{"id":64126,"date":"2025-06-16T00:02:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T05:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/?p=64126"},"modified":"2025-06-12T22:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T03:43:07","slug":"do-your-managers-know-how-to-help-without-micromanaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/do-your-managers-know-how-to-help-without-micromanaging\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Your Managers Know How to Help Without Micromanaging?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a new boss comes in, the easiest thing to do is to require that all those they manage work exactly as they do. To achieve that goal, micromanagement usually is required. They must get inside their employees\u2019 work processes and demand conformity wherever their work processes deviate.<\/p>\n

Is Micromanagement Acceptable?<\/h2>\n

Every person, especially those who have been in their jobs for a long time, has their own eccentricities and approaches to getting their work done. When a new manager requires conformity to their approach and uses micromanagement to reach that goal, they often create aggravated employees.<\/p>\n

As you probably guessed, I have experienced this phenomenon of the manager who feels (knows) they have the best way of doing everything, demands their new charges do the same, and are not reluctant to get into the weeds of their employees\u2019 work to make sure they start doing it the \u201cright\u201d way.<\/p>\n

This kind of micromanagement has always rubbed me the wrong way\u2014from day one of my career. However, it sometimes works with entry-level employees. Or rather, I should say, it works temporarily <\/em>with entry-level employees. Micromanagement to get employees to conform to the manager\u2019s way of doing the work creates employees who never figure out for themselves what works best for them. They never learn how to get the desired results by doing the work in a way that is manageable for them.<\/p>\n

Tips to Keep in Mind<\/h2>\n

Given all these perils of the inflexible boss who uses micromanagement to make \u201cimprovements,\u201d I started exploring what experts advise as a better management approach.<\/p>\n

I found this 2021 Harvard Business Review<\/em> piece by Colin M. Fisher, Teresa M. Amabile, and Julianna Pillemer on helping employees without micromanagement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Carefully time when you jump in to \u201chelp.\u201d <\/strong>One tip from the authors is to step in to help\u2014at the right moment, i.e., when there is reason to believe the employee is struggling or significantly challenged and would welcome the help.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cWe\u2019ve found\u2026that the leaders who are viewed as the most helpful don\u2019t try to preempt every problem or dive in as soon as they recognize one. Instead, they watch and listen until they believe their subordinates see the need for help and are ready to listen receptively. They understand people are more willing to welcome assistance when they\u2019re already engaged in a task or a project and have experienced its challenges firsthand,\u201d the authors write.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Clarify that you\u2019re stepping in, in fact, to help. <\/strong>It\u2019s easy to see a boss who wants to comb through the weeds of your work as intrusive and micromanaging. It\u2019s important, the authors note, for the boss to communicate that they don\u2019t want to do any such thing\u2014that they are solely interested in getting a second pair of eyes on the challenge to see where the difficulty the employee is experiencing may be stemming from.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u201cWe found that leaders rated as particularly helpful took pains to persuade subordinates that they were stepping in for only one reason: to support their employees\u2019 work,\u201d the authors point out.<\/p>\n

      From my own experience, it helps to allow the employee to lead the meeting with the boss in which the boss plans to comb through the work. The employee feels in control and empowered that way. \u201cI\u2019m getting a sense from you that this project is proving a big challenge and is getting to be hard to deliver. I wanted to see if you could take me through it and point out any areas where I might be able to jump in to help, or one of the other team members might be able to lend a hand,\u201d <\/em>the manager might say.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Realize that sometimes an employee does need their manager to partner with them. <\/strong>The authors didn\u2019t put it in terms of \u201cpartnering,\u201d but that\u2019s how I interpreted their advice to \u201calign the rhythm of your involvement to people\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The authors generally explain what that means this way: \u201cTo give people useful help, leaders must take the time to fully understand employees\u2019 problems, especially when the issues are thorny. If the work is complex, creative, and cognitively demanding, you\u2019ll need to engage deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n

        From my own experience, that deep engagement can be done in a way that positions the manager as a partner rather than a top-down enforcer.<\/p>\n

        \u201cLet\u2019s tackle this together,\u201d<\/em> the manager could say to the employee. \u201cI have some ideas for getting past this challenge I want to run past you and get your feedback on.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

        Once a solution has been arrived at, the manager can let the employee know that they personally will be working alongside them to do the necessary work or that another team member will be stepping in to help.<\/p>\n

        Few employees will object to an extra brain and an extra pair of hands helping them get work done, especially when that work is experiencing a seemingly insurmountable roadblock. On the flip side, a manager who comes in as an enforcer, combing through work to find flaws and then adding to the employee\u2019s workload, will certainly\u2014and rightfully\u2014get a big shove back.<\/p>\n

        When you promote someone to a manager position or a higher level of management, how do you ensure they know how to help in a way that is empowering, rather than aggravating or demoralizing, to employees?<\/p>\n

        \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        The key is to train new managers to help team members in a way that is empowering, rather than aggravating or demoralizing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-64126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDo Your Managers Know How to Help Without Micromanaging?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The key is to train new managers to help team members in a way that is empowering, rather than aggravating or demoralizing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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