Should We Micromanage Sometimes?

Source: https://day.io/blog/

Adam Bryant recently posted a terrific interview on LinkedIn with David Wilkie, CEO of World50.  Wilkie ended his comments with the following story:

The other thing is that people often struggle with the sheer volume of work they face. I like to ask the CEOs I meet, what is your management hack? One gave me a great piece of advice. “Micromanage,” he said. “I know. Everyone tells you don’t micromanage, but you should micromanage 20 percent. In every business, 80 percent of your business needs to be good, but 20 percent of it needs to be very, very good, and that’s the differentiator for you in the marketplace. Your job as CEO is to know what 20 percent that is and over-index on that.” So I tell leaders, “Figure out what your 20 percent is and focus on that.”

The sentiment here definitely surprised me at first, but then it stimulated my thinking on the subject.  I believe this leader has made a fascinating point.  Leaders sometimes have to take a deep dive on certain matters and get their hands dirty a bit. They need to dig into a project or an issue, and they need to understand it a great deal of depth.  Which areas require this type of extra attention?  It makes a great deal of sense to focus on those key areas of differentiation for the company. What are the make-or-break elements of the firm's value proposition?  Where are the key points where a customer experience can go from good to great, or from good to terrible?  What truly distinguishes the firm from its competition?  In these areas, perhaps a bit of micromanagement from time to time can actually do a great deal of good.   Of course, the key is how the leader behaves when they dive into these matters.  Do they just tell people what to do? Or, do they ask good questions, coach people through the situation, and empower others to help craft a solution collaboratively?

Becoming a Better Delegator

Many leaders struggle with a tendency to micromanage at times.  I just read a good short piece at Fast Company by executive coach Melody Wilding about becoming a better delegator.  She offers three pieces of advice.  I've added a fourth key point.  

1.  Assess the cost of your perfectionism. 

What negative impact is it having on others?  Are they losing opportunities to develop and grow?  Are they becoming more disengaged at work because of your micromanagement?  Losing talented people can be a huge cost of your perfectionism.  However, you also have to consider the personal cost.  Will you experience burnout because of your tendency to micromanage?  Be honest with yourself.  Are you experiencing a loss in productivity because you are overburdened?  

Source: Luxafor.com

2.  Strive for small wins. 

If you are hesitant to delegate, start with some low-stakes tasks.  Get those off your plate.  For this evaluation, I suggest the use of the Eisenhower matrix.   Consider those activities that do urgently need to be done, but are not that important.  Start by delegating those tasks.  Once you realize that others can handle that work, you will grow more confident in delegating more critical work to them.  

3.  Focus on the what and the why, but delegate the how.  

You need to establish the goals and explain why they are important.  Explain what needs to be done.   Describe why that is necessary.  Paint a picture of what success will look like.  Then let others determine how best to accomplish those objectives.  

4.  Establish checkpoints up front. 

Make sure you establish some opportunities to check in with the people doing the work.   However, don't look over their shoulder at every turn.  Instead, think through a few key milestones or checkpoints.  Establish those beforehand and communiate them clearly, and then meet with your team members at that point to check on progress.   When you do meet, don't just tell them what to change and why.  Ask good questions.  Encourage them to evaluate their own progress and let them propose the corrective action before you put forth an opinion.   

Micromanaging in a Crisis (or not)

Source: CrystalLinks.com

I came across a very useful perspective on micromanagement during a time of crisis this week. Jeff Hyman is an adjunct lecturer of innovation & entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management. Hyman serves as the chief talent officer of the firm Recruit Rockstars Executive Search. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of a weight-management firm, Retrofit, that he also founded. Hyman explains his perspective on when to zoom in and when to step back in this brief excerpt of an article posted on the Kellogg Insight website. 

During this extraordinary time, there will be functions critical to the business that you will have to micromanage because, without your attention, there might not be a business to lead. At the same time, there are going to be some functions that you absolutely need to trust your team to execute on their own.

For example, under regular circumstances, a CEO would not spend time thinking about cash collections or accounts receivable. They have a CFO whose team handles that function. But if, say, half your revenue vanishes overnight, or your early stage company is not yet profitable, or the venture capital deal you had lined up falls through, cashflow takes on a new urgency.  So, micromanaging might include working with your accounts-receivable team to determine whether to negotiate creative, flexible deals that still keep cash flowing into your business, especially at a time when many of your suppliers may want to wait on paying you. “Cash is the oxygen of your business,” Hyman says. “If you’ve only got six- or three-months’ cash on hand, you may need to be way in the weeds on cash collections if your company is going to live to fight another day. You may require daily reviews with your accounts-receivable team to understand when you can expect payments from customers.” 

Just as you will have new roll-up-your-sleeves tasks, other projects may not demand much of your attention at all. That product that you had intended to launch next year, and on which you still want to keep moving forward, can be delegated to trusted team members.

“It’s very tempting in times of uncertainty to find this false sense of certainty by trying to micromanage everything,” Hyman says. “But you can’t micromanage virtual teams. So you have to trust that you’ve hired well. They may get things done almost the way that you would have done it. You have to be okay with that. It’s much more important right now to get the few things right and get them right enough versus getting them perfect.” Be clear with your team about who has responsibility for these new projects, as well as on how (or if) you would like to be involved in any decisions.  “You can let them know, ‘I’m letting you run it. Keep me posted. Let me know what you need from me,’” he says.

How to Stop Being a Micromanager

We have all worked for a micromanager at one point or another in our careers.   The experience can prove very frustrating.  We cherish our autonomy and believe in our abilities.  We become frustrated when a micromanaging boss meddles in our work.  Moreover, we become disenchanted when that meddling slows us down, creating numerous delays while our competition passes us by.   Of course, we all have probably micromanaged one of our employees or team members at some point or another.  Those in glass houses... 

How can someone stop being a micromanager?   Naturally, a simple recipe does not exist.  Here are a few baby steps in the right direction though:

1.  Make a list of the types of decisions in which you have been involved heavily over the past month or so.   Now divide the list into two categories: the ones in which you absolutely must be involved, and the ones where you  might test letting go a bit.  Give it a few weeks or a month, and see how things go.  Let your subordinates know that you are going to try to let go on those particular decisions.  Review and assess periodically to see if the change has been productive.  

2.  Identify the people you trust the most in the organization.  Consider providing them more autonomy.  Talk with them about the opportunities that they wish to pursue, and the situations where they feel confident moving with less direction and oversight. 

3.  Examine your calendar.  How can you free up some time to think more strategically about the direction of the organization?  What meetings or commitments are soaking up your valuable time, while strategic issues receive less attention than they deserve?  Consider shifting responsibility to subordinates so that you can find time to address high-stakes, high-risk issues that warrant your undivided attention.  Extract yourself from a few meetings and follow up to see how things went without your presence. 

4.  Review the forms and memos that arrive on your desk for signature and approval.  How many layers of approval exist on those issues?   Do you need to be one of those layers?  Consider changing the rules and procedures to provide others more autonomy.  For example, might you change the spending limit above which people must obtain your approval?   Do you need to sign off on as many personnel requisitions as you do?   Does someone really need your approval to reserve that particular space or hold a special event in your offices?  

5.  Assess your email inbox.  Do you need to be involved in all those email threads?  How might you reduce your email traffic by 10%?   Consider the situations from which you could extract yourself.  Think about how much more productive you can become if you eliminate 10% of your emails.