Micro management

Micromanaging is a hot buzzword. Almost everyone in the corporate cirlcle seems to be using it or should I say opposing it. But I feel its time to define and understand the concept in a more better way.

Micromanaging is usually synonymous with the 'old way of doing things'. 'Dinosaur' managers use the micromanagement approach. The term essentially means to supervise every small step in the workflow process -- hence 'micro.' This method worked fairly well in the 'old' production days when,
* Factory workers were uneducated and unskilled.
* Workers normally did one routine step and that was it.
* They made few or no decisions.
* They had a minimum production quota.
* Their breaks were monitored, their lunches were monitored and of course the time clock was the tracker.
* Time was viewed as what was 'bought' by the company.
*Close supervision or micromanaging ensured that production levels were met.

Management literally had to tell employees what to do and watch them to make sure they did it.

This system worked well when workflow was simple. As the business world became more complex, micromanaging became less effective. Time was not what the company bought and the worker sold. Productivity became the key. As processes became more complex, workers were required to gain greater skills. Skilled workers became more in demand and could go elsewhere if they were not treated properly. Skilled workers eventually found micromanagers offensive and crude.

In the '80's and 90's
The companies became more results oriented.
* Time became a very less of a factor in the results equation.
* Motivation and innovation began to be understood as real forces in production results.
* Workers became employees and then associates and today team members.
* Employees began to be viewed as assets and not just expenses.
* Employers began to understand that employees could provide the greatest competitive advantage as well as the number one management headache.

In short, employees could make or break the company.

Emergence of a new management Style:
Managers began to understand that good management meant maximizing employee productivity. And that this can no longer be accomplished by micromanaging. Managers began to understand that knowing their people and helping them do their best was the best way to reach superior production levels. Instead of being an obstacle, managers began to understand it was their job to remove obstacles. Time constraint was one of the last obstacles to fall.

Photo courtesy Paul Worthington