Micromanagement: An analysis

"Now he has 3000 people to micromanage".

That was the comment of my ex-colleague (and now friend) about the promotion of his boss as VP. "A very clever thought"- I said, and then we moved on to other more important topics.

I brought this thought back from the dark corners of my brain to the forefront for analysis while idling away at a later time. Do all of us have a right to complain about micromanagement? Don't we do it in our day to day lives? How many times have we said something and then quickly followed it up with - "Sorry, It's just that I am very particular about this stuff." Nice excuse, but isn't it camouflage for having things your way - aka micromanagement?

A couple of years ago, I was at my friend's son's birthday party and paying attention to what the party clown was doing (I know you meet a lot of clowns at parties, but this was the guy in the costume - he was paid to be one). He had handed out pens and papers for the kids there and was asking questions. The kids were supposed to solve some problems using intelligent and thought provoking answers. Pretty run of the mill, but then I noticed that there were some parents between the kids eagerly looking at what the kids were upto. It was then that I realized - they were instructing their own kids to do it the right way (translation - their way) so that they could solve the problem faster. Isn't that micromanagement? Do these parents have a right to complain when their bosses instruct them to do something the right way (again - their way) so that the project can be done quicker?

In my professional life, I have moved from individually contributing positions to leadership positions and back, and I have come to know that work delegation is an art - you have to precisely know what, when, how much and to whom the delegation needs to be done. On one occasion, when my (previous) boss came back from vacation in the midst of a mission critical project I said to him - "I am sure the project delivery status might have bugged you while you lay on the beach." He shook his head and replied - "No, I made the decision to take a vacation knowing that the team could be trusted with their skills and that all of you don't need me looking over your shoulder to get work done.".

So post-mortemically speaking(I know, it's not a word, but I trust you readers with analysis and word deduction skills) , a person tends to micromanage a team/person when he/she

@ thinks they are inept in getting a task done

@ does not trust that they can come up with the best solution without external help

@ thinks they are not motivated enough to get the task done without another pair of eyes overlooking their shoulder

@ has an obsessive compulsive urge to get the task status every few minutes.

So look back at stuff that you have micromanaged (or are doing right now) and check up on the need for it. How frequently do you demand a status update from your team? Do you have to check up on your kids every so often? Do you have to call your spouse every now and then and remind them of their tasks (or ask them when are they going to do it)? Do you have to force your parents to do stuff in the most technologically advanced way because you think that takes the shortest time?

But then...

Maybe your team is waiting to get important stuff completed before they send you a status update. Maybe the kids need to toy with their imagination and beliefs and it takes multiple efforts to learn and get things right. Maybe your spouse needs a break form all the reminders and instructions so that they can clear their mind for all their ToDos. Maybe your parents don't use the internet for paying bills or stand in long lines instead of using the self checkout line, but that is their comfort zone and and that is their assurance that the task will get done.

The next time you complain of being micromanaged, look it up in your life - This time you may be the vanquished, but have you ever been the perpetrator?