From Micromanagement to Mentoring

Q. What is micromanagement?

A. Micromanagement occurs when a manager excessively involves themselves in an employee’s performance.  In short, it is imposing work standards and behavior expectations that meet the personal needs of the manager, not the employee. It is to control a person or a situation by paying extreme attention to small details.

The manager has good intentions to assist the employee fulfill their duties, but the employee feels disempowered and not trusted to complete work properly.  Productivity falls drastically.  If processes aren’t well defined, managers feel the need to micromanage.

Q. What is the root problem when a manager feels the need to micromanage an employee?

A. Many times the person selected for the job is not a good fit.  At the time of the appointment to the job, little or no research was done to determine employee suitability for the demands of the position.  Often the top candidate chosen for a job is determined only by their hard skills, education and experience. Using only subjective means (resumes, interviews, and background checks) provides a mere, 17% success rate in most industries.

While education, experience and intelligence are important, you simply cannot uncover the true picture of human talent without a total person analysis that includes an assessment of behaviors and motivation.  The success rate is high when subjective AND objective means are used to hire a person for an opening.

Another cause of micromanagement by a manager is the employee has a bigger vision than the manager.  Collaboration will tend to empower the employee.  The best outcome happens when work activities are planned together.

Q. What are the predictable results and costs of employees that are micromanaged?

A.  Micromanaged employees become disengaged, contributing very little to the success of their assignments.  Disengaged employees tend to drag down other employees and customers. According to the book, “I Quit but Forgot to Tell You” By Terri Kabachnick, the annual cost of disengaged employees to employers in the U.S. is a staggering 250 billion dollars annually! How much is disengagement costing your organization?

If an employee is disengaged, they need to be trained appropriately, reassigned, or let go. It is hard to win back the heart and attitude of a disengaged employee.  Mentoring/ coaching might help.  Learn more about mentoring from the questions below.

Q. What is mentoring?

A.  Mentoring is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person acquire specific skills, attitudes and techniques that increase their value to their employer. The mentor also shares personal experiences with the mentee.  The mentee test drives the techniques and reports how they worked. The mentor helps them refine the concepts, so it works with their personality.

Q. How is mentoring different than coaching?

A. Mentoring passes along experience. Coaches ask questions, listen closely and provide information that helps the other person gain a perspective that is beneficial. Coaches are about perspective; mentors are about teaching their experiences.

Q. Which is better, mentoring or coaching?

A. Mentoring and coaching are frequently used together.  However, without training in the art of questioning and perspective building, a person will not be a very good coach. Effective mentors must consider the learning style of the person they are mentoring.

Q. What are the five attributes of an effective mentor and/or coach?

1. You must believe that you have the skills and attitude to be effective. It is better to mentor in areas where you have strong expertise to offer more valuable insight. Coaches must resist the urge to insert their personal beliefs. It is about the person being coached and their success.

2. Realize that it takes time for people to improve.  Repeating the same information in new and innovative ways helps new skills emerge.

3. Confidentiality builds trust. The more vulnerable a person is in explaining their situation, the more they can be helped. They reveal more as trust increases. Trust is linked to confidentiality.

4. Ask the person how they like to receive encouragement.  Listen closely and strive to meet their encouragement needs. Everyone needs encouragement.  Some need a little, some need a lot.  Be genuine in expressing praise as their skill improvement evolves.

5. Take time to get to know the person you are mentoring/coaching, build camaraderie and a relationship.  Use the FORD acronym to be acquainted.  The FORD acronym stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation and Dreams.  By paying attention to and learning about these aspects of a person’s life, managers can build stronger, more meaningful relationships with their team members.

It is also valuable to understand the person’s temperament and motivational needs. This is accomplished through personality assessment instruments. When the person feels that they are understood, they become better students and improve quickly.

Everyone can benefit from having a mentor/coach. Personally, I have two mentors/coaches. Being coached has allowed me to accelerate my career and gain information and skill that I would never have gotten otherwise. Mentors and coaches are all around you.  All you must do is to have a desire to improve and ask someone you admire for help.  Offer to take them to lunch and ask about their success strategies.  It is very hard for anyone to refuse this invitation.  Ask and it shall be given to you.