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Softpanorama
(slightly skeptical)
Open Source Software Educational Society |
May the
source be with you,
but remember the KISS principle ;-)
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Understanding Micromanagers and Control Freaks
Paranoid & Incompetent Micromanagers as a special type of corporate
psychopath
| The psychopath is one of the most fascinating and distressing
problems of human experience.
Robert Hare
"Control freak" is one of those terms for which the meaning
is starting to get distorted:
- 68% of employees with a female boss consider her to
be a control freak.
- 57% of employees with a male boss consider him to be
a control freak.
"control freak is one
- A grown man who hasn't learned to control his temper.
- A man given to explosive overkill outbursts.
- A man who lies publicly when his lies are easily checked.
- A man who is extremely paranoid.
- A man who threatens those who disagree with him.
Ironically, targets of abusive
bosses tend to be high achievers, perfectionists and workaholics.
Often bully bosses try to mask their own insecurities by striking
out.
5 Tips: Dealing with an abusive boss - Oct. 15, 2004
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Note 1: Paranoid incompetent micromanagers
(PIMM), who successfully combine tight control of minute details/procedures
used in performing assignments with toxic incompetence are classic case
of corporate psychopaths and are often called "control freaks" (CF).
This category of corporate psychopaths represents really nasty
beasts of IT jungles who tend to completely paralyze their victims.
They are completely different from PHB on Dilbert cartoons and in many way
are close to narcissistic managers.
This set of pages designed to help victims and include:
we will mainly address this menace.
Note 2: Good advice about the topic
is difficult to come by and depends on your concrete situation: take any
recommendations with a grain of salt. Still you need to study this
type of personality extensively,. especially if you has a misfortune to
report to one. While extensive study does not guarantee survival it does
alleviate sufferings as the more you understand about this beasts them you
can control yourself and environment and the more you can predict their
reactions and structure your reaction in the most constructive (in the circumstances)
way.
Maliciously incompetent micromanager (PIMM) is one of the worst choices
of boss the life can give you. Not only PIMM tries to control every
little detail of every little project they assign to you, instead of giving
you the job and leaving you to do it. They often tend to be very process-oriented,
and usually will bog you down in tons of useless documentation.
Micromanagers are simultaneously a special type of
corporate psychopaths
and a special type of addicts. As the page
Toleration of Workplace
Bullies aptly put it:
Are you a micromanager? "Who me? No of course not. I'm thorough. I'm
competent. Ok, so I am a little methodical. That's not bad. Is it?"
Micromanagers like many addicts, alcoholics,
rageaholics, fanatics, etc. are the last person on the planet to recognize
their addiction is in controlling others. The compulsion
to look over your employee's shoulders has nothing to do with being
meticulous or careful it has everything to do with control. Yes you.
That's right I'm talking to you El Presidente. Your employees are calling
you much worse. For example, ruler, extremist,
bureaucrat, tyrant, bully, persecutor, tormenter. And
trust me, those are the nice names. People who micromanage do so because
they are the ones who feel unsure and self-doubting.
You need to study those pages as they are very relevant to the topic.
Like any psychopath they are bullies and
over-controlling is one of the most effective method of intimidation.
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Over-controlling is one of the most effective
method of intimidation
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Like many other addicts - whether alcoholics or workaholics or narcoaddicts,
they fail to realize and admit that they are addicts -
their addiction is in controlling others.
But what makes micromanagers especially dangerous is pervasive paranoia.
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What makes micromanagers especially dangerous
is pervasive paranoia. An unmistakable sign of paranoia
is continual mistrust which simultaneously is the most
distinctive feature of any micromanager. Paranoid managers
are suspicious, touchy, humorless, quick to take offense and
slow to forgive, self-righteous, argumentative,
often litigious.
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An unmistakable sign of paranoia is continual mistrust which simultaneously
is the most distinctive feature of any micromanager. Paranoid managers
are suspicious, touchy, humorless, quick to take offense and slow to forgive,
self-righteous, argumentative, often litigious.
Prefer to keep distance and avoid any intimacy;
often they seem tense, cold and brusque. Paranoid personalities
find causal connections everywhere; for them nothing is coincidental.
All PIMM are bullies but the reverse is not true: not all bullies are
PIMM. Still both types of psychopaths have a distinct a tendency toward
sadism and derive perverse gratification from harming others. They like
to hurt, frighten, tyrannize. . They do it for a sense of power
and control, and will often only drop subtle hints about what they are up
to. At the same time they polish their aggressive, domineering manner
in such a way to disguise any intimidation as legitimate corporate behavior.
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All PIMMs are simultaneously bullies but
reverse is not true. Studying literature about bullies greatly
helps to understand PIMM behavior, especially in case of women.
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PIMM often see "improper behavior" (their favorite term) in innocuous
behavior of subordinates and irrelevant events. Even joke might be
an "improper behavior". They are constantly on guard, searching for
hidden motives and threats. Usually they are hypersensitive to critique
(and not without the reason as their are incompetent or most often grossly
incompetent) and often take offense where none is intended. Fear of
exposure of paranoid micromanager is blended into a pattern of pervasive
distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted
as malevolent. That's why paranoid micromanagers rarely come forward to
seek help from subordinates. At least direct help.
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Unfocused rage
alone will not help you and does no harm to a corporate psychopath.
Moreover it actually benefits him/her. It takes discipline,
study, and a lot of thinking as well as tactical intelligence
to reposition yourself in way to be less vulnerable to PIMM
and in forming proper alliances: "alliances of fed-up".
So, don't just get mad, get smart and
remember that in fighting corporate psychopath you need help
from other people. Complaining to HR should be
a well prepared collective action, never an individual act of
despair even if due to tactical considerations it needs to be
staged as a sequence of individual complains.
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Sometimes this type of corporate psychopath pride themselves on their
rationality and objectivity when in reality there is none. This is
more typical of women PIMM who feel that they are different from other women
(and they really are). An inability to trust, doubts about others' loyalty,
distortion and fabrication, misinterpretation, and bearing grudges unnecessarily
are hallmarks of the disorder. Pathological and instinctive aggressive counter-attack,
the obsessive need to control others is also a prominent feature.
They like to collect evidence on subordinates.
It is paranoia that makes PIMM addicted to control and power in a compulsive
drive for gaining success. This addiction for control makes micromanagers
ask for status, data and reports from their subordinates more often than
is needed for constructive intervention. They pervert those management
tools and convert then into torture chamber. Paradoxically female
PIMM often attack females more then males...
A very interesting feature of PIMM is that they are more interested in
the way things are done and less in the results
achieved (pathologic procedure orientation). They
tend to be over-involved in trivialities and paperwork, while losing strategic
direction of the projects and essentially abandoning leadership. In a sense
extremes meet. Like in case of
laissez fair [do nothing] managers
they completely lose the ball and projects often fail from the lack of leadership.
If they don't that's because there are still competent subordinates who
can correct even gross blunders of their bosses while suffering abuse in
return.
All-in-all micromanagement is a pathological reaction of paranoia and
associated feelings of insecurity and distrust. Being incompetent PIMM rightly
feels that that his position is threatened but he/she has no constructive
ways to react to this threat. Instead the reaction became highly pathological:
gatekeeping (blocking all alternative information flows that does
not directly comes from the manager), making all important decisions himself
and at the same time requiring frequent detailed reports and data, obsessive
preoccupation with procedural details (project plans seems to be the favorite
pasture). Further, such manager while in completely basic in theirs technical
skills (often grossly incompetent with the level of over-promoted secretary)
are unable to understand technical discussions and distinguish good suggestions
from bad. To compensate this gross inadequacy they try to over-procedurally
everything hoping that this will guarantee making the right decision and
prevent exposing their gross incompetence.
