Harrison feels he has excellent supervisory skills and personally reviews any revised work to ensure that his instructions are carried out to the letter. Every once in a while, he finds that other changes are needed and instructs the writer to make those revisions and resubmit the new version to him for a “final review.”

While Harrison isn’t a trained graphic artist, he knows what he likes; and he expects his design team to make the changes he asks for – without any arguments. He feels that the work flows better if it is done according to his specifications.

Harrison is adamant that his team consult him before making any decisions. When other co-workers make requests of his staff, they’re reply must always be “I have to check with my boss first.”

Dale joined the department and asked if he could work with one of the artists to come up with a better web site landing page design and a better headline. Harrison agreed, but when the final job wasn’t what he thought it would be (as he suspected it wouldn’t be) he had the work redone to his provisions. But, he helped with the project so that the new landing page and e-mail were completed on time.

Harrison’s manager quickly realized that Dale had lots of talent, but might soon quit and cost the company a valuable resource. Harrison felt that he would rather have Dale quit than give in to the whims of prima donnas. Harrison’s manager couldn’t believe he would make such a statement. Turnovers in Harrison’s department were already one of the highest in the company.

The Consequences of Micromanagement

As you may have suspected, Harrison has ended up being a micromanager. Sure, he can replace any one of his staff members in the spur of the moment, but not with the same creativity and efficiency than his workers. This just means that Harrison has become obsessed with the details of his operation.

As a result, he expends very little energy on the long term responsibilities of the department, namely their strategic contribution to the organization. What he doesn’t realize is that this is his most important function as a team leader.

If Harrison were to delegate work (or even empower his staff to take the work on for themselves) the department would produce more interesting graphic and more enticing copy than they are now. The stimulating work environment would result in a lower degree of turnover. Most importantly, Harrison could then focus his time on how the communications department could better contribute to fulfilling the company’s overall mission by identifying ways to improve the web site, increase responses from e-mail blasts, create more efficient workflow processes to allow the department to take on more assignments and reduce the need and expense of outsourcing.

Aside from neglecting strategic issues, micromanagement can lead to a number of other negative consequences.

Micromanagement leads to lowered employee morale. Some believe that micromanagement works in the short term. Reality shows that over time, scaring employees to produce more leads to resentment, decreased productivity, and even the need for employees to take out their frustrations on the organization’s customers. Eventually, the best workers end up taking their talents elsewhere. Constantly hiring and training new employees is horribly inefficient.

There are many reasons why micromanaging invades a workforce. Sometimes, there is a fear that one’s talented employees could bypass their own level professionally. Also, pressure from senior management to perform better leads to a more stringent control over the work being done.

Occasionally, the attention to detail that allowed a person to be promoted to manager spirals out of control and prevent them from moving higher up the ranks. First-time managers really need to work at operating in a much more strategic, “big picture” way in their new roles. They will not earn the respect of their new employees by showing that they can perform everyone else’s job duties. Instead, new managers should allow their staff to perform their job functions while they concentrate on their own.

Are You a Micromanager?

If you even suspect that you have the slightest hint of micromanagement tendencies, you should ask yourself these questions:
• When reviewing your employee’s work, do you always find at least one problem?
• Do you find that you seldom praise your team members?
• When away from the office for a day or two, do you call the office more than twice daily to check in? Are you calling in while on vacation, daily?
• Do you find that you consistently arrive at the office earlier and stay later than any other staffer?
• Do you wander through the office to take mental notes of who isn’t working hard, rather than looking for opportunities to complement your employees?

If you answer “Yes” to even one of these questions, you are a micromanager. The good news is there are some steps you can take to ease up control and allow your staff members’ talents to flourish.

Overcoming the Micromanagement Tendencies

Pay attention to your managerial responsibilities. Executives can sometimes be vague in communicating their expectations to new managers, especially those internally promoted. They often assume that the first-timers automatically understand their new role. Pull out your job description and review it carefully, from time to time.

Get a clear understanding of your priorities. Spend some time with your manager to review the short and long-term goals for your department and make sure you’re on target for meeting them. If you suspect you’ve fallen into the micromanagement trap, ask for help from your boss in re-directing your efforts.
Take a look at the bigger picture. After speaking with your boss, think about your own desires form your department and how they contribute to the broader corporate vision. Planning accordingly will help you get past the day-to-day pressures.

Learn to delegate responsibilities to your staff. Learn to trust that your employees can do the job they need to be doing and practice situational leadership. In other words, adapt your management style to correspond to the capabilities of each employee and the importance of their specific projects.

Steer clear of simply “managing” and start “leading”. Managers today find themselves in a “working manager” role with their own tasks, projects and deadlines. That doesn’t mean that they’re not also the leaders of their department with the added responsibility of setting short- and long-term goals and creating action plans for achieving them. Provide your employees with direction instead of instruction.

Admit your micromanagement tendencies to your team. Addressing the problem will help you win the support of your team through ensuring there won’t be a need to micromanage in the future. Tell your staff that you’re truly interested in listening to their ideas and that you need their help to stop micromanaging them. To ease the situation, come up with a humorous way for your staff to point out that you’ve slipped back into a micromanagement stance.

Explain to your staff why you feel you’ve needed to micromanage. This makes an ideal “second step”. By thoroughly describing your vision for your department, you can solicit their help in making your vision a reality. Instead of just telling your employees what to do, tell them what you need and encourage them to think strategically about how they can help you meet those needs.

Create a set of expectations that are unique to each employee to serve the overall goals of the department and the organization. Draw up a specific list of objectives for each individual on your team that will help fulfill your team’s vision and that of the company.

