Are You A Micromanager: Do you see any of these behaviors in yourself?

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Are you a micromanager? An infographic (at the end of the article) doing the rounds clearly lays out the behaviors that such people typically have at the workplace, and often harm the company more than they realize.

Common micromanager behaviors

During weekly meetings, the micromanager is most likely to be the only one talking to a silent room, instead of there being a healthy exchange of ideas. They are also likely to see brainstorming sessions as a waste of time and blatantly reject ideas discussed, when such sessions should offer an opportunity to hear out new suggestions.

Control freaks usually take new recruits through every task for the initial few days, instead of offering their assistance and asking for their opinions on certain subjects. While such micromanagement is harmful, the aloof manager who waits for the boss to make introductions is also not easy to work with.

When someone asks a micromanager for help, the compulsive controller will usually solve the problem for them, instead of teaching them how to solve the problem. Leaders who have trouble delegating tasks and prefer to work on them single-handedly are toxic for the workplace. In order for the company’s growth, it is important that every employee is given a chance for their skills to be applied and honed. Ideally, a leader should assign the task and lay out an overview of expectations.

Minute project management can be draining when the leader provides a detailed list of expectations, priorities and action-steps. It can lead to a warped company culture in which team members wait to be told what to do. Instead, the leader should provide a general overview and expectations, and offer their help in completing the project successfully. Project decisions should also be made only after asking colleagues for their opinions, and not done single-handedly or delegated entirely to the project manager.

When a team member nears the end of a project, a control freak closely goes over every detail, instead of asking whether they need any help with wrapping it up. In addition, instead of offering some constructive criticism on teammates’ work, micromanagers point out each and every error and offer suggestions for improvements.

Such micromanagers are also typically people who admire authority figures in movies and mold their workplace behavior on such figures.

Do you see any of these behaviors in yourself? It may be time to change how you work!

Take This Quiz – Are You A Micromanager?



