Effective leadership is critical to every organization’s success, but even well-intentioned managers can slip into an approach that proves damaging for employees: micromanagement.
This management style, when left unchecked, stifles creativity and autonomy, as well as damages trust within teams. While its blatant forms are easy to spot, many leaders unknowingly engage in subtle behaviors that have similar detrimental effects.
Understanding these hidden habits, however, lets you nurture a more productive and desirable workplace. To help you develop a self-awareness that enhances your leadership, we’ll dive into the complexities of micromanagement practices that typically fly under the radar.
What is micromanagement?
Micromanagement is an excessively hands-on style that involves closely observing and controlling their employee’s work. The approach often stems from one not trusting an individual’s ability to independently perform at the desired standard.
Workers, however, find this tight supervision smothering, as it leaves no room for autonomy. Micromanagers, for instance, can easily be overly involved in every minor work matter.
Meanwhile, the negative effects of micromanagement are extensive, as it can result in a restrictive work environment, stifle productivity, and increase turnover—repercussions that are costly for any company.
So, if you aim to correct any micromanagement behaviors and build successful teams, recognizing the typical signs and subtle habits associated with the approach is crucial.
Common signs of micromanagement
Before delving into the less obvious aspects, we’ll tackle the visible indicators of micromanagement:
Constant supervision
Micromanagers lean on control, as they always make sure their subordinates align with the company’s standards. This close scrutiny, however, involves them regularly looking over employees’ shoulders or meddling in every task, no matter how minor.
Unending need for compliance
Exceedingly hands-on managers are normally perfectionists who obsess over every detail. Due to this, they often require multiple approvals, even for simple tasks.
This ceaseless need for validation, however, can obstruct workflows, as employees must strictly stick to guidelines rather than freely develop creative solutions.
Limited delegation
Since micromanagers typically think their teams can’t meet expectations without their oversight, they prefer to personally do important tasks and delegate only minor ones to staff.
This belief that their approach is always right, however, harms employee trust, confidence, and development.
Lack of independence
With workers having to tightly adhere to procedures and their manager’s direction, there is little room to make independent decisions, express ideas, and provide input. This smothers employees, as it stifles their creativity, hinders their growth, and undervalues their overall efforts.
Hidden micromanagement habits
While the typical indicators of micromanagement are easily identifiable, there are subtle habits that many leaders develop unknowingly:
Excessive communication and monitoring
Micromanagers often feel the need to ensure everything is on track, which is why they maintain constant communication. However, this easily backfires, as repeated check-ins signal a lack of trust in employees.
While occasionally asking about progress is healthy, doing it excessively can be suffocating. Not to mention, some workers interpret it as undermining their abilities.
Frequently surveying activity trackers is another habit you may overlook. Although such HR tools help gauge productivity, this practice creates a constraining environment, as your staff will feel like their every move is being watched.
Revising most deliverables
We mentioned how assigning only low-impact tasks to team members, while keeping notable responsibilities to yourself, is an obvious micromanagement indicator.
Constantly reworking the output of your employees, however, is a deeper issue that you may miss.
While consistently meeting the organization’s standards is extremely valuable, always reworking deliverables sends the implicit message that your staff fails to meet expectations. Over time, this can shatter their confidence and motivation.
Overemphasis on minor details
Perfectionism results in an obsession over particulars, no matter their significance, and a need to control every aspect of a task. Excessively focusing on details that aren’t critical to outcomes, however, makes you lose sight of the bigger picture.
While aligning employees’ work with your expectations, your team may end up harboring frustrations and disengaging, as their efforts and autonomy are being undervalued and compromised.
Providing unsolicited advice
Experienced managers often have valuable insights, but there are moments where they’re shared despite being unprompted.
Let’s say an employee who prefers to learn independently is working through a challenging task. Since they lean on figuring things out themselves, unsolicited advice can come across as overbearing or distrustful. It may even make them feel incompetent.
While providing guidance is essential, regularly doing so uninvited can signal a lack of confidence in their decision-making skills.
