More than 70 percent of workers said micromanagement interfered with their ability to do a good job, and 85 percent said it damaged morale, according to Harry Chamber’s book: My Way or the Highway.
Micromanaging managers believe they constantly have to control and monitor their workers’ activities to keep up with demand. They don’t realize that micromanagement often leads to negative effects like low productivity, stress, disengagement, reduced creativity and trust, and more.
While managers do not always consciously micromanage their staff, some just can’t help but take control of every little thing their workers do.
And the first step to avoid micromanagement is to realize when you’re doing it and what negative effects it causes. So in this post, I’ll cover the most common ways micromanagement harms productivity and how to avoid it.
Inefficient Work Environment
While managers must ensure that their team member’s work is accurate, overly checking the work can erode productivity and stagnate. The age-old expression “people first” is even more relevant today if you want happy workers that stay loyal to the company for years to come.
Examining work tasks piece by piece in front of your worker can make them feel that their work will never be good enough. They may lose confidence in their ability to perform their tasks and motivation to keep trying.
This state will hurt the work morale and the eagerness to do a good job. In addition, the worker also has to slow down their work process to implement continuous input and changes to their workflow.
Overall, the work environment created by micromanagement is inefficient and filled with unease. So, instead of checking work tasks in front of your worker, it’s better to review them in private and then meet with your him/her later if there are any questions.
Fear of Making Mistakes
I’m a firm believer that you have to allow people to make mistakes to progress in their work roles, as long as they don’t make the same mistake twice. Micromanaging managers often believe they should interfere and control work processes to avoid mistakes.
But the truth is that workers learn and grow from trying new things, even if they weren’t successful. Bashing your team members for making a mistake will make them fear to try new things. They will stagnate in their roles, which will prevent them from coming up with new successful ways to improve the overall workflow.
Besides, if the manager decides to hand off the project to someone else, the worker will feel even more useless and unwilling to improve their next task. They will fear their work won’t ever measure up.
Effective managers allow for mistakes since it promotes growth and progress. They also take the time to instruct and coach team members to successfully complete projects, making for more courageous and innovative workers.
Increased Employee Turnover
In all honesty, micromanagement often leads to workers quitting their jobs. More often than not, it destroys the manager/worker relationship. The persistent monitoring of everything they do drains even the most talented workers and sends them looking for work elsewhere.
To repetitively going over every element of their job, and make them redo the work the way the manager would do it, will destroy the relationship and make the worker lose faith in their manager.
Besides, the worker may become rebellious and work against their manager, ultimately ending up looking for other job opportunities.
To avoid this, the manager should promote two-way communication and establish a solid understanding of expectations. It’s also essential to give the worker the right tools to thrive in their role.
Also, try focusing on the individual strengths of every team member and delegate work accordingly to increase responsibilities. Being trusted to take on more responsibility is empowering and can increase work morale and loyalty to the company.
The Bottom Line
Workers are less likely to trust a manager or an organization if they feel overly scrutinized, especially for menial tasks. There has to be a balance between giving workers a sense of autonomy and ensuring you get what you need from them. Allow your workers to make mistakes and let them take on a project and run with it. Not only does it empower the worker, but it also creates a healthy manager/worker relationship and increased productivity for your business.