Thread by @rhein_wein

If you're afraid of being a micromanager

I can guarantee you are one.

It's the Micromanagement Spiral. 🌀

Let me explain:

You delegate a project to your team.

You don't want to micromanage.

So you share just the big details in order to leave room for:

🔹 interpretation
🔹 creativity
🔹 alternatives
🔹 opposition

The team heads off to work on the project.

It wraps, but the team didn't execute as you hoped.

😐 The objective was missed
😕 A key stakeholder is unhappy
🙁 Deadlines passed
😣 Strategic alignment is missing

Now you have to go back to the team.

"The UI needs to be redone."
"We need to change course."
"Can I have a detailed timeline for this project?"
"You need to start holding a standup that these VPs attend."

Suddenly, you've morphed into the micromanager you dreaded.

And this is the Micromanagement Spiral:

🌀 Delegate a task
🌀 Give minimal direction
🌀 Be disappointed by results
🌀 Micromanage the details to course correct

This cycle will continue on and on and on

Until you can break it.

📢 Giving your team direction and context is not micromanagement.

📢 It's also not micromangement to expect proactive updates about the status of a project.

When those two elements are missing, you'll find yourself needing to micromanage details to correct the course.

So, you can avoid micromanagement by giving:

🔹 Enough direction
🔹 Clear expectations
🔹 What's been tried before, and why it didn't work
🔹 Details about stakeholder expectations or company politics
🔹 Assumptions and opinions
🔹 Timeline details

And avoid micromanagement by getting:

🔹 Project updates that are useful and frequent enough

In practice, it might look like this:

"I need to stay updated on this project in order to give updates to the executive team at our meetings on Wednesdays. How would you like to provide those updates for me?"

"We've already tried X. How will this impact your approach?"

Or this:

"I'd like you to research solutions and make a recommendation. When would you like to share your findings?"

"The CEO is expecting that we deliver before Sept 1. It must include UI changes, or the update won't be tangible enough. Who has an idea?"

The road to micromanagement is paved with good intentions.

Most of the time, trying to avoid micromanagement will lead you right down the path to being a micromanager.

The antidotes?
🔹 Direction
🔹 Transparency

Are you caught in a micromanagement spiral?

Use this thread to spot the signs.

🌀

RT to share with someone who's afraid being a micromanager, so they don't get caught in the spiral, too.