Micromanaging vs. Coaching: Micromanaging is a tactic, not a style

This is a guest post by Nathan Jamail.

One of the greatest misunderstandings in leadership and coaching is the term “micromanaging.” Most leaders never want to be thought of as a micromanager. In fact, many would consider it an insult. When micromanaging is used as a coaching or leadership style, it typically delivers poor results, stifles creativity, diminishes employees’ self-worth and—without a doubt—limits productivity.

On the other hand, when leaders must deal with poor performers, it is imperative that they help their employees either become a better performers or find more suitable jobs. Leaders should strive to become coaches who—when necessary—use micromanaging activities to improve specific areas.

Source of confusion

Micromanaging and coaching are often confused because from the surface, the activities and the leader’s involvement look similar. Both micromanaging and coaching require the involvement of the leader: setting clear expectations, well-defined activity management, accountability and a huge time commitment from the leader as well as the struggling employee. The difference lies in the purpose of these activities.

Example: A leader sets expectations to ensure there is complete understanding of what he or she wants from each employee, in order to maximize productivity and limit confusion. The leader’s intent, however, indicates whether he or she is a micromanager or a coach:

• A micromanager does this to set boundaries and rules. A coach hold everyone accountable to show his or her commitment to the team.

• A micromanager uses accountability to ensure the employee is earning his or her paycheck (oftentimes focusing on single employees, as opposed to the whole team). A coach manages activities to ensure that all employees are on the right track and that they are in the best position to succeed.

• A micromanager uses the activities to justify effort or discipline. The coach understands it is not the amount of time an employee contributes as much as it is the focus and effectiveness of the time they contribute.

The intent of coaching is to develop and prepare the employees to succeed using the leader’s knowledge and experience to guide the employees, not to justify actions.

Action item:  Don’t afraid of being a coach because you don’t want to micromanage. Get involved and share the intent of your actions with your team so they understand that your goals are not only for your own benefit, but for them too.

Every great coach must use micromanaging tactics 

Micromanaging is (or should be) a tactic of coaching, used sparingly; it should never be a permanent leadership style. Micromanaging should be used as a consequence for those employees who are not meeting expectations.

A bad performer does not necessarily mean a bad employee—and definitely does not mean a bad person. There are many employees that are not performing well because they are simply in the wrong job. In those cases, micromanaging can help the leader and the employee to make the best decision as to what action should be taken next.

When and how long to micromanage

Let’s say there is an employee who appears to be unhappy and is not meeting expectations. The leader should get involved early to determine if the shortcoming is a lack of desire, ability or both. To help determine the issue, the leader should implement more disciplined expectations and activities and explain to the employee why this action is being taken, as well as the desired outcome—either to help the employee reach expectations, or help him or her find a role that is a better fit. These micromanaging activities should be short-term activities.

The leader should assess the employee’s shortcomings quickly, and if necessary, move the person out of the position. The leader should also take recognize the employee’s great efforts and achievements, as warranted. A leader should not have to implement a micromanaging activity for an employee for more than 90 days and can end it in as little as 30 days, depending on the level of involvement, improvement and accountability, as well as overall attitude and commitment of the employee.

Action item: When you have a poor performing employee, implement a performance plan of daily and weekly activities and micromanage those activities to help the person improve.

Why most leaders don’t like to coach

Like most people, the majority of leaders prefer to avoid confrontation. This is unfortunate, as constructive confrontations and discussions lead to progress. The key is in the intent of the confrontation. If the intent is to belittle, or point out all the obvious issues with an employee, then, yes, that is a destructive and useless conversation. However, in order to be an effective coach, a leader must approach confrontation with the intent of helping the employee.

It is impossible to be an effective coach without confrontation and discussion regarding areas of opportunity. Strong leaders confront their employees by expressing the desire to help them achieve success, pointing out opportunities for improvement and suggesting plans to help them. Those confrontations aren’t destructive or useless; they establish a plan for success.

Final thought

Not every hire is the right hire, and not every job is the right job, but accepting either one just because it is easier is wrong. Micromanage through the issues by helping your employees either to become great at what they do or to find something they will be great at. Outside of issues with poor performing employees, your job as a leader is to coach your entire team to success.

