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Micromanaging is often talked about as a terrible practice because it undermines the capabilities of employees. However, micromanaging is not just a practice that is annoying and undermining, it’s actually a practice that reinforces negative and ineffective behavior among employees.
If you work for a micromanager who is not evolving in her ways, in order to get by and to get recognized for the good work you’re producing, you have to stoop to her level and reinforce the coping mechanism on which she’s dependent to cover up her own insecurities. This means that you have to check in with her more often than is necessary to make sure she feels informed and in control of your work. In addition to wasting time and resources, it gets you in an unhealthy routine of interrupting your workflow, and it may eventually convince you that you really do need to be checked on so frequently because of an inherent incompetency. The incompetency is not on your end—it’s on her’s! But the unfortunate magic of micromanaging is that it’s a practice used by managers who lack competence, but when they project that lacking onto their employees, it threatens the employees’ sense of competence. This cycle is not only terrible for business, but terrible for the development of healthy workforces.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.