There are many managers who believe that through micro management of their employees organizational productivity can be increased is it true? Saving Changes...
In my opinion micromanagement is bad only when the employees are given explicit instructions on how to perform their work. I believe that only managers that are also good technical experts and able to do the work of their subordinates can truly micromanage.
Asking frequently for status report of the ongoing tasks or reminding the employees what they have to deliver can become annoying but in my opinion this is not truly micromanagement.
I am not bothered when people tell me what they want delivered, in fact as a Consultant I directly work with customers who tell me what they need, what I don't like is when more senior consultants (technical leads) give me explicit instructions on how to complete my tasks. Also when I work with more junior consultants I try not to micromanage them in this way.
PMs that are not also technical experts in my opinion can't micromanage because asking frequently for status report is not micromanagement in my opinion.
Micromanagement is a good practice when working with entry level employees but trying to micromanage an experienced employee is in most cases a bad idea. The experienced employee would feel humiliated and his motivation would go down. Saving Changes...
Nasrullah MohammedPortfolio Manager| Advanced Electronics CompanyRiyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Micro management decreases creativity, autonomy and responsibility of the employees and destroys the potential to be more innovative, effective and productive. It is often a source of frustration for the employees. Saving Changes...
No. Employees are hired for their skills and experience - the value they will bring with them to the organization. Micromanaging them will stifle the employees ability to add that value by 'doing what they do best'.
Amazing answer Andrew really a thoughtful perspective but employees tend to stop working at all until and unless you do not give them direction. Saving Changes...
Generally, micromanagement has a negative connotation. You discourage employee empowerment, stifle growth...its bad management. However, one of my former bosses micromanaged his department members until such time they can work competently and with minimal supervision. Amazingly, his 'micromanaging' results were positive--his staff productivity increased and he can now confidently delegate tasks unlike before. His staff acquired his working style and level of standard and what are his peeves.
I have also seen micromanagement of employees beneficial in some cases but why is it that mostly it fails. Saving Changes...
Root cause for Macro management - 1. Lack of Trust, or 2. When the scope is not well defined to delegate the same to an employee with set objectives. PM looses his "birds eye" view on the project while macro managing the employees... I have seen number of PMs doing this mistake. PMs should know how to delegate work and monitor.
Good perspective Krishna indeed if a manager spends his/her time micromanaging some employee then he loses bird sight on the whole project. Saving Changes...
Deepa KalangiManager, Program Management, Author, Trainer| CVS HealthCharlotte, NC, United States
In any case, absolutely, micro management is a NO to productivity. It is the contrary, it will bring more problems than solutions. Easily identifiable problems are 1. The person that is micro-managing loses his time and focus and cannot be productive himself. 2. The person that is micro-managed loses interest in his work and becomes stressful every minute and hence cannot do his best. He loses his productivity and also loses interest in working under the same manager. You will clearly and quickly experience high attrition in the group. On the other hand, encouraging, helping, supporting will motivate the employee and will do his/her best and even go a mile extra and work harder. Saving Changes...
Manfred KressSenior Project Manager, PMP| Atos Information Technology GmbHTaunusstein, Germany
Communicate with your team members but don't micromanage them. Explain clearly what you expect as deliverable, answer, ... but assuming that they are experts, at least experienced enough, they know the way of working.
And, from my perspective, asking for feedback (status) and offering help when needed is not micromanaging, this should be part of the communication culture. Saving Changes...
Well said Manfred, telling people what you want delivered and asking for feedback is not really micromanagement. Micromanagement is only when you give explicit instructions to team members regarding how they should complete their tasks.
It becomes obvious that if you are not a very good technical experts yourself you can't micromanage your team as you would not be able to give work instructions to your team members. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
It certainly will reduce the productivity of the managers who are not focusing on their own responsibilities. Saving Changes...
Nicholas TufaroCEO| Tufaro Information SystemsHudson, Fl, United States
In my opinion micro-management is an indicator of a couple of things:
(1) The Manager is not confident in the product and/or service they are to provide.
(2) The Manager is not a good match for the experience level of the staff they are managing.
Of course, there are more things that are indicated by this. To answer the question, it depends on the organizational maturity of the company and their experience in the marketplace. This combined with my earlier statement should help answer he question and if not, the answer is “No, not really.” Saving Changes...
