W W W . N R P A . O R G | J A N
U A R Y 2 0 1 4 | Parks & Recreation
If you’ve followed along with Part One and Part Two of this
mini-series,
then you understand the difference between effective, directive management and
true, debilitating micromanagement. If you’ve been under the thumb of a
micromanager, then you now have a solid 7-step action plan to neutralize those
micromanaging ways by managing up.
But what if the problem is you? If you’re reading this
article because it’s been torn out and slipped under your office door, resist
the urge to crumple and toss it. You may not be a true micromanager (refer back
to Part One), but some minor adjustments may ease the misplaced perception of
this lone, desperate employee who is simply eager to have a better, more productive
relationship with you. So while your employee works on his or her skills to
manage up, perhaps you could refresh your skills to manage right.
Managing Right
There’s a fading sign on my office door that says “Encourage,
Empower, Expect.” It’s one of my favorite management mantras because it’s simple
yet on target. To be complete, however, it needs three more Es— Engage, Equip
and Entrust. Although our emphasis is on replacing those micromanaging
practices with more effective ones, these six Es are an easy way for any
manager to remember the basics of effective management.
Engage
Similar to the concepts in Steps 4 and 5 noted in Part Two, the
manager bears the responsibility of building a vision for the department and
communicating the bigger picture that the tasks are supporting. The assignments
you give represent the “what,” but it’s the “why” that will gain confidence and
buy-in from your staff. If you have clearly communicated what’s important and
what success looks like to you, you should be able to leave the “how” to them. Also,
asking for their input at this initial stage has multiple benefits. They will
not only take more interest and ownership of their work, but this will also
help you identify if you’ve described the goal clearly enough for you to trust
the direction that will go.
Equip
You can’t hold your employees accountable to accomplish something
if you never gave them the tools to be successful. That may mean providing a
formal training program, or it may mean taking the time to show them yourself.
And yes, that may cross into showing them the “how,” but if you remember to be
open to their suggestions for changing the process for the better, you will steer
clear of the “M” word.
Encourage
If it takes 10 positives to erase a negative, you may have a lot
of ground to make up for if you’ve been micromanaging. Never be disingenuous, but
make sure your employees hear your appreciation for the things they do well and
champion the things they want to try. They need to know you will fully support
them in accomplishing what you’ve asked of them (without doing it for them) and
make sure you are praising where praise is due. Specifically, if they do
something that increases your confidence in them and comfort level with letting
go, celebrate that behavior to encourage a repeat performance.
Entrust
This is my “E” word for delegate. Turning over an entire
project to an employee, rather than just bits and pieces, will help them understand
the bigger picture of how their work fits in and give them the context to catch
the missing pieces that can suck you into micro-manager mode. Yes, there are
parts of that project that need to be done by you — so let them assign them to
you. And there are parts of the project that would be done better or faster by
you — let it go. Offer your wisdom and experiences to inform their approach,
but just like you spent years developing your winning process, their years need
to start somewhere or they’ll never catch up with you. The patience you invest now
will pay off tenfold in the future. Never take back a delegated task.
Empower
Develop a culture of smart risk taking and decision making.
There are always going to be things that require the boss’s final approval, but
in areas where that isn’t the case, encourage your staff to run with it.
Sometimes that line is hard to see or define, so the next time they come to you
with a decision that clearly could have been theirs to make, don’t answer. Ask
them: If it were their decision, what would they do? Then tell them they don’t
need you for those kinds of decisions and to just go for it. If their
suggestion doesn’t make sense or align with your expectations, don’t reveal
that with your contradicting suggestion. Instead ask how they arrived at that
decision. The goal is to ask enough questions that they either arrive at a
better solution, or that they reveal your next area of development so you can
trust them to make this decision next time.
Expect
If you have clearly communicated your expectations, then you
should expect results that meet those expectations. If you are engaging,
equipping, encouraging, entrusting and empowering your staff, those results
will often exceed your expectations.
Unfortunately, some recovering micromanagers swing the pendulum
way too far in the opposite direction to make up for their hyper-oversight and
let the team just run with everything, giving no real direction at all. When
these managers’ expectations aren’t met, they feel paralyzed to coach or
correct because clear expectations were never set.