This page is written as a self-help material for those who need to buy
some time or are unwilling or incapable to leave ASAP. It is important
to understand that it such situation you cannot hide in your cubicle; this
is a war more resembling hand combat in the trenches. Do not take your situation
lightly. This is very serious and despite your best efforts you might be
not able to survive for long. Unless you are prepared on the level
of Green Berets (which should become your role model anyway, at least as
long as you stay in this environment ;-) you might not be in the same office
the next month or even the next week. If you want to stay (for example buying
your time to obtain some important certification) you might be suffering
post traumatic stress syndrome like many solders who spent some time at
the front lines: chronic stress destroys most
humans really fast.
Don't be surprised if Excel spreadsheet from a tool suddenly become instruments
of torture. everything needs to be documented, real work be damned. This
kind of manager at extreme form can requires a memo requesting permission
to use the bathroom :-). Another common characteristic, as pointed out by
numerous posts here, is a lack of a clear vision of the end goal of a
project. They will change direction in the middle of the project,
usually several times, and almost always reversing
themselves at least once.
The true micromanager becomes so obsessed with details that "the big
picture" becomes lost in a flood of insignificant tasks and documents to
the extent that it impair the job in question.
Essentially, a micromanager wants you to document and justify every action
(after clearing it with him first, of course), do as you are told, leave
the decisions to him, and so on. Moreover it also wants to justify his own
inaction -- many PIMM are notoriously indecisive and will torture you getting
unnecessary for the decision task, the decision that any competent manager
can take on the spot.
Micromanagers are often using submissive subordinates (patsies) to create
a hostile environment because they are too insecure to interact with worker
bees themselves. You can expect that PIMM all of a sudden, expect
a from you stellar performance on the task that they never managed to explain
or that was passed in grossly mangled form from one of their patsies. They
also are pathologically economical in email and refuse to answer your emails
or put anything in writing. Some are also technology agnostic despite working
in IT environment and refuse to implement basic IT productivity tools like
trouble tickets processing software (helpdesk or a bug tracking system).
Actually
you never work "with" a micromanager and you, probably should never work
"for" one longer then absolutely necessary. It is very
dangerous to work for PIMM for a long time because
he/she will eventually make you mad, intolerant, obstructive, physically
or mentally ill, or insubordinate.
But one of the most distinct feature of PIMM is their obsession
with extracting from you endless stream of useless reports
that supposly are needed to make some minor decision (which they just
cannot make, anyway).
Do not expect help from HR, they are instrument of management and as
such inclined to swipe the dirt under the carpet. IT is often thought
of as a dead expense anyway -- not seen as a potential revenue stream generator
so the instances of nepotism and protectionism substantially improve chances
of substandard people to fill those management positions. As for some
unknown reason percentage of PIMM among women is statistically higher. Actually
in the animal world female predators are considerably more dangerous then
male predictors of the same species. This is true both for scorpions and
for lions. In this sense affirmative gender-based promotion to management
might have an interesting side effect on IT environment.
Remember that the person who is micromanaging you is your boss. It is
prudent to consider a micromanaging boss to be a special type of corporate
psychopath as he usually readily exhibiting traits that are destructive
for human relations even in mild situation. That returns us to the question
of where you should stay. Moreover that
means that any attempt to correct
the bad behavior of the micromanager are doomed and will be simply perceived
as a hostile actions by the PIMM.
Please be aware that they are special type of corporate psychopath s
as such do not know such thing as remorse: perceiving a threat the micromanager
will take steps to have you punished or even terminated to regain control.
So you should not believe naive recommendation of some papers or books to
confront micromanager and try somehow communicate your working problem to
him: going this path you need to account for a possibility find yourself
unemployed or in a more unpleasant situation at work. Generally you
should be very skeptical about content of books and pages devoted to micromanagement:
most do not understand this very complex phenomenon and completely omit
the psychopathology part of the equation. And dealing with psychopath
is not for everybody.
As with any psychopath you became dependent of his irrational behavior
so you need carefully study what makes this type of psychopath tick, what
makes you want to explode, and develop some way to deal with them. Most
PIMM are driven by by two powerful factors:
- Their own insecurity and fear of failure and/or revelation of their
incompetence.
- Underling components of obsessive compulsive disorder: they are
addicts with a very peculiar type of addition.
Chambers book in one of the better one on this topic and while he tries
to sit between two chairs he still provide some more or less useful recommendation
that can be very carefully experimented with. Do not consider him to be
an ultimate guru and please be skeptical about each and every recommendation
(the same is totally applicable to this page; this is a very complex topic).
In this elaborate game of cat and mouse you need to rely on your own instincts
of what works and what does not. Neither this page not any other Web page
or book provide ready made, 100% reliable recipes for dealing with this
type of psychopath. But they definitely can help to avoid making the
most typical mistakes.
It is important to keep in mind that as a rule PIMM suffers from paranoia
and/or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Traditionally military
and retail traditionally suffered from micromanagers most. For example,
in one of recent stories (Generals
versus Rumsfeld) LA Times wrote that Rumsfeld can be considered
to be classical micromanager (semi-competent or incompetent but extremely
arrogant and over-controlling functionary).
Generals versus Rumsfeld - Los Angeles Times
Since the day he took command of the Pentagon, Rumsfeld has been
using his famous "8,000-mile screwdriver" to tilt the civil-military
balance his way. According to his critics, he is Robert McNamara reborn
— an arrogant micromanager, contemptuous of soldierly expertise and
certain of his own infallibility.
Especially telling, in their eyes, was Rumsfeld's treatment of Gen.
Eric Shinseki, the Army's chief of staff, who before the Iraq invasion
warned that the occupation was likely to pose large challenges. Rumsfeld
and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz immediately retaliated.
For speaking unwelcome truths, Shinseki found himself pilloried, humiliated
and marginalized. In the eyes of his fellow generals, Shinseki became
a martyr.
In IT environment PIMM flourish due to stagnation and bureaucratization
of many departments. Paradoxically due to downsizing and offshoring micromanagers
had found in IT especially fertile ground. In addition to creating
stress and discontent among employees, the micromanager's style has three
distinct features:
- They inhibit your development, thus arresting
your growth both profession and as a person. Dealing with micromanager
is like being put in a cage in the zoo with some wild animal. This social
environment does not suit very well for most humans. As for professional
side he spoils so much of your time with his useless or harmful
requests for paperwork and overcontrolling that almost nothing is left
from each working day.
There is no room left for advancement of the subordinates, as the
micro-manager-boss does not relinquish any authority. He delegates tasks
but not responsibility. This gives rise to resentment among employees.
Also subordinates are so afraid of the intimidation that they no longer
take enough interest in work. Creativity dries up. Motivation
drops with plummeting morale. Productivity becomes the obvious victim.
Everything became fake.
You can counter this with relentless quest for self-education and
obtaining additional certifications. One of the best possible moves
is to start attending some evening classes. Use your time wisely
during working day reserving some chunk for self-education.
- They delegates nothing of consequence. Generally authority
and responsibility are like bonds and interest: one is impossible without
the other. PIMMs invented a new financial instrument: a derivative
instrument called "pure responsibility without any authority" :-).
Because the PIMM often punishes mistakes learn to hide mistakes
and avoid taking risks. The micromanagement
style creates and expect drones ("yes men" or "yes women" ) and you
need to mimicry this. If you don't mind, you will soon discover that
this is the easiest and safest way to go along with micromanagers.
- They are often flirting with the hazards of overload for themselves
and, of course, for their staff. In is important
to understand that there is no free lunch and micromanagement="staff
overload". While loading ton of useless tasks on subordinates they
also often suffer from overload themselves.
