As a matter of fact, micromanagement may be defined as a specific style of organizational leadership that presupposes continuous supervision and direct control over employees or subordinates by managers or management teams. It may be additionally characterized by the excessive attention of management to minor details. It goes without saying that micromanagement aims to improve workers’ productivity and guarantee a high quality of performance. However, at the same time, micromanagement has a highly negative connotation, and it is traditionally viewed as the main reason for employee complaints. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that micromanagement in the workplace is an inefficient practice as it has considerably negative and costly effects.
In the present day, a considerable number of scholars evaluate the impact of micromanagement on organizational culture and employee satisfaction. According to Sulphey and Upadhyay (2019), micromanagers do not give autonomy or the right for decision-making to their subordinates, refuse feedback, and “get involved even in the most intricate of project details” (p. 193). That is why, micromanagement creates an atmosphere of mistrust and leads to conflicts and annoying situations within organizational settings (Sulphey & Upadhyay, 2019). These findings are supported by Delgado and Strauss (2015) who admit that micromanagement is frequently perceived negatively as it tends “to interfere with details best understood by other members of the team” (p. 772). In general, this management style “is associated more with the process by which a task is completed and less with the results that are achieved” (Delgado & Strauss, 2015, p. 772).
Moreover, there is a considerably strong correlation between autonomy possessed by micromanaged team members and the degree of the organization’s micromanaging. According to Cleary, Hungerford, Lopez, and Cutcliffe (2015), there is no single comprehensive reason why managers may choose micromanagement as their management style. At the same time, a substantial number of micromanagers demonstrate similar behavioral traits as a consequence of underlying insecurities and perfectionism. Although micromanagement is used to achieve targets in the culture that may be characterized by high performance, it subsequently leads to increased staff turnover and the reduction of staff creativity, morale, and productivity (Clearly, et al., 2015). In general, the evaluation of the impact of micromanagement is highly essential as the prevalent number of modern companies focus not only on productivity but on employee satisfaction as well to accomplish corporate goals.
Based on the review of scholarly articles, it is possible to conclude that micromanagement has a highly negative impact on the organizational culture and performance of any company. It leads to overall low morale and high employee turnover. In turn, low employee turnover affects the organization’s expenditures as it should spend substantial sums of money on the training and adaptation of new employees. In addition, while disruptive micromanagers focus on their subordinates’ detailed activities, they generally fail to concentrate on more essential organizational goals that may include departmental expansion and the company’s growth. Moreover, over the long term, micromanagement leads to substantial time mismanagement that negatively affects the organization’s productivity and competitiveness. At the same time, coaching may be regarded as a more efficient practice for newly hired employees to help them to adjust to a new environment. It goes without saying that control over performance is inevitable, however, a successful manager should consider the individual characteristics of his or her employees.
References
Cleary, M., Hungerford, C., Lopez, V., & Cutcliffe, J. R. (2015). Towards effective management in psychiatric-mental health nursing: The dangers and consequences of micromanagement. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 36(6), 424-429. Web.
Delgado, O., & Strauss, E. M. (2015). Micromanagement: When to avoid it and how to use it effectively. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 72(10), 772-776. Web.
Sulphey, M. M., & Upadhyay, Y. K. (2019). Construction and validation of micromanagement questionnaire. International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment, 5(3), 193-205. Web.