Mark’s Musings on “Micromanagement”

A friend of mine is writing an article on managers who “micromanage.” I will like to her article when it’s written. Anyway, she asked me if I had any thoughts about this. I did, and sent her a list of ten musings on managers who micromanage. My list is not in any order. Just my thoughts as they occurred to me. I going to share this list here. Perhaps you’ll have some comments, corrections, additions, and other contributions. I’m curious about what you would have to say. I will also forward your input to my friend who’s writing the article.

With no further ado, here are Mark’s Musings on “Micromanagement”:

It seems to me that different kinds of management are needed in different contexts. For example, a manager with a new employee in a training mode needs to be much more involved with details than a manager with an experienced employee who is an expert in his or her field. It can be a problem when a manager is either too involved or too distant.

Some managers who micromanage are people who need to be in control of everything. They micromanage because of their emotional needs. For the most part, they really aren’t good managers. Sometimes, though, certain managers seem to make it work. Steve Jobs would be an example of a successful visionary who also had a tendency to micromanage certain aspects of his company.

Some managers who micromanage have problems trusting people.

Some managers who micromanage hired the wrong people for the job but aren’t willing to make prudent staff changes.

Some managers are accused of micromanaging when, in fact, they are simply holding their people accountable.

Some managers micromanage because they are not good at clarifying goals and strategies for those they manage.

Some managers micromanage because they were once the workers responsible for the details. Though they were promoted, they never really adjusted to their new role.

Some managers micromanage because they get a sense of value and worth from getting tangible things done. They don’t enjoy building a team or leading others who actually do the work.

Some managers micromanage because they are perfectionists to an extreme degree.

Well, there you go. My musings. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?