Usually they try to do it all and control
everything personally. Thus they need to put the extra hours and sometimes
weekends or other scheduled days off. You can often
use this overload to your advantage as it diminishes the possibility
of "total control" with which micromanagers terrorize staff. Wise tactic
is to try to increase the level of overload for them whenever possible
(for example by spamming them with all kind of superficially relevant
documents and emails) so that they have less time controlling
you and at the same time an illusion that they control the situation
tightly.
- Among other games micromanagers plays
-
Strategic
Noncompliance
Agreeing
upfront to take action while having no intention of taking that
action, or cooperating in order to buy time to find a way of avoiding
taking action.
- Information
Manipulation.
Withholding
or putting a spin on information, or covering up or giving false
information.
- Occupation.
Acting
as the gatekeeper for vital information, and monopolizing relationships,
resources or information.
- Shunning.
Subtly or
overtly excluding an individual in a way that punishes him or her,
or orchestrating a group's behavior so that someone is obviously
"out-group."
- Discrediting.
Using
personal attacks or irrelevant criticisms to create doubt about
another person's competence or credibility.
- Intimidation.
"Growling,"
yelling, glaring or making threats to scare off an individual.
- Filibuster.
Using
excessive verbiage to prevent action, out-talk objectors in a meeting
or monopolize, and thereby exhaust, meeting time.
- Invisible
Walls.
Actively
instigating actions or creating counterproductive perceptions so
that an argued directive will be, if not impossible, extremely difficult
to implement.
- Camouflage.
Creating
a distraction, emphasizing the inconsequential, sending someone
off on a wild goose chase or deliberately triggering someone's anxiety
buttons.
- Powerful
Alliances.
Using relationships
with powerful people to intimidate, impress or threaten others;
engaging in name-dropping and strategic displays of influence over
important decision makers.
Micromanagement is like high blood pressure they usually cause: it varies
in intensity. But despite large variety in intensity of some "over controlling
behaviors" (for example there is a type of micromanages concentrate on micromanagement
of time, the other of micromanagement of the work by proceduralazing every
activity to death but not care about time that much and do not control deadlines
too tightly) they all have several common characteristics that I will try
to summarize based on my own experience as well as available literature
(Chambers book is probably the best of what I read).
I am still working on the list, so it is far from being orthogonal, and
features overlap or even repeat:
- Remember that PIMMs are a special type of psychopath: "corporate
psychopath". Not all micromanagers are corporate psychopath
and not all corporate psychopath are micromanagers. Still those two
categories considerably overlap, the fact that escaped Chambers. Incompetence
dramatically increases the chances that a particular micromanager is
a corporate psychopath. Paranoia makes this certain.
While it’s not a diagnostic category found in the DSM IV (the therapist’s
bible for diagnostic purposes) an exaggerated emphasis on control is
part of a cluster of behaviors that can be labeled as compulsive
and generally characterized by
perfectionism, orderliness, workaholic tendencies,
an inability to make commitments
or to trust others and a fear of having their flaws exposed.
- Most obvious of all they are consummate liars, being
unfruitful about almost everything (even inconsequential things
most people wouldn't waist time and energy lying about). They are
insincere, although often appearing to be sincere (especially to
superiors and to those with little experience dealing with them).
- They use language somewhat differently from normal people.
Their language is more formal, more infested with corporate buzzwords
and sometimes leaves strange feeling of being "automatically generated"
as it lacks personality or humor.
- They are social chameleons. They can read people well
and they are able to identify button they need to push people. Not
all psychopath are smooth operators though. Some psychopath lay
the charm on too thick, coming across as glib, superficial and unconvincing.
Some of them do have enough social skills and education to interact
successfully with IT professionals and instead rely on direct threats,
coercion, intimidation to dominate the others and get what they
want.
- Important characteristic of psychopath is their complete,
ultimate, borderless irresponsibility
- Ability to avoid taking responsibility for things that go
wrong; instead they blame others. They usually have impressive
supply of excuses.
- They tend not to keep promises if this is inconvenient to
them and break promises without any remorse.
- They try to manipulate other people and are usually successful
at least with their superiors. Often have typical "kiss up, kick
down" style. They do not spend much energy on small fish.
- They believe they can protect themselves by staying in control
of every aspect of their lives, including their relationships.
That's why Micromanagers take the need for control to new heights
of absurdity. for them this is coping mechanism that helps to relieve
anxiety.
- For micromanagers "the term empowerment means only
sharing of responsibility with others,
but not the sharing of authority. They exercise
control by requiring that others receive their approval for even
minor decisions, changes, and courses of action....
- Deep down, these people are terrified of being vulnerable.
underneath of tough appearance is usually a mountain of unhappiness.
These people are riddled with anxiety, fear, insecurity, and anger.
- Leaders need the truth but micromanager reduce
communication to flattery and capitulation
- They promote "groupthink" that naturally leads to faulty
decisions which are made because of "a desire for conformity and
concurrence within the leadership group at the expense of
critical and objective thinking."
- They demonstrate uncanny ability to shield itself from any
information that contradicted its desired course of action
- A micromanager does not trust anybody. This creates a negative
feedback loop where all employees becomes demoralized and stop trusting
each other because they understand that manager doesn't trust them.
That destroys team solidarity and former team became a pack of frightened
and suspicious toward each other animals.
- They try to surround themselves with a protective layer of
sycophants and "voluntary slaves" -- deeply unsecure "yes sayers".
- Micromanagers ("micromanagers") classic survival strategy is
to surround themselves with staff members who mirror their personality
and work style. They destroy the teams extremely effectively converting
them into a bunch of hostile toward each other indented servants.
Staff who are different often feel devalued and especially stressed
in such a setting
In the beginning, you made snap decisions, you issued commands,
employees and associates flocked to be under your umbrella.
But then one day, your crowd of fans
started shrinking, and as your audience grew smaller, the logical
thing to do was, as the kings of yore did, surround yourself with
a court of well-wishers and groupies.
There are two types of subordinates that micromanager like:
- Over-agreeable. These are “yes” people who have
a powerful desire to be likes and appreciated. sometime they are
called conformists.
They never say no to anything and are far too uncomfortable to voice
an opposing opinion. They are often overwhelmed with too many projects
since they never say "no" to anything and are always positive in
approach. These people can be problematic in the workplace when
they agree with one person’s approach and then also agree with an
opposing position from someone else.
- Brownnosers. Also known as bootlickers, people
with this personality type believe that the shortest way to the
top is on the coattails of the boss. They will exhibit a complete
devotion and dedication to those in charge and can act as spires
that bring information to the micromanager. They will conceal the
truth about their tactics or any of the boss’ activities even when
faced with the facts. They live in a constant self-reinforcing denial
state that is perpetuated by the sense of importance bosses get
from them.
- Micromanagers are more then just incompetent perfectionists as
quantity turns into quality:
- They have pathological, extreme detail orientation (also known
as perfectionism).
- They have never been top professional in their field and often
can be classified as completely incompetents. The latter fuels anxiety.
- Expect relentless criticism of your work and extreme forms on
NIH syndrome. A micromanaging boss, by definition, robs an employee
of independence and freedom to do the task. Every speck of work has
to be put under a managerial microscope and, usually, subjected to endless
rounds of procedural justification and/or criticism as a micromanager
painstakingly deconstructs the job until, finally, its exactly as it
would be had he done it himself.
- Note: There's a
fine line between mentoring and micromanaging and micromanaging
is often disguises as mentoring by PIMM. Still
you might need to take a close look at the quality of your work.
the key question is whether manager
is teaching you important skills or keeping you from making costly
mistakes. Competent micromanagers are
so rare breed that they
are not discussed here.