Nathan Jamail, president of the Jamail Development Group and author of “The Sales Leaders Playbook,” is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur and corporate coach. As a former Executive Director for Sprint, and owner of several small businesses, Nathan travels the country helping individuals and organizations achieve maximum success. His clients include US Army Reserves, Nationwide Insurance, Metro PCS, State Farm Insurance, Century 21, Jackson National Insurance Company and ThyssenKrupp Elevators. To book Nathan, visit www.nathanjamail.com or contact 972-377-0030.

Teach your staff how to prioritize work

By Amy Beth Miller, editor of The Organized Executive

If your team is like most these days, it is stretched thin, scrambling to do more with less. You can’t add staff, but you can do one thing to ease the stress: Show your staff how to prioritize work assignments.

Instead of only making assignments, take time to review what is on each employee’s to-do list. Discuss what they must do now and what they can move to the back burner.

During my vacation this summer, I noticed this quote among many decorating a wall at Disney’s Magic Kingdom:

Everyone needs deadlines.”

—Walt Disney

With some online searching I found the full quote from Disney: “Everyone needs deadlines. Even the beavers. They loaf around all summer, but when they are faced with the winter deadline, they work like fury. If we didn’t have deadlines, we’d stagnate.”

If you don’t set a deadline for an assignment, you are telling your employee that it isn’t important. They will work first on the tasks that do have a deadline.

When you set a deadline, you are telling the employee how to prioritize the task. If you don’t set one, the employee may rush to complete the assignment because you are the boss, neglecting other work that is actually more important. Or the employee may put the task in the “Someday” slot on his or her to-do list, assuming that it isn’t urgent because you didn’t set a due date.

So with every action item at a meeting, include a deadline. If you have some flexibility, ask the employee what is realistic, given the person’s workload. That will involve the employee in deciding how to prioritize work, building his or her time management skills.

Make all your team members masters of time management. Send them to the Productivity Training Camp in September.

Turn around a slacker’s performance

Slackers can ruin the dynamic of any team—without doing a thing. When workers get lazy, their colleagues have to do more than their fair share. That results in overworked, stressed-out employees and mediocre projects. When they search the Web, make personal phone calls and take long breaks, lazy workers reduce productivity and, when their laziness goes unchecked, morale.

With the tips below, you can stymie the slackers’ toxicity in your workplace:

• Confront the problem. Many bosses are tempted to ignore this issue. They may hope that in time slackers will step up their game and become more productive team members. However, ignoring lazy workers will exacerbate the problem. It sends the message to slackers that you approve of their work habits and to hard working employees that you don’t value their work ethic. Instead, meet one-on-one with the offenders and tell them that their actions—or lack thereof—are not going unnoticed. Cite specific, documented occurrences and tell them that their work habits don’t change, there will be consequences.

• Make note of work habits. After speaking with the slackers, continue to document their successes and failures. When they do good work, reward them with praise and a sincere “Thank you.” If a slacker’s habits don’t change, be sure to record that too, as you will need it as proof should you decide that you need to fire the person.

• Remove any hindrances to their productivity. If their slacking stems from distractions, block recreational websites like FaceBook, YouTube and ESPN. Over time, if their performance improves, you can remove the blocks, but keep an eye on their usage.

• Assign extra work. When you catch your slackers blatantly putting off work, send a clear message. Keep them busy by giving them extra tasks every time they seem to be slowing down. Fill up their “free time” and you will get the productivity out of them that you’ve been looking for.

• Explain your expectations. Set clear goals for what you need to see from them in the future. Say “I expect you to arrive to work on time, leave when your colleagues leave, follow company break policies and become a more productive member of this organization.” Get them to agree to lighten their teammates’ workload by doing their fair share. Then address your timeline for change; you should see a difference immediately and a complete turnaround in two weeks. If you don’t see the necessary improvements, you should replace that team member with someone who is willing to pull his or her own weight.

Want more tips for dealing with “toxic” employees like slackers? Check out Detox Your Workplace!, which will help you flush out toxic behaviors before they destroy your team.

What other tips do you have for dealing with slackers in the workplace?

[Image Source: Sergeant Killjoy]

Delegating tasks is critical to your success

One of the co-workers I’ve most liked and respected in my career is a hardworking woman who is full of great ideas and ambition and takes a lot of pride in her work. She is someone who you can tell is going to do great things during the span of her career.

That’s why one day, during a particularly stressful week, I was surprised to hear her say that she has a hard time delegating assignments. At a time when she needed to let go of a few tasks so that she could focus on her high priority to-dos, she couldn’t. Her words “I just can’t trust … or maybe trust is the wrong word … I just can’t seem to let assignments go and believe that they’ll get done correctly.” In other words, “If I want something done right, I have to do it myself.”

