10.12.09

Why Does Micromanaging Fail in Spite of Itself?

Posted in Leadership at 8:07 pm by Dennis Romig

All leaders are prone to over micromanage when business times are tough. Unfortunately business times have been tough for a long time. Micromanaging comes with hidden pitfalls that hinder great performance even when such “help” is well intentioned. You probably believe that you are not a micromanager.  You are just “helping”.  Read on to discover the hidden pitfalls of helping too much.

Dr. Murray Bowen was the top leader of his own research and counseling center. On his way home from work he reflected on the day.  He realized that he had gotten no work done. Throughout his work day his subordinates brought him problems to hear and solve. His people also brought him work related decisions for him to make. He patiently offered his “help”.

Dr. Bowen was frustrated because his own work that was vital to keeping his center in business remained undone.  He asked himself an unusual question: “What role in my interactions with my subordinates am I playing that makes them so dependent on me?”  Dr. Bowen discovered that even though his intention was to help, he was in fact micro-managing his subordinates. The unintended results were that his subordinates:

1. Developed low self-confidence in their own abilities to solve problems and make decisions;
2. Lost motivation; and
3. Became low performers.

A vicious cycle was in motion: the more Bowen micro-managed the less effective his subordinates became.  Have you seen this before?

This is a mind-blowing discovery about leadership—when we as leaders work too hard to manage our staff, when we over-perform, and/or “help”, we undermine their performance and they naturally function well below their abilities. Bowen worked to change himself. He knew that if he changed certain leadership behaviors in himself, there would be corresponding changes in his subordinates.

This discovery about the relationship between the leader and his or her subordinates explains why traditional top-down leadership does not produce outstanding performance. It explains what Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, discovered—that empowering workers produces consistent year after year 15% plus improvements in performance!

Here are some additional leadership discoveries about the Hidden Pitfalls that help explain how the relationship of the parts of the leadership system interact with each other.

–When micromanagers do all of the talking in meetings—the contributors listen but they stop thinking of ways they can help

–When micromanagers make all of the decisions—the contributors wait and do not make even the smallest improvement in their work processes

–When micromanagers blame their employees for problems—the employees hide the problems

These observations are just a few of the hidden pitfalls and ways that micromanagement fails in spite of itself.

Side by Side Leadership® on the other hand succeeds.

–The Side by Side Leader is always asking for and listening to new ideas from his or her team. There is a spillover result with contributors now spending 40 hours a week thinking about other ways to improve their performance and their organization as a whole.

–When the Side by Side Leader asks for subordinate’s ideas around his or her important decisions, the contributors take responsibility and ownership for implementing the decision.

–When the Side by Side Leader works with the team members allocating authority to make as many work decisions as each contributor is capable of making, the contributors learn the necessary information and make excellent decisions.

To learn more buy a copy of Side by Side Leadership today!!  Web Special!

Please visit Side By Side, Inc. for more in depth information.

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