No One Wants to be a Micromanager
But It Happens Anyway
No manager wants to be a micromanager.
No leader looks forward to demoralizing their people through overinvolvement. I’ve yet to find anyone who takes on a management role so that they can just do everyone else’s work.
But it happens. Because it’s an easy trap to fall into.
Let’s say you’re an engineering manager.
You were a great engineer. You handled the technical work better than anyone. It’s a big part of why you were promoted in the first place.
And your team’s happy to have you as the new boss. They’re excited to have someone who understands their work and appreciates the challenges they face each day. They’re looking forward to having a manager who can help them improve.
It’s a big change. New responsibilities. But you’re an engineer who’s going to help other engineers do their jobs better. You can do that. After all, you know what it takes to succeed. You’ve been doing it for years.
So, you dig into the details. You involve yourself in everyone’s work. And you quickly realize that they’re doing all sorts of things wrong. It’s not how you would do it at all.
Why are they doing it that way? Why is everything taking so long? Why are they making things more…