In my mind, I was thinking that someone who has big-picture thinking capability like she does shouldn’t be caught up in the minutiae of daily office work. Her natural ability to lead and strategize and innovate should be taking top bill. But like her, many supervisors out there really struggle when it comes to delegation, and trust—or lack there of—was indeed the right word for her to use.

Building up that trust in your employees is no easy feat. It’s hard to let go, and especially when you are a new supervisor, it’s difficult to risk failure by putting a project in the hands of someone who hasn’t proven him- or herself to you yet. But with every task you delegate, you offer an employee a valuable learning opportunity—and you free up your time to focus on your goals. Follow these tips to effectively delegate tasks to employees:

1. Assign the right task to the right person. Ask yourself these questions when you are planning to delegate work:

• Who has the skills and experience?
• Who has the time?
• Whose workload can handle additional assignments?
• Who has expressed interest in this type of work? In taking on more work?
• Who needs a challenge or change?
• Who deserves a growth or advancement opportunity?

2. Delegate, don’t dump. Don’t just hand off the assignments you hate doing—or simple menial assignments that you feel are beneath you. Offer rewarding, meaningful assignments that will work toward meeting your goals and support the vision. Those assignments should offer learning and growth opportunities to employees.

3. Develop everyone in your group. Delegating assignments to only your top performers will breed resentment among other employees. Offer assignments to all employees to increase their knowledge and skills.

4. Don’t micromanage. You can’t dictate how they execute the project. Make the assignment, and then give them the freedom to complete the work as they see fit—as long as the results are the same.

5. Ensure that they have all the resources they need to succeed. That means providing adequate directions, information, training, time manpower and equipment.

6. Hold them accountable. Make them understand that they are responsible for the outcome, and that the success or failure of a project is on their shoulders. However, do let them know that you are available to support them if they need it.

What task did you have the hardest time delegating to an employee? What was the outcome? 

Guide your employees to develop their ideas

I love hearing people’s ideas. I love outside-of-the-box thinking, and I regularly—my employees and co-workers might think too regularly—ask for people’s input. So just to be clear, I want people to offer ideas.

That said, I’m less than excited when people send ideas—and nothing more. They don’t offer any insight into how an idea will be executed. They don’t consider obstacles. In some cases, they don’t even contemplate the true benefits of an idea. They simply identify something they like, and they share it along with a note like “Hey, why aren’t we doing this?” or “Love this. Can we do something similar?”

Sounds harmless enough, right? But what ends up happening is that those people put the burden back on me to develop the idea. I have to follow up to ask them to explain how the new idea helps us reach our goals or to offer a list of potential challenges we’ll face. I often feel like I am shooting down ideas or being too cynical. So either I end up doing all the work for the other person or I’m crushing the idea before it has a chance to develop. Neither is ideal—and neither feels fair.

While we can’t control the actions of all of our co-workers, we can improve how we submit ideas to others. We also can guide our employees to more thoroughly develop their own ideas before sharing them. My own boss introduced the following activity to me, and I follow the process whenever I want to bring a new idea to the table.

I suggest you complete it each time you want to present a new idea to your boss, co-workers or employees, and ask your employees to work through the process before they share an idea with you. Also, it’s a great activity to use during team brainstorming sessions.

Create a chart with four quadrants, labeled as follows. Then answer the questions.

Goals   How will the idea specifically aid my team/organization in reaching our high-priority goals?	Tools   What resources (materials, equipment, software) do we need to execute the idea?
People   Who (employees, vendors, contract workers, customers) will we need to execute the idea?	Obstacles   What challenges can we expect that may prevent us from successfully executing the idea?

The process allows you create a clear picture of what’s involved to bring the idea to life. As you and your staff work through the process, you will flesh out the idea which makes it more likely that it will be successful. On the other hand, you may realize that the idea doesn’t support your goals or that it’s just not doable given your current priorities, so rather than force an idea that will ultimately fail, you can move on to more manageable and lucrative projects.

How do you encourage your employees to offer realistic, workable ideas and solutions?