- There are 'methods behind the madness.' If your boss
is a micromanager, your life can be a seemingly endless misery of humiliation
and frustration. But there is some order behind this sordid situation.
You can expect two things:
- Typical micromanager hobby is to convert performance feedback
in torture chamber. Micromanagers take good management
practices to extremes and covert them into their opposites. interferes
with employees' ability to do their jobs properly, while creating
undue stress for them. Outstanding examples are evident in the area
of performance feedback.
- All employees need regular feedback on performance, though
some need more detailed feedback more frequently than others.
- From the micromanager, however, feedback tends to
be constant and detailed and often excessively
focused on procedural minutia rather than on overall performance,
quality and results.
- When you go to work in the morning you should know
well that that yesterday's decisions (if
any) may very well have changed today by your favorite
PIMM. That means
that sometimes you can accept unacceptable things from PIMM banking
that he/she change them shortly. This expectations poker is
that part of life under PIMM. Usually they have pretty short
attention span.
- Chambers define five typical behaviors of a micromanager.
Most of them deeply rooted in insecurity:
- Micromanagers exercise raw power. They
like to abuse subordinates. They love to flex their muscles-asserting
their power and authority just because they can. While unable to
subordinate themselves, they control others with an uncompromising
sense of entitlement and self-interest.
Ironically, targets of abusive bosses
tend to be high achievers, perfectionists and workaholics. Often
bully bosses try to mask their own insecurities by striking out.
- Micromanagers dictate time.
- They like to control and manipulate others' time.
- They don't trust people to assess their own workload, so
they routinely dictate priorities and distort deadlines.
- And while they guard their own time with an iron fist, they're
notorious for interrupting others, misusing and mismanaging
meetings and perpetuating crises.
- Micromanagers control not results, but the procedure
(how work gets done) They want everything to be done their
way. That's why they call "my way of highway" type of bosses. They
dismiss others' knowledge, experience and ideas-no matter how good-then
hover over them to make sure they're doing things "right."
- Micromanagers require undue approvals.
They share responsibility, but not authority. As the "bottlenecks"
of the workplace, they allow no one to move forward without their
approval-even on routine or time-sensitive matters.
- Micromanagers demand frequent and unnecessary reports.
They are driven to know what's going on. They monitor workers to
death-requiring a stream of needless reports that focus on activity
over outcomes.
- The key shortcoming of the micromanager is inability to delegate
anything. Delegation is a primary management skill, essential
to effective management, but the micromanager seems unable to delegate
properly. Concerning delegation, the micromanager:
- Cannot delegate effectively or delegate at all
- Often hands out only the easy, boring or dirty tasks while
delegating nothing of interest or importance
- May delegate, but put the employee in a position of deciding
nothing of significance without prior approval
- May hand out work, supposedly delegating,
but hover instead, providing detailed
direction, dictating methods rather than providing
proper preparation, making the employee responsible for results
and not allowing he or she to figure anything out and learn
by doing.
- May hand out a task, but pull it back at the first sign
of trouble, failing to provide the employee with a condition
essential to growth and development: the reasonable freedom
to fail.
- A micromanager are almost always gatekeepers.
They want to make sure that all communication into and out of his team
goes through via the gates the he/she controls:
- Attempt is made to isolate his/her
team members so that they have no contact with anyone else in the
company and their only knowledge of what the corporate objectives
is coming from the Gatekeeper.
- Mistrust and headiness dominates among staff.
- The Gatekeeper manipulates both
his team and other teams by distorting the information
that passes through him. He will tell other teams that his
team is doing things that they are not. Since there is only one
source for the information, it is difficult for other teams to know
if there are differing opinions on an issue.
- If someone on his team attempts
to contact someone outside of the team, they are disciplined
by the Gatekeeper.
- The Gatekeeper prefers that few
in the company even know of his team´s existence because it
makes it that much easier to control the flow of communication.
- He delays putting projects into
production as long as possible because doing so would require
him to spend more time manning his Gate.
- Start looking for a job immediately. Try to
blindside them while trying to find a new job. Here is one
relevant quote
"Just do what I did, I bided my time working
for an impossible boss (he was the IT director) and I had worked
my way up from being a junior support to be the support supervisor
(they didn't have a support manager). He wouldn't make
decisions, constantly gave conflicting instructions (even when
the originals were in writing).
I lasted 18 months in total for the company, the last 6 were
as the supervisor. Then one day I walked and he called me for
a meeting to discuss his next 'great plan', I handed him my
resignation, he didn't see it coming. I must confess I took
immense satisfaction doing this to him but not the company or
my co workers.
I keep in touch from time to time but my old boss has not
said a single word to me since that day."
- The company is usually part of the problem
and not a part of the solution.
- Micromanagers are usually "Schemers" and their
needs must be met at the expense of all others.
- Despite being self-righteous, rigid, secretive or volatile,
The Schemer avoids taking direct responsibility – the earmark of
a true control artisan.
- The Schemer will assure you that he or she wants to share power,
cultivate other leaders and so on. But when decision time
comes, the phrase you hear most often is, "yes, but..."
The Schemer constantly withholds full authority, moves the goal
line, and then berate subordinates.
- Micromanagers are never accountable.
Their techniques of control are so deft that they stay
out of accountability's reach. Who can take someone to task for being
sick? How can you challenge someone who is only trying to be helpful?
If no one ever does anything right, how can it be wrong to seize control?
- I have met many other controllers, avoiders who control through
constant subject changes, seducers who control through cuteness,
superheroes who control through high achievement, and intellectuals
who control through micro-analysis of all experience.
The variations are countless. But it's
the unifying characteristic of all controllers that is fascinating
is that they are never accountable.
It's really a tremendous waste of energy, of course, because you
can never fully control someone else, at least, not forever. Letting
go of the control urge frees up energy and makes the family business
ownership world much more comfortable and enjoyable for all.
Chambers in his book on micromanagement suggest the formula:
Micromanagement = Fear + Comfort + Confusion.
This formula helps him to bring order to the variety of destructive
managerial behaviors that fall under the term “micromanagement”, including:
- not listening to others,
- exercising power indiscriminately,
- feeding on the failure of subordinates, delegating blame,
- personalizing disagreements,
- imposing arbitrary deadlines,
- mismanaging meetings,
- delegating responsibility while keeping a vise grip on authority.
Chambers also tries to suggest a simple classification of different types
of micromanagers:
- First, control of methodology, or managers who insist on
having the work done their way. This, says Chambers, is the essence
of micromanagement—the behavior of exercising
relentless control over the method by which work gets done—and it ranks
number one on his micromanagement survey.
- The second behavior is control and manipulation of time—an
especially intense and frustrating micromanagement behavior.
- Third, is excessive monitoring and reporting.
- Finally, dysfunctional delegation and collaboration, which takes
the form of excessive demands for approval and an inability of the manager
to subordinate self.
Those four are distinct behaviors and they can be present in various
combinations. For example there are micromanagers that tightly control methodology
(procedure freaks) and require excessive reporting (documentation freaks)
but do not practice excessive monitoring and do not control time (pure control
freaks).
Micromanagers destroy their staff both individually (as human beings
primarily by destroying self-respect) and as a social organism. In no time
instead of a team you have a pack of stray dogs. Among typical negative
consequences of micromanagement we can mention:
- resentment,
- extinguished initiative,
- abandonment,
- obsolescence—personal and group,
- creation of the “disloyal opposition”
Excessive demands for approval extinguish risk taking, fail to develop
others and prepare them to take over the micromanager’s job, leave people
unprepared for crises, bring potential for abuse, impose costs on customers,
and result in underutilization of assets.
