Micromanagers can take the best of things and turn them into a disaster. I found a website recently where a person had taken great management quotes and converted them into how micromanagers would interpret them. Here are some samples:
“Leadership has less to do with position than it has with disposition.” John C. Maxwell
“Leadership has everything to do with position as it defines my income disposition.” Micro-manager
“Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.”Warren Bennis
“My leadership is the wise use of power. My power is the capacity to translate my personal intentions into career reality and sustain it.” Micro-manager
“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.” Ronald Reagan
“I surround myself with lazy liars and favorites, delegate all the hard work to my scapegoats, and interfere every time anyone might become successful.” Micro-manager
So, how do we as managers take the appropriate balance between being involved enough to produce desired outcome and hands-off enough to allow our employees to grow and produce without our over-control of their activities?
I utilize two three-fold methods of error/failure analysis and corrective action to allow for management without micromanagement and employee empowerment without loss of control.
When a failure or error occurs in our office, I look to three main causes.
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Did the incident occur due to lack of employee training or lack of proper tools?
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Did the incident occur due to lack of proper policy or procedure?
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Did the incident occur due to lack of employee initiative or employee negligence?
If the employee lacked the proper training or tools, we see that the proper training is performed and the proper tools are obtained to prevent future recurrences of the problem. If we did not have a policy or procedure in place to take care of the incident, we get input of those involved (including the patient) and we establish a proper procedure or policy to address the situation. If the employee did not take the initiative to perform the task properly or was negligent in their performance, we enact our progressive disciplinary process to convey the employee’s error to them and to let the rest of the staff know that our practice’s value system deals with poor initiative and negligence very seriously.
Beyond the error/failure analysis, I use another three-fold method of addressing problems which can be utilized to address individuals or groups that are failing in performance or not performing up to par. These are usually the type of problems that are not really errors, but those times where operational efficiency or patient service may not be performing at an optimum.
When these type problems occur, I go through three steps with the employee or group. According to the employee, group or problem, things may be resolved at different steps.
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I meet with them, identify the problem and get feedback to make sure they understand the deficiencies. I then tell them that I expect them to resolve the problem.
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If the problem is not resolved after the first step, I again meet with them and give them two or three options to take to resolve the problem.
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If the problem is not resolved after the second step, I meet with them and inform them of how the problem will be handled since they have not been able to resolve it without my direct management of the problem.
This approach to operational problems will accomplish many things. First, it will let the employees utilize their special knowledge and training of their job to try to work things out without direct intervention. It will give them ownership of the situation. This will instill confidence and allow the employees to professionally grow. Getting involved and giving choices for them to pursue if they can’t resolve a problem still gives them the freedom to choose possibly the best path to take and also allows them freedom to utilize their training and judgment to get through things. The last step of involvement, although it may seem punitive, also is helpful to the employees. First, it lets the employees know that sometimes things have to be set and determined outside of their realm and secondly, it lets the employees know that you are there to get just as involved as needed in the problems that occur in their jobs.
Management without micromanagement can be a challenge to many and I can say that I struggle often with the line between the two. The above methods have served me well through the years and are not absolutes by any means. I do challenge you to attempt them or a variation of them at times and see how it can relieve some of your management headaches and also see how it can help your employees grow personally and professionally.