Empowerment Or Micromanagement - Which Works?

Online, March 11, 2011 (Newswire.com) - I hope your answer to the question posed in the title is empowerment, because micromanagement effectively means that two people are doing the same job - not very efficient!

Apart from the obvious inefficiency issue, a more serious side-effect of micromanaging is the impact it has on your team - it makes them feel powerless, worthless, useless and frustrated.

Lots of managers claim to empower their team, but only because they believe it's the right thing to say. They don't really do it in practice, because it makes them feel very vulnerable and exposed.

What kind of a manager are you - do you empower or disempower your team?

The first article below will help you to decide if you are a micromanager, and, if you are, how to fix it.

In the second article below, the business leadership expert Steve Farber tells a great story about how a new manager quickly created a tight-knit, and productive team with the clever use of empowerment.

In the third article below Sir Richard Branson responds to a question by giving credit for Virgin's enduring success to the fact that the people in his businesses were given autonomy and encouragement to take risks, which allowed growth whilst at the same time keeping costs down.

Avoiding Micromanagement:

You've assigned an important task to a talented employee, and given him a deadline. Now, do you let him do his work and simply touch base with him at pre-defined points along the way - or do you keep dropping by his desk and sending e-mails to check his progress?

If it's the latter, you might be a micromanager. Or, if you're the harried worker trying to make a deadline with a boss hovering at your shoulder, you might have a micromanager on your hands - someone who just can't let go of tiny details.

Micromanagers take perfectly positive attributes - an attention to detail and a hands-on attitude - to the extreme. Either because they're control-obsessed, or because they feel driven to push everyone around them to success, micromanagers risk disempowering their colleagues. They ruin their colleagues' confidence, hurt their performance, and frustrate them to the point where they quit.

Luckily, though, there are ways to identify these overzealous tendencies in yourself - and get rid of them before they do more damage. And if you work for a micromanager, there are strategies you can use to convince him or her to accept your independence.

First, though, how do you spot the signs of micromanagement? Where is the line between being an involved manager, and an over-involved manager who's driving his team mad?

Visit the link below to read the full article:

http://www.managementnuggets.com/2011/03/empowerment-or-micromanagement.html

The Trust Voucher (Steve Farber):

Unfortunately, the word "empowerment" has, for many, become nothing more than a tired, old cliche-something that I've been teasing people about for years.

Even though the value of empowerment is, ostensibly, conventional wisdom by now, it's still the rare leader that does it and does it well. Most get caught up in a faulty, self-sabotaging thought process that goes something like this:

Empowerment = I give them control = I extend them my trust = they take advantage of me and/or screw it up = I get blamed = I lose my job = I lose my house = forget it.

I'm not going to suggest that people will NEVER take advantage of you or screw things up when given the opportunity; that would be naive. Most of the time, however, people will meet the challenge beautifully, and many times they'll go way beyond what you expect.

Keith's career as a software engineer with GE took him from the UK to Milwaukee. He eventually moved to California to work with a medical device company as a leader on the oncology team.

As a new leader on a new team, Keith wanted to make a significant demonstration of his belief and trust in the staff. So at a meeting early in his tenure, he gave everyone a voucher that they could use in a variety of ways:

1. They could go out to lunch anywhere they wanted. Anywhere. As long as they went with someone else on the team and talked about work.

2. They could buy any book they wanted.

3. They could spend up to $1000.00 to get any software or software upgrade they needed for their work.

Visit the link below to read the full article:

http://www.managementnuggets.com/2011/03/empowerment-or-micromanagement.html

Empowering Employees (Sir Richard Branson):

Question: As much as I think of you as a role model, I find some of your recommendations rather unrealistic, especially for businesses just starting up. For example, I would like to keep my employees happy and having fun, but find it a great challenge due to limited resources. I am not able to pay my employees well, nor provide a good working environment. My priority right now is to make more money and turn this business into a reality. On the other hand, my employees want good salaries and to work in a slick environment. We have conflicting priorities, therefore I am forced to micromanage my staff to get results. Please advise what I should do to make my employees happy. -- Emily Bosco, Kenya

Answer: This is a challenging dilemma for entrepreneurs: During a business's precarious launch stage, can one afford to be generous, foster a fun and caring atmosphere, and give employees freedom?

It is not only realistic, but vital to your business's long-term success.

During our early days at Student magazine, I did not have much money to pay my staff or improve our premises. We worked in a basement flat, with a few beanbag chairs, some desks and phones. But the thrill and promise of possible success united us and we all worked long hours in those cramped conditions. No one complained -- everyone was intent on making the magazine work.

The same was true of our first Virgin companies -- a mail-order business selling records, and later, a few record stores. Again, we tried to keep the vibe relaxed, maintaining small, friendly offices. This decision paid off, attracting great team members who were drawn by the flexible working conditions and lively industry.

We always strove to create an atmosphere of team spirit and mutual appreciation. At Student, we had a party or at least a few drinks whenever a staffer brought in an important advertising account, and we celebrated the publication of every edition. We tried to make sure everyone had a great time at work, which generated great loyalty.

My philosophy has not changed: Do something you enjoy and your enthusiasm will rub off on others, ensuring a committed and spirited team. For more than 40 years, I have felt that one of my most important jobs is to attract and motivate great people who genuinely feel their job is more important than just money.

Visit the link below to read the full article:

http://www.managementnuggets.com/2011/03/empowerment-or-micromanagement.html