[Image Source: Caveman Chuck Coker]

You are a mentor … even if you don’t realize it

Recently, at a friend’s insistence, I was reading Meg Kay’s The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—and How to Make the Most of Them Now (which, despite its cheesy title, I recommend highly to the under-30 crowd). In a section on developing career confidence, she talks about work mentors and shares some truly awful stories. One woman had a volatile boss who constantly made her feel incompetent by berating her for things she had no control over, such as when he was bumped from first class on a flight. Kay also talked about one of her own supervisors, who always seemed distracted during their one-on-one meetings. During one session the supervisor chopped onions for that evening’s dinner party, never once even looking up at her mentee, who was crying from both the fumes and her frustration.

Kay’s point to readers was that you can’t necessarily control your boss, and sometimes it’s a bad match, but you just have to make the best of it. That’s a valid point, however, it doesn’t excuse those bosses’ and mentors’ bad behavior.

Whether you’re an official mentor or not, the way you treat your employees can play a large part in shaping their careers. Are you building their confidence and helping them learn from their mistakes? Or are you doing the opposite? While this is probably most pertinent to your youngest workers, the way you respond to all employees can affect their future success or lack thereof. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I give my employees my full attention when they talk to me?

• Do I keep my composure when things go wrong, or do I lash out at those I think are responsible?

• Do I treat employees’ mistakes as teachable moments?

• Do I coach employees on the hard and soft skills that they need to move forward in their careers?

If you answered “No” to any of those questions, reflect on how you can be a better unofficial mentor to your employees.

Share your stories of your best or worst mentors in the Comment section!

Learn what it takes to be an excellent coach and mentor to your employees in Orlando this August at Coaching Training Camp! Early bird registration ends July 30.

7 ways coaching employees is like training a puppy

By Amy Beth Miller, editor of The Organized Executive

The past few weeks have been exciting, frustrating and very rewarding in our home. Welcoming a puppy into our family has been a lot like the journey a manager takes in developing employees. Keep these observations in mind as you manage your team:

1. Choose the right one. Taking the time to find an employee who is a good fit for your team pays off in the long run. Look for the right attitude, and remember that you can train people to develop skills but you’re unlikely to alter someone’s attitude. We knew that Newfoundlands fit our family well, because we had one who passed away in January. When it came time to select the exact dog, attitude made the difference. In a video, a littermate played and did its own thing as Stormy paid close attention to the humans talking off camera, moving her head to watch the one who was speaking at the moment.

2. Customize your training. Learn all you can about managing people, and then choose what will work best with your style and your employee. If one method isn’t working, be willing to try something else. I’ve had at least one dog in my home almost my entire life, but recently I read two books with very different approaches to dog training. Both authors agreed that their wolf heritage influences dogs’ behavior, but one emphasized discipline and corrections while the other seems to reward every action with food. We’re raising Stormy with lots of praise and a firm “No” when necessary.

3. Explain your workplace. Just because a new hire has worked somewhere else doesn’t mean that person will understand how to fit in at your organization. Stormy spent her first few months in a barn, so things like the dishwasher and oven are new to her.

4. Send consistent messages. You can’t expect your new employee to understand how to prioritize tasks and do the work when other members of the team offer conflicting advice. Our family members had to agree to use a common set of commands. If one person said “Off” when Stormy jumped on the table and another said “Down,” it would take her longer to know what to do.

5. Reinforce positive behaviors. Managers often make the mistake of talking with employees only when they do something wrong. It’s also important to be attentive to what employees do right and to praise them so that they will repeat that behavior. Stormy learned the command “Sit” quickly because we would say “Good sit” when she sat on her own. Later when we said “Sit,” she knew what to do again.

6. Accept mistakes—and be accountable for your role. How you respond to mistakes is critical to your relationship. If you yell and fuss, your employee will be tempted to hide problems in the future. That will make it harder for you to know what is going on and make corrections. If you respond harshly when a puppy has an accident, the dog may try to hide future evidence of those mistakes. Many times while we were house training Stormy, her mistakes would frustrate us. Instead of punishing her, however, we learned to be more attentive and recognize the signs that she needed to go outside. When your employee makes a mistake, ask yourself “How could I have prevented this?”

7. Learn from them. Just because you have more experience doesn’t mean you know it all. Observe, listen and be willing to change because of what you learn from your employees. Stormy has been a great reminder to me to take breaks from the computer and exercise.

What is your biggest challenge in managing employees?

[Image Source: Amy Beth Miller]

Critique the feedback you deliver

By Amy Beth Miller, editor of The Organized Executive

At the time I thought that I was being clever, but it was one of the dumbest things I ever did as a new manager.

