Sunday, December 1, 2013

Micromanagement (Part Two)

Neutralizing the micromanager — the one you work for, or the one inside you
W W W . N R P A . O R G   |   D E C E M B E R   2 0 1 3   |   Parks & Recreation

No matter how outstanding the organization, resources or team, a manager’s style can make or break its success. As discussed in “Micromanagement (Part One)” (http://www.managingmanagement.us/2013/11/micromanagement-part-one.html), a micromanager can inadvertently breed lack of engagement, low morale and poor productivity for both staff and the organization.

If employees feel that they are not trusted to do the job they were hired for or that their experience and knowledge are constantly being dismissed and or trumped by their manager’s actions, eventually those employees will stop taking initiative or making decisions. The most organized, deadline-driven employee will suddenly seem to procrastinate — after all, what’s the point of completing a projector task in a timely manner when history indicates the micromanaging boss will take it over or assert a different direction before the employee is done anyway? Or worse, the boss will discard a completed work and redo the whole thing him- or herself.

If the descriptions above seem all too familiar, you may be one of the frustrated and disengaged, wondering why you keep coming back each day. Oh, wait…right — you love this job. You don’t want to leave; you just wish you could get your boss to change his or her destructive ways.