Discussion: View Thread

Since the subject is far removed from my own style, I am hard pressed to
identify the positives associated with a micro-manager. I know there are
supposed to be positives associated with the various styles of manager, so I am
admitting to my Achilles' heel and asking for your input on the strengths that a
micro-manager brings to an organization.




ICQ #26317826
__________________________________
Great Optimism,

Dutch Driver
San Bruno, CA 94066
mailto:Choragus@email.com
Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus

Sure, Dutch:

In a small organization, a micro manager:
- is on top of everything
- is involved in everything
- is in reasonably direct control
- is keeping things on his/her course
- etc, etc, etc

AND quite probably is admired or at least respected by those around him/her.

In a large organization, a micro manager:
- tries to stay on top of everything
- tries to be involved in everything
- tries to maintain direct control

BUT - as a result:

- screws up just about everything
- has only the illusion of control

AND is probably seen as a pain in the neck by almost everyone.




At 03:50 PM 05/13/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>Since the subject is far removed from my own style, I am hard pressed to
>identify the positives associated with a micro-manager. I know there are
>supposed to be positives associated with the various styles of manager, so
>I am
>admitting to my Achilles' heel and asking for your input on the strengths
>that a
>micro-manager brings to an organization.

Fred Nickols
The Distance Consulting Company
"Assistance at A Distance"
http://home.att.net/~nickols/distance.htm
nickols@worldnet.att.net
(609) 490-0095

I remember in the mid to late 60s as a First Lt. in the USMC stories about
General Chapman the Commandant of the USMC at that time. He was a
notorious micro-manager who made no qualms about ensuring that the
practices in vogue at the Corps were indeed followed down to the lowest
level. For example reveille was supposed to occur at 0600 in ALL the
barracks which housed troops in a particular Base such as Camp
LeJeune. Chapman would periodically select a barracks on the Base and then
march in at exactly 0600 to ensure that reveille was occuring as it should
and the staff were indeed following directives. In a very short time the
word got out throughout the Corps that Chapman did these kind of
"micro" things. The concern was that he could do it at any location. The
effect was the raising of awareness throughout the organization ( shades
of Bentham's panopticon effect). We can argue about what he did and why
but it kept many people on their toes. His motto was " Attention to detail
is paramount. When you take care of the small things the big things take
care of themselves."

We can argue about his style however it forced peoples attention to
concentrate on doing the "little" things well under the assumption that
"big" things, the fodder for macro managers, will then fall in line.

Mike Chumer


On Sat, 13 May 2000, Dutch Driver wrote:

> Since the subject is far removed from my own style, I am hard pressed to
> identify the positives associated with a micro-manager. I know there are
> supposed to be positives associated with the various styles of manager, so I am
> admitting to my Achilles' heel and asking for your input on the strengths that a
> micro-manager brings to an organization.
>
>
>
>
> ICQ #26317826
> __________________________________
> Great Optimism,
>
> Dutch Driver
> San Bruno, CA 94066
> mailto:Choragus@email.com
> Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus
>

Fred,
Thanks for the grin. Now, I just have to figure out if I am in a large or small
organization. With the multiple lines of service that we provide to the
hospital, I rather suspect large fits better than small.

I concede that a micro-manager might succeed if they are the founding
entrepreneur. I say this because these folks were intimately involved in the
details and development of the company they are trying to manage. Still, at a
some mystical point, even these knowledgeable individuals can become the pain in
the neck you mentioned.


ICQ #26317826
__________________________________
Great Optimism,

Dutch Driver
San Bruno, CA 94066
mailto:Choragus@email.com
Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus

Actually, it's not as mystical as you might think. Research by Alan Filley
and Ray Aldag (published in AMJ and in one of the Staw-Cummings JAI volumes)
convincingly shows that the hands-on leadership that is essential in
starting a business will eventually get in the way of its growth. Filley
and Aldag distinguish between three organizational types, labeled Craft,
Promotion, and Administrative. The owner-managers in a Craft firm "spend
much of their time doing work that is similar to that performed by other
people in the organization" (see below, p. 48). But in a Promotion
(entrepreneurial) firm, the leader's charisma is generally enough to get
others to do the work; and in an Administrative (bureaucratic) firm, there
is a policy and procedures manual that determines who does what. As Filley
says in his clever little book, The Compleat Manager, "There is no reason to
believe that a leader in one organization who is successful will also be
successful in another organization unless the circumstances are quite
similar" (p. 52).


Larry Pate
University of Wisconsin-Madison


At 12:18 PM 05/14/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>Fred,
>Thanks for the grin. Now, I just have to figure out if I am in a large or
small
>organization. With the multiple lines of service that we provide to the
>hospital, I rather suspect large fits better than small.
>
>I concede that a micro-manager might succeed if they are the founding
>entrepreneur. I say this because these folks were intimately involved in the
>details and development of the company they are trying to manage. Still, at a
>some mystical point, even these knowledgeable individuals can become the
pain in
>the neck you mentioned.
>
>
>ICQ #26317826
>__________________________________
>Great Optimism,
>
>Dutch Driver
>San Bruno, CA 94066
>mailto:Choragus@email.com
>Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus
>

I don't know that it is joyful to micro-manage, but sometimes it is necessary. The trick is to have the judgement to pick-out the situations where micro-management is appropriate. As Larry Pate pointed out the research of Filley and Aldag suggests that for the entrepreneur micro-management is appropriate in the early stage of firm development. I have no published research to cite, but I would submit to you that if you are trying to turn around either a project or an individual micro-management is also appropriate. Fiedler and his colleagues have found that when "situational favorableness" (leader-member relations are poor, and the structure of the task is unknown), task-oriented leadership is most effective.

In working with managers, I have learned that when a subordinate is having serious work-related problems taking a consultative approach is not very effective. At that point, a directive counseling style will be more effective. Once the individual is making progress, a consultative style can be used to support the individual continued performance improvement.

In doing research on effective managers, I have observed that the most effective ones will be evaluated by some of their individuals as high on micro-management behavior and others will evaluate them as low on micro-management behavior. These managers I refer to as master managers because they appear to have developed the judgement to apply the appropriate behavior to the appropriate individual.

The classic micro-managers which I refer to as controllers in my work use micro- management behavior with most everyone people, most of the time. They have not developed other skills which I refer to as interactive skills or have they developed the judgement to use micro-management skills judiciously.






Frank Shipper, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury State University
Salisbury, MD 21801
Phone: (410) 543-6333
FAX: (410) 546-6208
E-mail: fmshipper@ssu.edu
Home Page: http://perdue.ssu.edu/~fmshippe/home/welcome.htm