As I edited a rookie reporter’s story, I smirked as I typed “Sheraton is a hotel chain. The Civil War general was Philip Sheridan.”

I lost sight of my true goal, to train this reporter to be a careful and accurate writer. Instead of coaching her, I was being condescending.

As a manager, one of your key roles is to make your team members smarter, not to show off how smart you are. It takes time and consideration to be a coach, but the result is employees who grow and excel, and who respect you.

If I were working with that rookie today, I would take a much different approach. After reviewing her article I would sit down with her and have a conversation. We would talk about the importance of her reputation for accuracy as well as the newspaper’s reputation, and I would ask for her ideas for how she would ensure in the future that she never got another name wrong again. Instead of telling her what was wrong, I would train her to analyze her own work habits so she could hone her skills.

Giving feedback is a tough skill for new managers to master, so that’s why we offer several resources, including Bud to Boss: A New Supervisor’s Guide to Turning Around Poor Performers.

While you’re reviewing your team members’ performance, take the time to analyze whether you are giving them the right advice and feedback in the most effective ways.

Tell us about the best feedback you have received. 

Dealing with doubt the Shaka Smart way

No one expected VCU to make it into the Final Four. Quite a few people even vocalized their regret that the team was invited into the tournament at all. But against all odds, tomorrow they will be facing Butler, one game from a national championship.

Shaka Smart, who is only 33 years old and two years into his head coaching career, is an excellent example of leadership for new managers. If you’re heading a team that seems to be surrounded by negativity and doubt—be it externally from bad PR or internally from pessimistic employees—follow Smart’s lead to succeed:

1. Break your main goal down into individual, conquerable steps.
   
   The Rams didn’t begin this tournament focusing their energies on the championship game. They focused on preparing for their first game against Georgetown. Then they focused on Purdue. Then FSU. Then Kansas. Now they’re preparing to face Butler. If they win, then it will be time to focus on the championship game.

   Your team’s main goal might seem insurmountable at first. Don’t let that distract you. Instead of emphasizing only year-end goals, focus on the month’s goals or even the week’s goals. If you successfully reach each of those smaller objectives, you’ll be on track to reach your ultimate goal.

2. Don’t run away from the criticism; harness that energy.

   It would be an understatement to say that the VCU squad faced doubt from the outside. Smart never attempted to cover his players’ ears, though. He used all that doubt as ammunition to motivate them. He showed his players clips of anyone who doubted, criticized or mocked the team. Those efforts worked. After beating Kansas last weekend in the biggest upset of the tournament, they were vindicated.

   Whether it’s the media, your competition or even others within your organization doubting you, embrace your “underdog” status. Inspire your team with your “We’ll show them!” attitude.

3. Put past mistakes and problems behind you.

   The Rams’ regular season didn’t end well. They lost five of their last eight games. Smart knew that he’d need to get his team over that hump of disappointment if they were to perform well in the tournament. He brought the team together and burned the February page of his desk calendar in front of them. That symbolic act helped motivate his team to let go of their old regrets and embrace their present challenges.

   If negativity is surrounding your team because of past failures, acknowledge those failures—but follow Smart’s lead. He didn’t make personal accusations or call names. Instead, he rallied his team. Together they recognized that February was a bad month for them, and together they moved on.

What other strategies have you used to successfully deal with doubt surrounding your team’s objectives? Share your success stories in the comments section.

Keeping conversations going

 As you take on a new management role, you want to make sure that you’re communicating effectively with your team members. But how are you going to get them to open up to you? Many employees have trouble being forthcoming with any boss, let alone a brand new one. Try out these encouraging phrases from Mike Leibling and Robin Prior’s Coaching Made Easy to get the words flowing:

• “Help me understand …” Put the blame for communication breakdowns on you, not on employees.
• “Tell me what is going on with you right now.” To respond, employees first must think it through. That will trigger a less emotional view of their situation.
• “Because …?” Encourage employees to explore their rationale. That approach is less accusatory or demanding than asking “Why?”
• “And …?” When you think employees have more to say but they appear stuck, gently prompt them to open up.

You might feel frustrated when colleagues withhold their ideas and opinions from you, but remember that you don’t have to just let it go. Be patient, act like a coach and keep at it until the conversation begins.

What other phrases have you used to get an employee to open up?