Excessive and dysfunctional monitoring and reporting involves more specific
flaws that include an inability or unwillingness to establish and communicate
expectations, monitoring through back channels; being unsupportive of telecommuting
and working from remote locations; and monitoring the wrong things—being
blinded by activity (also known as “input bias”), restrictions on process,
monitoring short-term costs vs. outcome or long-term impact, and monitoring
limited indicators rather than outcomes.
From my own experience, PIMM generally posses the kind of character that
seeks faults as compared to seeking working solutions. Why Micromanagers
do what they do:
- First of all PIMM are psychopath, a very important fact that
escaped Chambers; obsessive desire to control for them is compulsive
additional and leitmotif of their existence: Micromanagers are real
control freaks not distinguishable from alcoholics and narco-addicts.
Control for them is final and ultimate goal.
- Typically they instantly lose sight of goals
and are immerse themselves and their subordinates in creation of procedure-oriented
nonsense. And the tragic thing is that this procedure-building activity
that will be used as a yard-stick for evaluating subordinate performance.
Welcome to the land of socialism, comrades.
- Need to justify their pitiful existence despite lack of expertise:
Micromanagers, similar to bullies at schools,
seek faults in others to justify their own existence. They also want
to introduce and attempt to push techniques designed for the sole purpose
of control. They really love SLAs
Female micromanager are more difficult case then make micromanagers
It is important to know that micromanagers are often females and that
the majority of victims are also females. Female micromanager are
more "kitty-catty" and usually are more dangerous opponent then male micromanagers.
In this case "affirmative action" became a really nasty, perverted joke
(you can be sure that they will be among active member of any "Female employees
career mentioning" or "minorities empowerment" initiative).
|
Female micromanagers often hardest on their
own sex
|
In case you are male be assured that will use their gender as a bulletproof
west. In case you are a female they will definitely try to appeal to female
solidarity, complain about nasty male-oriented culture of the company, "glass
ceiling" and/or exploit common for females problems.
In
Lovefraud Blog post
When
women are sociopaths-psychopaths the author aptly noted:
There is actually very little research data available regarding sociopathy
in non-criminals and in women. The little research that has been done
reveals that sociopathy in women entails two or three main features
that are similar to those found in men.
Namely, female sociopaths lack empathy and enjoy manipulating and exploiting
others. Violent and impulsive behavior is less
common in sociopathic women. This fact may make them more dangerous,
as they more easily blend in with the rest of society.
The key traits of sociopathic females
A recent study of adolescent girls in detention performed by Crystal
L. Schrum, M.A. and Randall T. Salekin, Ph.D. of the University of Alabama
and reported in Behavioral Sciences and the Law, revealed the
core qualities that best described young female sociopaths.
The teens were callous and lacked empathy,
had a grandiose sense of self worth and were conning and manipulative.
They were also likely to engage in impersonal sexual relationships.
Importantly, the researchers revealed that female sociopaths did not
necessarily have “shallow emotions.” Again
the lack of impulsivity and shallow emotions may make a female sociopath
more difficult to spot.
... ... ...
The case of Michelle Drake also illustrates something else about
female sociopaths. The courts are more likely to go easy on them. This
attitude of the courts may reflect the fact that
many people excuse the behavior of female
sociopaths and feel sorry for them. Look at the cases
of women in the news lately. We don’t know if the women involved are
sociopaths, however, these cases do illustrate
the double standard that exists in how we judge female as opposed to
male antisocial behavior. Several women teachers have
been found guilty of sexually exploiting students. They were treated
very leniently for the same crimes that would have put a man in jail
for many years.
Fighting micromanager is not for everybody and requires careful planning,
studying the enemy and a lot of courage. The details are documented
in a separate page. Among them:
- Document all communication, since micromanagers change opinion
and directions frequently. Document the toxic atmosphere
they create and consult the lawyer so that you can be ready if disputes
ends with your termination. that does not mean that you should go to
court. It is not easy to prove that this is a discrimination.
- Learn to control your anger
- Study
the art
of communication with micromanagers
- And last, but not least, yes, start looking for a new job.
Remember, generals are worthless without soldiers. And on that note,
be a brave soldier, not a sycophantic pawn! As Scott Berkun aptly
noted:
The best advice for having a bad manager is to seek other employment.
Don’t undervalue your happiness: it’s impossible to be happy if you
work directly for someone you can’t stand. It may be difficult to find
another job, but if you are willing to make compromises in other areas
(salary, position, project, location, etc.) it will certainly be possible.
Being happy and underpaid is a much better way to spend a life than
unhappy and anything else.
Making life changes, even progressive beneficial ones, is difficult
and leaving a bad manager might require
weeks or months of less than pleasant living. However,
on the other side of any decision to leave is something you can’t get
where you currently are: the possibility of a good manager, and the
sanity that it will bring you. The “never quit, tough it out” attitude
is a mistake if you are in a situation that can never result in your
satisfaction. I think the act of finding a new job, or even quitting
before you've found one, can be a way to take more control. It puts
you back at center of your life, where you belong. There are risks involved,
but it puts you, and not your manager or company, at the center of them.
But for the sake of this essay I’ll assume that you are either
unwilling or unable to leave. Maybe you’re looking for something
new and have to endure a bad manager until you’ve found it, or perhaps
your family is heavily dependent on you and your options are limited.
That’s fine. Just remember to re-read the first paragraph every month
or so to make sure you’re considering all your choices, and not hiding
behind the deceptive safety of a merely acceptable job, when what you
need is something more.
|
|
Notes:
- This is a Spartan WHYFF (We Help
You For Free) site written by people for whom English
is not a native language.
Some amount of grammar and spelling errors should be
expected.
- The site contain some broken links
as it develops like a living tree...
Please try to use Google, Open directory,
etc. to find a replacement link (see
HOWTO search the WEB for details). We would appreciate
if you can
mail us a correct link.
|
|
|
| "Wake up call: The vast majority of managers at every
level in American business and government are mindless
thugs, abusive kiss up kick down morons who have not the
ability to lead. Welcome to the culture that is the United
States of America!"
Al Franken, cited via quote in
Kissing up, kicking down |
See also News section in the main
page It covers wider spectrum of material...
A practical book the provides valuable tools for confronting life's
difficult challenges!!!, December 29, 2006
+++++
Self-rate yourself on a scale from 1 (meaning little agreement) to 5
(meaning strongly agree) on the following ten items:
(1) In a crisis or chaotic situation, I calm myself and focus on taking
useful actions.
(2) I'm usually optimistic, seeing difficulties as temporary and believe
things will eventually turn out well.
(3) I can tolerate high levels of uncertainty and ambiguity.
(4) I'm good at bouncing back from difficulties and quickly adapt to
new developments.
(5) I'm self-confident and have a healthy concept of who I am.
(6) I prefer to work without a written job description since I'm more
effective when I'm free to do what I think is best in each situation.
(7) I trust my intuition and "read" people well.
(8) I'm a good listener and have good empathy skills.
(9) I've been made stronger and better by difficult experiences.
(10) I've converted misfortune into good luck and even found benefits
in bad experiences.
A low score of (under 25) means your resiliency skills are weak and
you would greatly benefit from this amazing, easy-to-read, psychobabble-free
book by Dr. Al Siebert, a clinical psychologist and Director of "The
Resiliency Center". (`Resiliency' means (i) coping well with ongoing
negative change (ii) sustaining good health and energy under constant
pressure (iii) bouncing back from setbacks and adversities (iv) changing
to a new way of living and working when an old way no longer works (v)
and doing all this without acting in harmful ways.)
