5 Traits of a Micromanager (and How to Fix Them)

1. Measuring too many things.

The advantage of technology is that you can measure your business more accurately.  The disadvantage is that technology makes it too easy to measure too much.  Measuring so much that it's not clear what the data really means is classic micromanagement.

What to do instead: For every job, select one or two metrics that define success for that job.  Ignore everything else.

2. Monitoring too closely.

Monitoring is sometimes confused with measurement, but the two are different.  You measure data; you monitor behavior.  Monitoring becomes micromanagement if you're always looking over employees' shoulders.

What to do instead: Let employees request monitoring and coaching when if and when they feel the need to improve their performance.

3. Building too much consensus.

Gathering inputs before making a decision is a good idea, especially from the people who'll be affected by the decision. However, you're micromanaging if you end up discussing things to death before making a decision.

What to do instead: Set a deadline for the decision. Schedule a limited amount of meeting time to gather inputs.  Then make the decision by the deadline.

4. Intervening too much.

Helicopter managers are as bad as helicopter parents--they create helplessness in the people they're trying to help. The only way that people can grow is by making mistakes, which means that the manager can't be jumping in all the time to fix things.

What to do instead: Provide guidance when asked, but let your employees fail.  If they can't or don't learn from their mistakes, they're not worth keeping as employees.

5. Setting too many priorities.

Managers confuse employees (and themselves as well) when have a list of "priorities" all of which are more or less equally important.  This creates micromanagement because that's the only way to "keep all the plates spinning."

What to do instead: Set one overriding priority for each employee, each team, each group and each division.  Let them sort out how to achieve that goal or objective.