.pluralsight.com/blog/business-professional/why-micromanagement-is-bad . Accessed January 11, 2016.

2. The Omnia Group. Micromanaging your employees: why it’s bad and how to stop. Omnia. May 24, 2013. http://www.omniagroup.com/micromanaging-your-employees-why-its-bad-and-how-to-stop/ . Accessed January 11, 2017.

3. Heiman F. Consequences of micromanagement. Never Mind the Manager. July 28, 2010. www.nevermindthemanager.com/consequences-of-micromanagement/. Accessed January 11, 2017.

4. Fishman M. 10 Signs you’re a micromanager—and how to reform. Open Forum. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/10-signs-youre-a-micromanagerand-how-to-reform/ . Accessed January 18, 2017.

What Great Managers Know about Micromanagement: A Quiz

Do you worry that your staff sees you as a micromanager? Geisler(1) has developed this short quiz to help you identify and assess your micromanaging tendencies. Answer on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 meaning “I’m great at this” and 1 meaning “This does not describe me at all.”

1. I delegate everyday decision-making to the people closest to the work.

2. My staff knows the point at which an issue requires my involvement, and they see that threshold as reasonable.

3. I share important information with staff so they feel involved and invested.

4. I enjoy giving people increasingly greater responsibility and authority as they grow.

5. I don’t feel the need to have my fingerprints on everything we do.

6. When I keep a hand in the work of the team, it is only to help in ways they appreciate.

7. If I have to closely supervise employees because their work needs improvement, I give them clear feedback on their performance so they know why I’m involved.

8. Even when I’m under pressure from my own bosses, I try not to become a dictator to the team.

9. I believe in hiring people who are smarter than I am and helping them shine.

10. I would hate to be known as a micromanager.

Geisler suggests that great managers score 80 or better on this quiz. She also suggests having your employees answer these questions based upon their perception of you. Says Geisler, “If you’re truly a great boss, they’ll probably score you higher than you scored yourself.”

Reference

1. Geisler J. What great bosses know about micromanaging. Poynter. October 26, 2009. www.poynter.org/2009/what-great-bosses-know-about-micromanaging/99074/ . Accessed January 18, 2017.

How to Manage a Micromanager without Getting Fired

If you’ve ever worked with a micromanager, you know how unproductive and demoralizing it can be. Shifting a micromanager’s management style won’t be easy, and it certainly won’t be immediate. But if you can show the micromanager that you’re consistently trustworthy, thorough, and, ultimately, on top of your work, you may be able to inspire change over time. Here are seven steps you can take to manage or at least minimize the impact of a micromanager:

1. Look for patterns. According to North,(1) micromanagers are incredibly predictable. Says North, “Watch for behavior swings. There will be certain situations, times of the day or week, when they get especially agitated.” Knowing a micromanager’s habits and triggers can help you to avoid and ease them.

2. Anticipate needs. Flag potential problems before they escalate, and offer solutions. North suggests, “Always have a stockpile ready of new initiatives and demonstrate that you are proactive.” This helps to curb a micromanager’s responses to the pressure points and may prevent him or her from slipping into micromanagement mode. As well, Wolf(2) says that you may be able to halt micromanagement in its tracks by anticipating tasks that your manager expects and by getting them done well ahead of time. If you reply, “I actually already left a draft of the schedule on your desk for your review,” enough times, you’ll minimize the need for her reminders, she says.

3. Empathize. The micromanager is no doubt under a lot of pressure to produce and get results. Demonstrate that you understand his or her plight and are willing to share the load. As North suggests, “This could be as simple as offering to help.”

4. Be extremely reliable. Don’t give the micromanager justification for micromanaging you. Wolf suggests, “Take a hard look at your recent attitude, productivity, and track record to make sure that you aren’t doing anything to solicit such nitpicking.” Are you unintentionally (or intentionally) letting your work slip through the cracks? Do you show up late? Miss deadlines?

5. Provide updates proactively. Wolf suggests that you send a micromanager regular updates, before he or she has a chance to ask for them. Eventually, the micromanager will realize that you’re organized and detail-oriented and that you can manage your responsibilities without constant intervention.

6. Be kind. Treat the micromanager the way you would like to be treated.

7. Speak up, but gently. Micromanagers are often oblivious to the effect they are having on other people. They may mistakenly believe that their micromanaging is producing better results. Find a sensitive way to tell the micromanager how the micromanagement affects you. As Wolf suggest, “There are small—and respectful—ways you can express your opinion.”

References

1. North S. How to manage a micromanager. Forbes. May 7, 2012. http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2012/05/07/how-to-manage-a-micromanager/#55a4782634f2 . Accessed January 18, 2017.

2. Wolf KD. How to manage a micromanaging boss. The Muse. https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-manage-a-micromanaging-boss . Accessed January 18, 2017.