A middle score of (25 to 45) means your resiliency skills are adequate
but probably can be greatly enhanced by using this book.
A high score of (over 45) means you have good resiliency skills and
this book will validate many things you are doing right.
This book in a nutshell presents five resiliency "levels" or skills
(level four is divided into 4 sub-levels while level 5 is divided into
3 sub-levels) so, in affect, the reader is presented with ten essential
resiliency skills that Siebert has distilled from "the emerging new
science of resiliency psychology." This book, besides other important
things, shows you how to:
(1) Sustain strong, healthy energy in non-stop pressure and change
(2) Bounce back quickly from setbacks
(3) Gain strength from adversities
(4) Convert misfortune into good fortune
(5) Overcome tendencies to feel like a victim, and stay detached from
victim reactions of others
(6) Overcome the three main resiliency barriers.
Who is this book written for? Siebert explains: "The resiliency guidelines
in this book focus mainly on resiliency in the workplace, but they apply
broadly to all aspects of life." (Actually, I think Siebert is being
too restrictive in saying that these principles "focus mainly on resiliency
in the workplace." Personally, I think these principles are essential
to know so as to effectively play the game of life.)
What will this book NOT tell you? It "will not tell you what to do or
how to act or think...Resilient people are those who decide that somehow,
some way, they will do the very best they can to survive, cope, and
make things turn out well." This book helps you develop your own unique
way of being resilient by being both self-reliant and socially responsible.
As a physically disabled person, my personal favorite chapter was entitled
"Mastering Extreme Resiliency Challenges." Included here are true stories
from 9/11 survivors. I feel Siebert outdoes himself in this penultimate
chapter.
Finally, this book has some key features. Important definitions, exercises,
and other important and essential information are isolated from the
main narrative as inserts so as to highlight key ideas. Each chapter
is broken up into sections with anecdotes, examples, and true stories
instead of having one long narrative. At the end of each chapter are
insightful "Resiliency Development Activities" that help you utilize
and think about the information from each chapter.
In conclusion, this is truly a helpful and unique book. Discover for
yourself why this book was named the winner of the 2006 Independent
Publisher Book Awards in the "Self Help" category at BookExpo America
(the largest book publishing event in the United States) and why
it was endorsed by the past president of
the American Psychological Association!!
Our Life is Not Determined By What Happens But How We React,
October 28, 2005
After reading Dr. Al Siebert's enlightening book, The Resiliency Advantage,
I was reminded of the old adage that was often drummed into me by my
parents, that our life is not determined by what happens to us but how
we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the
attitudes we bring to life. Thinking positively creates a chain reaction
pertaining to our thoughts, events and outcomes-a kind of catalyst that
can create extraordinary results.
Siebert begins his book by telling his readers how he came to the conclusion
that clinical psychology and psychiatry are not mental health professions
but rather mental illness professions. There does not seem to be any
focus on what makes individuals mentally healthy, but rather on what
causes mental illnesses and how do we go about treating these illnesses.
This prompted Siebert to do extensive research as to why some people
survive many of life's ordeals while others seem to continually flounder.
As a result of his thirst for knowledge of the subject matter he developed
a good understanding of what he calls "the survivor personality."
In 1996 he published his first book on the topic, "The Survivor Personality,"
and we now have the follow up, The Resiliency Advantage, that reflects
the tremendous amount of knowledge Siebert accumulated in his search
for the causes and effects of the survivor personality.
According to Siebert there exist several levels of resiliency that he
deals with in depth in his book: optimizing your health, emotions and
well-being; developing good problem solving skills; strengthening your
inner selfs; unleashing your curiosity and enjoy learning from the school
of life; power of positive expectations; integrating paradoxical abilities;
allowing everything to work well or the synergy talent; the talent for
serendipity.
In order to reinforce the learning of these principles, Siebert provides
many exercises, as well as brief case histories showing just how they
work out in practice.
There is some excellent material in this book, particularly the sections
dealing with learning from failures, benefits of curious and playful
questioning, the power of positive expectations, hope, optimism, and
self-reliance. It is also heartening to learn, as the author points
out, that resiliency psychology, a relatively new discipline, is making
good progress and is now recognized as quite vital in understanding
how it can help people fare better during adversity and recover more
quickly from life's ordeals.
Writing about new disciplines is always a challenge, given the negative
feedback one often receives from the traditionalists. However, Siebert
has risen to the occasion with his breezy style of writing, and he admirably
presents an accessible work that could have easily strayed, leaving
his readers with a sense of boredom.
Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures
www.cioupdate.com“Thus, when a project manager states, ‘I need you
to do ‘X’ by Friday at 5 p.m.,” and calls the person to whom the task
was assigned several times a day monitoring progress, the person is
a classic micro-manager,” says Kimberly Mount, an adjunct professor
of organizational psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
and a leadership development consultant.
The classic micro-manager cannot resist meddling at every step in
a project. Good project managers parcel out work, then let team members
go off and percolate individually and without interference. Not a micro-manager.
These lines can be finely drawn, so understand that what makes micro-management
particularly treacherous is “it is too much of a good thing,” says Stefanie
Smith, head of Stratex, a coaching firm.
Chew on this factoid: according to Harry Chambers, author of My
Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide , 71% of
us indicate we are victims of micromanagement.
Would your team members say they are in that super-majority?
What causes micro-management? Experts point to three drivers:
Extreme detail orientation a.k.a, perfectionism.
Self-centeredness. That is,
“[T]he belief you are smarter than the others,” says Todd Dewett, an
associate professor of management at Wayne State University.
Anxiety. When you are worried
that a flubbed project could drive your team’s work to Bangalore, India
(or from Bangalore to Karachi … or wherever), it is easy to fall into
eyeballing every step.
“Micro-management is a symptom of thinking things are out of control,”
adds consultant Don Maruska, author of How Great Decisions Get Made
.
Say that a project manager who doesn’t fear possible job loss is
delusional bordering on Pollyanna and you may be right, meaning that,
in many cases, the building blocks for micro-management have a foundation
in reality. But that does not make it a good thing, particularly not
when it is exhaustively documented that a micro-manager sucks the enthusiasm
out a project team (Who wants to give his/her all when the boss redoes
everything anyway?).
Even worse. A classic symptom of the micro-manager is that he cannot
get his own work done, says organizational consultant Simma Lieberman.
So busy supervising the work of others, the micro-manager frequently
finds his own to-do list gets ignored. And that is no way to win job
security.
[Jan 26, 2007]
Management Fad Adoption: An Exploration of Three Psychogenic Influences
Kerry David Carson Paula Phillips Carson University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Patricia A. Lanier Southeast Missouri State University Ross D. Judice Acadian
Ambulance & Air Med Services
A second type of neurotic leader identified by Kets de Vries (1994)
is the suspicious type. These managers feel like they can't trust
anyone, so they are constantly on their
guard. Therefore, they
are always preparing to retaliate against all assaults from menacing
forces. To help them prepare for assaults, they
seek large inputs of information. Because of their hypersensitivity,
distrustfulness, and suspiciousness, they try to control their work
environment by being over-involved in rules and details.
According to Westen & Shedler (1999),
individuals with a paranoid personality disorder are hostile people
who express anger out of proportion to the situation.
This anger is a result of their perception that others
are trying to do them harm. They tend
to misinterpret others' intentions as malevolent, frequently getting
into power struggles and arguments. Once a conflict
arises, the paranoid executive will tend
to hold a grudge and be very critical of the other person,
losing all capacity to see anything good in the other person.
Projecting unacceptable feelings onto others, they tend to come across
as self-righteous and moralistic. Once a major problem arises
they see it as disastrous and unsolvable, but they won't confide their
concerns to others for fear of betrayal.