Negative impacts of micromanagement
Micromanagement, whether apparent or unseen, has multiple downsides:
Erodes employee engagement
The constant supervision and unending need for approval associated with micromanagement prove to be suffocating. 70% of employees, in fact, say that it has decreased their morale.
Such an environment can easily result in frustration and dissatisfaction amongst your workers as well, therefore damaging employee engagement.
Obstructs team cohesion
Your relationships with employees can suffer due to micromanagement. Being a stifling approach that leans on controlling each team member’s work, it can create tension and give rise to various difficult workplace scenarios.
Think of how you must hold discussions with workers dissatisfied with your management, as they feel that their efforts are being undermined.
Since you sift through every minor detail as well, personnel may lose their willingness to collaborate, as they’d rather avoid making any mistakes. Such instances can result in conflict and a fragmented team culture.
Hampers productivity
Contrary to any well-meaning leader’s intentions, micromanagement can actually obstruct their employees’ efficiency.
Since they have to follow stringent procedures and tight standards, personnel may spend more time double-checking their output or seeking approval rather than focusing on meaningful tasks. As a result, workflows slow down and productivity takes a hit.
Some may become more risk-averse as well, which prevents them from taking creative approaches to work.
Increases turnover
According to the American Institute of Stress, no amount of resilience training can prevent the ill effects of workplace toxicity, one of them being employee burnout. A strong contributor to this is the lack of independence associated with micromanagement.
Due to feeling constrained and exhausted, talented employees are 2.6x more likely to leave for more supportive environments. This being the case, it’s key that you address any micromanagement habits, as they’re detrimental to employee retention.
Higher turnover is also a massive financial drain, seeing how it costs U.S. businesses up to $1 trillion per year. Replacing individuals can, in fact, net you half to double their annual salaries!
Not to mention, a rising need to properly recruit, onboard, and train new hires can be disruptive as well.
How to identify your own micromanagement habits
With an idea of how your subtle micromanagement practices can affect employees and the organization, learning how to recognize them comes next. Here are some strategies that can help you identify and overcome these tendencies and become a more effective leader:
Self-assess
Regular self-reflection is the most accessible exercise, yet it lets you pinpoint any habits that employees may find stifling.
So, consider maintaining a journal that tracks your daily interactions and decisions. If you notice something amiss, it may be time to ask yourself whether you’re getting too involved in the team’s activities.
Developing emotional intelligence (EI) helps as well, as this leadership skill instills more self-awareness and empathy, allowing you to place yourself in employees’ shoes.
Use feedback tools
One of the best ways to recognize any micromanagement patterns is to gather input from those you directly work with.
Profiles Asia Pacific’s CheckPoint 360° Feedback System™, for example, assesses leadership effectiveness based on dimensions such as:
- Communication
- Leadership
- Task management
- Relations
- Development of others
- And more
By soliciting observations from your employees and superiors, it reveals management issues that influence workplace productivity, morale, and turnover.
Seek coaching from professionals
Seasoned leaders can help you understand your management style, as they can observe how you function in the workplace, then provide constructive criticism.
Through their guidance, you can identify counterproductive habits that would normally fly under the radar, as well as develop an approach that empowers your team.
Attend leadership training
Continuous learning is critical to overcoming any micromanagement tendencies. Our training programs can help, as they focus on leadership skills like communication, management, and inspiring teams. Here are some notable examples:
- Communication for Leadership Excellence
- The ABCs of Supervising Others
- Motivating Your Workforce
- Leadership: Creating an Alignment of Strengths Toward Employee Engagement
Wrapping up—Address micromanagement habits and improve leadership through effective feedback and training
Micromanagement, whether in its visible or indistinct forms, can erode team morale, productivity, and retention. As a leader, it’s vital that you recognize any subtle tendencies associated with this approach, then work to eliminate them.
Our CheckPoint 360° Feedback System™ and leadership training, meanwhile, lets you surface valuable insights on your management style, then make adjustments that let you motivate teams and nurture trust.
If you’re looking to start the journey towards becoming a more effective and self-aware leader, simply reach out!
About the Author: Irish Almocera
