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Are You Becoming the Micro-Manager You Never Wanted to Be?
Send to KindleI recently I overheard a man complaining to his business partner about his administrative assistant.
“She just does not do the things that she is supposed to do! And then, I find her leaving early. I swear that I have told her 100 times to put our marketing packets together, and they are still not finished,” he said frustrated. “What do I do?”
His business partner said “Well, we need to set up a plan for her. We need to say to her that she needs to complete 3 packets a day every day next week.”
“While I am writing this plan for her, I might as well write down everything that she is not doing,” he sighed. “I have never thought of myself as a micro manager.”
For the next hour, these two gentlemen wrote down a schedule for the administrator. It included a lunch break and goals for exactly what they wanted her to do… basically a plan for how he would continue to micro manage her.
Why do we become micro managers? Rarely do I meet managers who LOVE to micro manage; in fact, most of them hate it. However, they do find it necessary at times to keep people on track.
If you find yourself micro managing your employees, examine why this change has occurred. Here are a few reasons:
- The job changed: it could be that the job responsibilities have changed and no one has communicated this to the employee. If that is the case, get out your job description and review it with your employee. Begin the conversation with “I have noticed that we have some duties that are falling through the cracks. Do you have thoughts about that?” Give them the opportunity to give input.
- Your job changed: Managers sometimes fail to realize that if your job changed, probably the admin’s responsibilities have changed too and usually with no warning. Your admin may be frustrated that they are expected to do something that they do not know how to do. You need to make sure that they have the training and skills to be successful in the position.
- Your admin changed: Sometimes people need to move on to another position, and it is your job as their manager to help them leave gracefully. You might begin the conversation with “You know you just do not seem that happy in your current role. Can you tell me about that?”
- The wrong person: And last but not least, you might not have the right person in that role. If your admin does not love their job, you can either find another job for them or find another admin.
In any case, your job is to have a conversation with the employee and create an environment of accountability, not micro management. Make sure that the tasks and duties are agreed upon and written down. Realize that micro management is a short term solution to a long term problem. Use it wisely and sparingly.
Work/Life Balance
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Your superstar employee is out pregnant. An amazing employee’s father is dying of cancer. Your right hand man injured himself in a Rugby game. For these employees, you will do whatever it takes to help them get back up and running. You will bend over backwards to accomplish whatever is needed to help them because you know that the effort is appreciated and will be reciprocated.
Then, you have that one employee who always spends their accrued vacation hours before they have really earned them. When they call in sick, you grit your teeth and seethe. Life happens, yet you are bothered.
The question is why do some situations bother you with some employees and not with others?
The big difference is that your rockstar employee will have a contingency plan in place so that work gets done in spite of life interruptions. They will work from home when their child is sick, or they will make plans to cover their job if they need to suddenly leave town. It isn’t their job to do that, but they do it anyway as a way to contribute to the team and the core values of the company. That extra little something that they do to make your life easier is why you will work hard to make them happy. Those who don’t aren’t really team members.
Going, Going, Gone
Send to KindleLike most consultants that I know, my office is in various coffee shops along the Front Range of Colorado. As a result, I hear lots of different conversations. Last week, I was sitting next to two women in one of my favorite office locations. They were having a heated discussion about Woman #1’s abrupt departure from Woman #2’s company. The conversation went something like this:
Boss: “I can’t believe that you left!”
Employee: “I told you why I was frustrated!”
Boss: “But I thought we fixed the scheduling problem. You didn’t tell me about the other issues. I can’t fix it if I don’t know about it!”
Employee: “How can you not know about it? You are the boss!”
The “boss” is ultimately responsible for everything that happens within her company. One important responsibility is to ensure a healthy work environment for her employees. In this scenario, or any scenario for that matter, blaming her employee for lack of communication does not resolve the issue. I find most often that employees attempt to discuss problems in a very subtle way. They often feel hesitant to make complaints because they are really unsure of how receptive said boss will be. To help you spark the conversation with your employees, look for the signs that an employee is thinking about leaving:
- Your top performer is now underperforming. If you begin to have performance problems with someone that you’ve never had an issue with, it is time to ask them what’s going on.
- Your employee asks about another opportunity in your company. This means they are not feeling challenged, grown bored with their current position and may be considering a change.
- Your employee mentions that another company is trying to recruiting them. This is a very subtle way of an employee letting you know that they are exploring options.
If you don’t want to be caught unaware, then listen and pay attention to your staff. They will tell you when they are becoming unsatisfied.