The suspicious executive mistrusts everyone.
S/he can be described as intense, cynical, inflexible, and distrustful.
Because of their continuing paranoia, which is typically unjustified,
suspicious personalities defend against any perceived threat--real or
imagined. Stubborn and rigid, they
rarely relax or let up their guard.
They maintain that hypervigilance is their key to survival.
Everyone in the organization is seen as a potential menace, so the suspicious
executive keeps a safe distance from colleagues. This distance
makes interactions seem impersonal and callous. They seem void
of kindness, sentimentality, and compassion. On the occasions
when suspicious personalities exhibit humor, it is usually thinly veiled
hostility--expressed in a stabbing and sarcastic manner (Carson & Carson,
1997; Carson & Carson, 1998).
Suspicious executives need to control
in order to ensure their safety and security. When they are not
in charge, the suspicious personality feels vulnerable.
However, they hide such concerns because to expose weaknesses
would give others an upper hand. Therefore, the paranoid tries
to conceal feelings of foreboding, tension, and distress. They
bluff their way through danger by acting fearless, inaccessible, and
potentially vengeful. To protect themselves,
suspicious executives emphasize organizational structure, centralized
power, environmental intelligence, and diversification
(Kets de Vries & Miller, 1984).
Management fashions are adopted by suspicious
executives to reduce risk, increase control, and augment power.
Fashions are then dropped to cover up failed initiatives, thus avoiding
criticism and attack (cf. Carson & Carson, 1997; Carson
& Carson, 1998).
February 01, 2006
( www.beatyourowndrum.com
) I have several other posts on Micromanagers in my September archives,
so if your manager is a micromanager go check them out.
Micromanagers are insidious. I will not state this any other way, because
I feel ALL micromanagers should be doing something else than managing.
I am sure there is something that they are more qualified to do.
If you work "with" or "for" one, you are groaning right now.
Actually you never work "with" a micromanager
and you should never work "for" one.
Micromanagers do not allow you to work "with" them. They are either
doing your job or telling you how to do it. Then when you do not do
something exactly the way they tell you, watch out.
So it is impossible to work "with" a micromanager.
It is also impossible to work "for" one,
because it will eventually make you mad, intolerant, insolent, obstructive,
physically or mentally ill, or insubordinate.
Micromanagers do not stay within their own domain because they
subscribe to a fundamental principle. The entire office is their domain.
Watch the micromanager in your office - every office has at least one.
They will assign tasks to people they have no authority over. They will
call meetings about issues that pertain to another manager's domain.
If you get assigned a task by someone who does not have authority
to do so, go to your manager and discuss it. That is assuming your
manager is NOT a micromanager. If s/he is
a micromanager you should not be talking about anything you are not
asked to talk about while you are out searching for your new job.
I am being totally serious. It is like creating
a feeding frenzy for sharks.
Give a micromanager an inch, they will take a mile and then some. If
you are a manager and you just had something assigned to you by a micromanager
that is your peer, ignore it. I would never confront the micromanager
directly. You are asking for more trouble than you need to deal with.
Usually if you ignore the request, (even after 6 attempts) the
micromanager will find someone else to do it. After all the
office is their domain and they know there are plenty of suckers who
will obey.
In short, rule of thumb is:
Avoid any interaction with a micromanager at all costs.
If you avoid them, they will avoid you.
Again if you report to one, you know what you should be doing.
Show respect. Even if your boss hasn't yet won your
loyalty, he or she is still entitled to your respect. Your boss is responsible
for your work and the work of your colleagues. That can be a significant
burden. Try to understand the business from your boss's perspective.
Try to treat him or her with the respect the position and the responsibility
warrant.
The most important function for a manager is X =
-Y, where X is employee brain use and Y is degree
of management. To use the horse whisperer's advice,
The more you use your reins, the less they'll
use their brains."
If you asked 100 managers which they'd prefer--employees
who think, or mindless zombies
who respond only (and exactly) as ordered, you'd
get 100 responses of, "What a ridiculous question.
We hire smart people and stay out of their way so
they can do their jobs." And if you asked 100 managers
to define their management style, none would
claim to be micromanagers. Probe deeper, though,
and the truth begins to emerge.
Ask managers if their direct reports can make
decisions as well as the manager can, and they hesitate.
Ask if the manager could step in at a moment's notice
and perform the employee's job, and too many managers
would say--with pride--"yes."
Do you have a micromanager? Are you a
micromanager? Are all micromanagers clueless or
and/or evil? Of course not. Most micromanagers I've
known (or had) were driven by one or both of the
following:
1) Not enough time
Taking the time to give employees the same data,
knowledge, and skills needed to do things right
can be a luxury many managers just can't afford.
Or so they think. While it's oh so tempting to just
step in and DO IT, micromanagement doesn't scale.
Better to:
Take the time it takes [now] so it takes less
time [later]."
2) Concern for quality
Micromanagers often believe that they know
more, and more importantly -- care
more. Often they're right. But it's a downward spiral--
Of course micromanagers don't actually create zombies--they
simply inspire (or force) zombieism on the job. Follow those
work zombies home, and their zombiness vanishes. Thier eyes light up,
their brain kicks in, and their passion for playing with their kids,
championing a cause, or just playing their favorite after-work hobby
emerges. You see the side of them that micromanagement crushes.
Aug 22, 2005 (workplaceinfo.com.au). As this series of articles on
micromanagement has emphasised, micromanagers can be very tenacious
people. Their management style is influenced by their fears, control
mentality, personality and need for comfort, which are often very deeply
ingrained. Progress with reducing their tendency to micromanage will
be gradual and incremental, but it can be achieved.
... ... ...
- Collect information from others who are affected by the micromanager.
It is best to encourage them to contribute openly to the performance
management process, but if they prefer anonymity (which is often
the case), corroborate their information with evidence from other
people and add your own observations.
If you tell a micromanager that 'someone' (anonymous) has complained,
the manager is likely to form his/her own suspicions and confront
the suspect. If you divulge a name, this is guaranteed to happen.
They in turn may deny saying anything, in order to protect themselves,
and your position is then undermined. When collecting evidence,
take care to separate facts from personal agendas.
- 360-degree feedback tools can provide valuable collective data
without revealing sources. If they are part of the organisation’s
overall performance management system, even better, as the fact
that all managers are evaluated simultaneously prevents a micromanager
claiming that there is a witch hunt.
- Group discussions with other employees can help gather information,
but be sure not to cross the line between evaluation and investigation/witch
hunt. Micromanagers often have paranoid tendencies, so they
will probably suspect or find out that you are up to something.
A possible smokescreen is to evaluate several other managers
in the same way at the same time.
- Direct confrontation with a micromanager may be necessary in
'crisis' situations, for example where several employees resign
or threaten to do so, there is 'group anger' at a manager, or there
are accusations of bullying. If this happens, try to make your approach
respectful, non-personal and non-threatening.
- Presenting the perceptions of others is useful information that
gives the micromanager less to defend. The focus is on the impact
on others rather than what the manager actually does. You can present
the issue as a need to change behaviour so that the perceptions
by others will be more favourable. Point out that people have more
influence over others if the others perceive them favourably.
... ... ...
What if none of this works?
Unfortunately, there are some cases where micromanagement arises
from deep-seated personality traits. These managers may find it impossible
to change their behaviour significantly. There are also others
who, for whatever reason, are determined not to change.
Where this happens, there are two options:
- Damage control. Take them
out of the loop for some activities, in order to limit their interference
and disruption. Change approval processes and reduce
the need for them to work in collaboration with others. Be
aware of any efforts to make themselves indispensable. These
steps will probably harm their career prospects, but there are inevitable
consequences for resisting improvements.