Delegate enough responsibility to encourage your employees to excel. Challenge employees by giving them extra responsibility and with it the opportunity to contribute to the bigger picture. Also explain your role in meeting these new objectives.

Listen to and learn from your employees. If given the chance, they will tell you what they need to fulfill the overall goals of the department and the company. This is critical to the department’s success. Be sure to take the time to fully listen to their new ideas and hear them out. If their ideas won’t work, explain why and brainstorm new ideas based on the original. At the very least, pose the problems with the employee’s idea and ask them to find some solutions.

Make praising your employees a habit. Be sure to find a reason to compliment an employee or say “thank you” (and really mean it) at least once every three days. This habit is just as easy to form as micromanaging and leads to improved employee morale and increased productivity.

Allow mistakes to happen and look for opportunities to learn from them. Mistakes happen in departments with even the most stringent micromanagers. For these managers, learning to share the responsibility for completing tasks leads to a risk that a mistake will be made. As long and these mistakes aren’t being repeated and staffers are ultimately taking over the work without the need for your input, then it’s a win-win.

Give your employees feedback on their performance. When your team members demonstrate traits or abilities that are desirable, let them know they’re on the right track. Conversely, when performance slips below a desired level, discuss this with employees as well. By ignoring a problem, you’re essentially abdicating your role as a manager and a leader — don’t let problems slide. Discuss problems with employees as soon as possible after the situation occurred and come up with ways to keep this from happening again.

Chicago-based master coach, M. Nora Klaver explains in the preface of her new book Mayday! Asking for Help in Times of Need, that the word mayday, “Comes from the French m´aidez and literally translates to ‘help me.’” Have you reached the point of crying “mayday” in your personal or professional life?

Even project management training teaches that seeking assistance at the proper time can mitigate risks and prevent an obstacle from becoming a disaster. In other words, “A stitch in time saves nine.”

Is asking for help your last resort? Klaver says that you’re not alone and points out a list of reasons why people delay asking for needed help until they’re almost at the breaking point:

• Most people don’t realize that they actually need help until it is too late.
• People don’t ask for help based on the whole picture, but only a part of the need.
• People often ask the wrong person.
• People often ask questions that are so unclear that others don’t understand the need.
• People give the wrong answers to our questions or provide the wrong help.
• People may demand help rather than politely ask for assistance.
• People may even try to blackmail others into helping them.
• People may unintentionally be asking for pity rather than actual help.
• People’s body language may project fear and send a message that they are beyond help.
• People suffer from “compassion fatigue” when asked for help too often without consideration of those offering help.
• People often are simply too afraid to ask for help when it is needed.

The good news is that asking for help is a skill that can be learned, and quite easily. By analyzing some common misconceptions involved in asking for help we can all learn to get the support we need:

Misconception #1: If I ask for help, others will think I’m needy or weak.
Actually, people who ask others for help when it is needed are seen as stronger. Don’t feel ashamed to ask others for help – that’s what coworkers, friends and family are there for.

Misconception #2: If I ask for help, my coworkers and supervisors at work will think I’m incompetent.
Seeking help at work actually shows others that you care about doing the job right, learning new concepts, developing your skills, and grow as an employee.

Misconception #3: I’m worried that if I ask for help, my personal relationships will be strained.
A healthy relationship, whether personal or professional, is about give and take – helping others and getting help when it is needed.

Misconception #4: If I ask for help, I may put others in an awkward position.
Actually, part of what makes us human is our nature to offer help to someone in need; the same holds true for when others recognize our need for help.

Misconception #5: If I ask for help, someone may say “no.”
Instead of feeling rejected by a “no” answer, use that as an opportunity to learn something about yourself, and your relationships with others.

Misconception #6: If I ask for help with a project, it may not be done right.
Actually, refusing to ask for help out of a fear of losing control over a project may jeopardize that project by maintaining the status quo. Allow others to help make the project more successful.

Misconception #7: If I ask for help, someone may ask me for help in return.
In reality, help that is given freely and willingly requires nothing in return but a sincere thank you.

Misconception #8: Asking for help just isn’t my style.
While being independent and self-sufficient are admirable qualities that show success, all great ventures – including the forming of our nation – were built on a foundation of collaboration, teamwork, and support.

Asking for Help Made Simple

Klaver identifies seven steps in making sure your mayday cries for help are projecting strength and are clearly heard:

1. Identify the need. Take a few steps back (and some time) to really think about exactly what you need. Ask yourself a few probing questions and don’t let your first guesses for resolving the situation dominate your mindset.

2. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Unless you truly believe you deserve the help you need, you will never be freely able to ask for it.

3. Take a leap of faith. You must be able to feel confident enough in yourself to trust that your fellow man will come through in your need for help. As will all of these leaps, the more you ask, the more willing you become to ask.

4. Go out and ask for help! Work to expand your help network by asking new and different people for help when you need it – adding even those who may say no.

5. Be grateful for the help you receive. Thanking those that have helped you is an important part of the process. Not only does it show your helpers that you truly value their time and effort, but practicing this allows you to remain open and gracious to those who aren’t as helpful.

6. Absorb the advice given. Learn to listen differently. Don’t simply hear the words spoken, but pay attention to the body language and underlying emotional messages embedded in the response to your need.

7. Express your gratitude. Whether or not you get the help you need, follow the “three thanks” rule by thanking others when the help is asked for, after the help has been given, and the next time you see the helper.

Even those that are most resistant to seeking help, Klaver offers some final words of encouragement, “Like any skill, practice is required. The more often you ask, the more comfortable you will become. With time, miscommunications will be reduced, anxiety will lessen, and your words will become more eloquent.”