Micro-Managing

This week I just wanted to share a point that has come up in discussion a couple of times this week. People have used the phrase “I do not want to be a micro-manager”.

No one who is fully engaged and giving it their all at a job has ever complained about being “micro-managed”. Think back to your life (whether you were managing or being managed) and remember when people (including ourselves) have used the phrase. It almost never (if ever) refers to a manager who is telling an individual which hand they should hold the screw driver in or how to hold a pencil. It almost always involves someone coming back and checking on work assigned.

The person who gets antsy about this is not the person who is doing great and knocking it out of the park. The people who use this line (and I have been one in the past) are people who know they are not where they need to be and do not want to be caught in that situation. I know that is where I have always been when I griped about being “micro-managed”. When I am on top of my work and doing great stuff it never matters who comes by to check me out, the attitude is always “come on! Let me show you where we are!”. Same manager, same follow up, but a different performer has a completely different response. We should remember that as we lead our team.

Following up on work assigned regularly is not “micro-managing”, checking someone’s progress in the middle of a project or task is not “micro-managing”, in fact most things we call (or have been called out for) “micro-managing” is not “micro-managing”. Simply put, most actions people call “micro-managing” have a much more common name… managing.

Something to think about the next time we hear or think about that phrase.