- Removal from management role.
"Who, me? No, of course not. I'm thorough. I'm competent. OK, so
I am a little methodical. That's not bad, is it?"
Micromanagers, like many addicts -- alcoholics, rageaholics, fanatics,
etc. -- are the last people on the planet to recognize that their addiction
is in controlling others. The compulsion
to look over your employees' shoulders has nothing to do with being
meticulous or careful -- it has everything to do with control.
Yes, you. That's right, I'm talking to you, El Presidente. Your employees
are calling you much worse. For example, they might be calling you a
ruler, extremist, bureaucrat, tyrant, bully, persecutor and tormenter.
And trust me, those are the nice names. People who micromanage do so
because they are the ones who feel unsure and self-doubting about their
abilities.
As you folks know, I have extensive experience working for micromanagers.
While I do not believe that every workaholic is a micromanager, I would
have to say this is the case most of the time. I’ll tell you why.
Definition of a Workaholic: One who has a compulsive
and unrelenting need to work. It is sometimes linked to obsessive-compulsive
disorder… just like someone who micromanages.
Definition of a Micromanager: One who directs or
controls in a detailed, often meddlesome manner.
As I’ve mentioned before, many micromanagers are individuals suffering
from a compulsive disorder (which may be helped by a swift kick, or
not).
Workaholic Behavior:
Need to control
Inflexibility
Perfectionism
you bring work home
You think about work and how to “fix” things while at home or on
vacation
You want to do it all yourself; you do not properly delegate tasks
Micromanaging Behavior:
Need to control
Inflexibility
Perfectionism
Excessive criticism
You want to do it all yourself; you do not properly delegate tasks
As with micromanagers, workaholics also tend to suffer from low self
esteem. Micromanagement and workaholism are irrational behaviors. Both
result in damaged/diminished social relationships, health problems and
distorted thinking. Long ago, the term workaholic was used as a compliment.
Since business changed and office cultures evolved, so has the term.
If someone you know is a workaholic, it may be time to throw them a
life preserver and tow them to safety. They can be shown the way. If
someone you know is a micromanager, tie an anvil to their ankle and
throw them overboard. They won’t be missed.
[Jan 10, 2007] My Way or the Highway Review
Unfortunately, it is an attitude still held many business owners.
Even more unfortunately, this narrow-minded style of leadership approach
has brought many of their businesses to a painful end.
The illusion of infallibility
That companies led by this type of leader more often than not come
to bad ends should come as no surprise. Such leadership is the ultimate
consequence of living and working in denial. While the business is floundering,
the talent pool is heading south, and (somewhat self-fulfilling) rumors
of failure are circulating. The boss is lashing out and blaming friend
and foe that they are to blame for declining sales, increased expenses,
cash-flow problems, poor advertising, lousy quality and that no one
cares.
And the longer the list of problems, the longer the list of others
to blame, from the banks to the unappreciative customers and employees.
But never the boss. And the attitude is understandable. After all,
who took an idea, went to friends, family, investors and anyone who
was willing to provide a bit of the stake? Who fought the odds and advice
against starting the business? Who worried the first few months about
not making it? Who beat back the creditors while getting established?
Who pushed and prodded everyone to make it a success?
Why, you did, of course! No one has earned a better claim to infallibility
than you.
Losing your Midas touch
But when the problems start, you desperately wonder why your golden
touch is no longer working. Did Lady Luck withdraw her blessing, did
your mojo run out, did you lose your personal good luck charm? Clearly,
the gods must be conspiring against you.
In the beginning, you made snap decisions, you issued commands, employees
and associates flocked to be under your umbrella. But then one
day, your crowd of fans started shrinking, and as your audience grew
smaller, the logical thing to do was, as the kings of yore did, surround
yourself with a court of well-wishers and groupies.
Your commands are obeyed, and you tolerate no disagreement. After all,
your genius created this empire. Who are these impudent, disloyal serfs
to question your wisdom? But strangely, those commands that in the past
led to greatness, don't seem to have the same magical effect. And of
course, in your wisdom, you find fault not with the command but with
the ineptitude of those who are supposed to be carrying out your wishes.
And when your employees and customers fail to remember and appreciate
all you have done for them, what do you do? Fire a few folks, tell a
few demanding customers to shop elsewhere and blame the latest group
of liberals for creating a population that does not want to work and
fails to recognize the heroism of the entrepreneurial class. As you
approach the possibility of failure, it seems that higher powers have
taken issue with your hubris and decided to clip your wings.
A shot at redemption
But like Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," there is still
time for your redemption.
To begin with, listen to the prophets of the past who tell us that
leadership to launch a company and leadership to administer a company
are two very different creatures.
In the beginning it was all you. Now success demands teamwork. To
expect blind faith and mindless employees is to live in another time.
If you want loyalty, enthusiasm and a hard working group of guys and
gals to build your business, promote them from serfs to knighthood.
Ask their advice, get their opinions, remove any sense of killing the
messenger and become the Vince Lombardi of your business.
Sadly, so many leaders of American commerce and industry have created
a climate of fear and insecurity as employees worry about factory closings
and the trend of job outsourcing. These bottom-line addicts treat employees
-- a valuable resource -- as some expendable commodity. This is not
the first time our corporate leaders have been accused of short-term
thinking.
While your business is your life, working for you is part of the
life of your employees. If you want a caring and committed work force
who feel a genuine sense of belonging and partnership (that does not
mean making the work place a social club), you'll have to relinquish
the reins of total control and empower your employees.
If you want a team of employees that will complement you and make
your business a success for everyone involved, hire wisely and focus
on teamwork. A leader, skilled in managing for the most, brings the
greatness out in his or her people and deposits it in the bank.
Paul Adams is Professor Emeritus of Business Administration at
Ramapo College of New Jersey and the Author of "Fail Proof Your Business:
Beat the Odds and be Successful." E-mail: drfailproof@earthlink.net
[Jan 3, 2007] My Way or the Highway: Everything You Always Wanted
to Know about Micromanagement
Four out of five workers say they've been a victim of micromanagement.
But what does the term really mean? In his very readable new book
My Way or the Highway-the Micromanagement Survival Guide,
author Harry E. Chambers writes, "Basically, micromanagement is the
excessive, unwanted, counterproductive interference and disruption of
people or things." It occurs when influence, involvement and interaction
begin to subtract value from people and processes. It is the perception
of inappropriate interference in someone else's activities, responsibilities,
decision making and authority."
Chambers lists the five defining behaviors of a micromanager. Most of
them deeply rooted in insecurity:
- Micromanagers exercise raw power.
They love to flex their muscles-asserting their power and authority
just because they can. While unable to subordinate themselves, they
control others with an uncompromising sense of entitlement and self-interest.
- Micromanagers dictate time.
They like to control and manipulate others' time. They don't trust
people to assess their own workload, so they routinely dictate priorities
and distort deadlines. And while they guard their own time with
an iron fist, they're notorious for interrupting others, misusing
and mismanaging meetings and perpetuating crises.
- Micromanagers control how work gets done.
They want everything to be done their way. After all, the
boss knows best-or so he or she believes. They dismiss others' knowledge,
experience and ideas-no matter how good-then hover over them to
make sure they're doing things "right."
- Micromanagers require undue approvals.
They share responsibility, but not authority. As the "bottlenecks"
of the workplace, they allow no one to move forward without their
approval-even on routine or time-sensitive matters.
- Micromanagers demand frequent and unnecessary reports.
They are driven to know what's going on. They monitor workers to
death-requiring a stream of needless reports that focus on activity
over outcomes.
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