3 Reasons Why Micromanagement Doesn’t Work

Posted on written by Marvin

We don’t like bosses that breathe down our necks all day long.

While having a manager on hand should anything go wrong is a good thing, having them critiquing your every action in work has a detrimental impact on your performance. Micromanagement is a concept that has been around for a long time however it’s negatives usually far outweigh any positives that it might have.

We want to look at 3 reasons why micromanagement doesn’t work and why it shouldn’t be followed in the workplace.

#1 Trust Erodes Quickly

So, you’re working on a project and you have a manager or a team leader who is watching your every move. They comment on each task you complete, tell you how to do things better and need to check your work several times a day.

You are probably searching for a new job on your lunch break, aren’t you? Micromanaging erodes any trust a team has in their leader. A manager who doesn’t allow their staff a degree of independence obviously doesn’t trust them very well to carry out their job properly. If your boss doesn’t trust you to fulfil your duties then will it make you want to stay in that role? Probably not.

#2 It Creates A Dependent Culture

Aside from making people want to leave their job, micromanagement fosters a culture of dependency where employees feel unable to complete even basic tasks themselves.

Initiative and staff acting themselves is discouraged in a micromanaged environment and people are likely to feel that they can’t do anything without it being approved or checked over first. What happens when the manager goes off on holiday or takes time off sick? What does their staff do when they have no-one to depend on? In micromanaged environment’s employees will be lost without their boss dictating to them every day.

#3 Inefficiency Is Rife

Micromanagement creates a bottleneck effect within a team. Everything needs to be passed up to be looked at and approved and this can massively reduce efficiency and productivity.

While this work is waiting to be checked staff won’t have anything to do. They will be awaiting the next instructions while the manager spends time looking at everyone’s work. Departments, projects and teams that operate with a micromanagement philosophy tend to be more inefficient and less productive than those that allow staff creativity, autonomy and freedom in their role.

Avoid Becoming A Micromanager

A healthy and effective working environment means striking a fine balance between giving your staff a degree of independence and keeping checks on their work.

Micromanaging takes being a boss to the extreme and it isn’t something that is encouraged in the workplace. Not only will it reduce productivity but it will lead to a distrust amongst your staff and a dependent culture in your team. Micromanaged teams usually have a high turnover with low morale.

While you do need to check up on your staff and the work that they do, don’t go overboard. Allow them to take ownership in their own roles and give them space to enhance their skills, use their initiative and work by themselves.

Why micromanagement doesn't work - Manager with team around desk

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