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Signs you might be a micromanager

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Re: Signs you might be a micromanager

#5

Post by jariel »

Different situations call for different levels of intervention.

Sometimes, a manager may be very involved in some specific artifact which may 'seem' like micromanaging but really it's 'topical' management.

Often Micromanaging isn't actually inherently 'wrong' or even bad, rather, it's the emotional corrosiveness that is the problem, i.e. people just don't like to be managed in that way, but, if we were all 'perfectly and completely mature team members' it wouldn't bother us if it was appropriate. But that's hard and most people just don't like it.

That said, it can be a 'true problem' in the sense that managers are too in the weeds - and a 'true problem' in the pragmatic social aspect in that if people 'really don't like it' then it's just not going to work out even if technically it could be warranted.

There are so many managers I've seen who are really high EI, who would never dare micromanaging, because they instinctively see their job as a popularity contest. They really don't actually care about the product or outcomes, they are not built that way, they have been managing their lives through the spectrum of likability, and instinctively feel that when 'everyone is happy' they are doing a 'good job' irrespective of outcomes. In many organizations this is actually normative.

And of course, there are just a lot of bad managers out there as well, micromanaging where they should not, with no sense of making better outcomes even as they believe they do.

Self awareness is really hard.

Re: Signs you might be a micromanager

#6

Post by mynameisslim »

I would like to see the other perspective, why it is good to micromanage.

I’m a non tech founder And I outsource my teach overseas. I don’t trust my team.

I really feel over billed (I pay US prices (over six figures per year per programmer) even though this team is in South America) and they have failed over years to really provide a quality service. Not only that but they over bill me and I frequently catch it. Why don’t I switch forms - well, I’m scared I’ll have a worse experience with another firm, that I’d have to share the code base with someone else, and it would take another team a long time to learn the code.

So, I micromanage my billing, which sucks. Then I also micromanage the team - the design, the dev progress, etc. Why I do this is they don’t get it. I tell them to organize projects better and they don’t. I tell them how customers are interacting with the software and why we’re building new features and design doesn’t get it. I get software and it’s full of bugs which I have to personally test and the dev team says we should just launch.

I’m not going into super details here, but I’m on burnout constantly trying to deal with these people. If I were to let them just do their thing, my project would have failed long algo.

When you hve a vision, micro manage. If you’re at some firm where you are struggling to spend your overly massive budget every cycle, dont micro manage.

Big difference in big companies and small ones. If you’re not micro managing as a small startup, you will fail.

Ever seen a real rich person outsource to another firm, share their idea, and let the firm create everything in their own - that’s a bit fail waiting to happen. And the dev firm knows it and is happy to take as much money from you as possible.

Re: Signs you might be a micromanager

#7

Post by pluto9 »

ilaksh wrote: post #4

I have heard Musk say that he is deeply involved in engineering. Makes me suspect he might be micromanaging. Or is what he does different?

I'm a fan of his work, but it wouldn't surprise me if he is. People will put up with a lot of shit from a boss if they perceive him as a "genius". The way some former Apple employees fawn with gratitude over Steve Jobs' abuse is puzzling to me.

Re: Signs you might be a micromanager

#8

Post by Lipsey »

Micromanaging might be one way to salvage a project that may have suffered due to inexperience on the part of the ones it was delegated to. In an ideal situation, to avoid micromanaging altogether, a manager must have extremely capable team members that are aligned with the common goal.

Re: Signs you might be a micromanager

#9

Post by nharada »

I don't see one of the most important parts of how to stop micromanaging, which is to help your team grow. I don't mean add more people, I mean to grow the skills and competencies of the people already on it.

I've noticed that often people micromanage because they don't trust their team, but it's not necessarily because the manager is a dumb narcissist who vetoes their team's brilliant ideas as some of these articles tend to imply (although it certainly can be). Often it's because the team is more junior, or missing a critical competency, or simply hasn't had time to grow into an area they're working on.

If you feel like you're the only one who can do something correctly/to a high enough quality bar, it's probably worth teaching someone to do it the way you want. Sure it'll be more work in the short term, but ultimately it feels like your goal as a manager anyway is to get to the point where your team basically doesn't need your help.

Re: Signs you might be a micromanager

#10

Post by cocoa19 »

The opposite of micromanagement can be damaging as well. Let's call this "no management".

I quit a job where I would only see the manager on 1-1 meetings, and was clueless about the state of the business and how to help team members succeed and get promoted.

I stopped discussing work topics on the 1-1 meetings since I didn't see any point, and eventually quit, as well as other team members.

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