Ask the Geezers

Dilemma for a Hands-on Manager

Question: I am a very hands-on manager. But someone told me I can only grow people by letting it go because I can't help them forever, and people grow under pressure instead of through coaching. How can I "let it go" so that they don't always come to me with the same kind of questions and still be ensured they will do the right things?

Amiram: An individual contributor can take upon himself/herself a lot. But very few individual contributors can contribute for 10 people. It is just impossible. What your friend is telling you, is that as a manager you cannot be as competent as each one on your team, and you can't be as productive as all of them combined.

By "letting go" your friend probably means two things:
1. Allow people to make mistakes - micro managers usually cannot stand by when mistakes happen. But mistakes are essential for growth. Let people experiment, let them come up with their own solutions - they may actually surprise you...
2. Coach people - do not provide them with the ready and already chewed answer - make them think,let them reach the answer on their own, even if it takes longer. That's what coaching is all about.

Sin-Yaw: Those "people" are telling you that you micro-manage too much. In general, micro-managing "chokes" the creativity of the team and is detrimental to your mental health and family life. It does not win.

First, delineate 1 or 2 things that matter the most to you. It could be on-time delivery, quality, team-work, or whatever. The important thing is not to have 5 items, but only less than 3. Then manage only what's relevant to them.

Secondly, focus on the result and not the process. Tell you people what you expect at the end. Also tell them how you plan to inspect the result. After that, leave them alone. When the time comes, inspect what you expect.

In this way you should find your team and yourself much less stressful.

Mike: The idea of "letting go" is easier for someone than for others. The idea is to try to have someone to grow to a point where they don't need as much help.

According to MASLOW's law, people's needs are classified into five tiers starting from physiological, safety, belonging-love, self-esteem, to the ultimate goal of self-actualization. We are fortunate to be in an environment where the people we are dealing with on a daily basis are CAPABLE of establishing self-actualization as their ultimate goal. It is a really good situation for managers to deal with people that are willing to learn and progress because it is easier to let them go and be on their own.

However how to “let go” could vary case by case even with the same people. As a manager, he/she can refer to the concepts of “situational leadership” and “leadership continuum” to choose different management styles for different scenarios. A manager may “let go” completely if a team member is both experienced at the task and highly committed to it. A manager may also turn to autocracy when the team member is generally lacking the necessary skills. For competent team members that have a lower confidence, manager could choose to be supportive and motivating while still leaving the control with the team members. Managers will also need to provide coaching and make decisions for people that are relatively inexperienced, and involve them in the decision-making process to restore their commitment.

Where problems could happen are with people whose idea of their ability are different from others including their managers' perception of their ability. If people think themselves are good but others don't, that is problematic. Even though these people might be really smart people, they may not work out in our organization because they can't tolerate different opinions for themselves.

Editor's Summary:
- Micro-management has bad influence all around. It causes an over-burdened manager, lack of creativity among the team members and a decreased team productivity in overall.
- Managers can "let go" by setting expectations on results without giving step-by-step instructions.
- Mistakes during the learning experience are essential and acceptable. That is not a reason not to "let go".
- Reference readings:
Situational leadership: http://www.12manage.com/methods_blanchard_situational_leadership.html
Leadership Continuum: http://www.12manage.com/methods_tannebaum_leadership_continuum.html

Posted at 09:11AM Jan 11, 2007 by Wen Michelle Lei in Management Style  |  Comments[2]