Are You a Project Micro Manager?

  Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

Face it: We're all project mangers, and we all have our control freak tendencies. But there is a line between being in charge and micro managing. Are guilty of crossing that line? Here's how to tell and how you can step back into your appropriate role.

The Symptoms
We all know of some project manager who micro manages. No project task is too small for them to do without anyone else being involved. When assigning tasks in the work breakdown structure to another member of the project team, micro managers require complete plan details on the activity all along the way to completion. When reviewing WBS result status, they act like the proverbial Monday Morning Quarterback, questioning everything. Micro managers would have approached it another, more efficient and effective way.

The Temptations
I suppose we can all empathize with a project micro manager. Surely, we have all engaged in some form of micro management at one point or another in our careers. Let's face it, we have all had projects where team members were new with an assignment or not top performers. The temptation is for the project manger to revert to micro managing to, as they perceive it, ensure a quality result.

Why are we tempted to micro manage? Well, being responsible for anything tends to bring out the "control freak" in most people who do what we do for a living. The old adage, "If you want …

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