Micromanagement is a productivity killer. How do you avoid it? Tune in today! (C) 2015 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Sidestepping Micromanagement: How to Follow Up Without Being a Pest
Posted on 12/23/2014 by ·
"Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing." --Tom Peters, American business writer. If you've attained a management position, then you've certainly learned that you must delegate some or most of your work, to avoid being overwhelmed by your responsibilities. No single manager can do everything he or she is ultimately responsible for. Having responsibility for something doesn’t mean it’s your job per se—you just need to make sure it’s done. Take Merck's Roger Perlmutter. He’s in charge of the R&D Division that manufactures new drugs. He doesn’t invent the drugs. But he makes sure they are invented by people who focus on nothing else. His job is to cut out the fat that slows their production. When he took his position in 2012, he … [Read more...]
Lead, Then Get Out of the Way: How a Good Manager Makes Life Easier for the Team
Posted on 11/07/2012 by ·
"A good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him." -- H.S.M. Burns, former President of Shell Oil. "One of the most important tasks of a manager is to eliminate his people's excuses for failure." -- Robert M. Townsend, American economist. From a productivity perspective, one can describe a workplace team using the metaphor of a precision machine. Team members are interlocking parts, which while they vary in significance, all require the others for the engine to function effectively. As in a car, alone and disengaged, the individual parts aren't good for much. As team leader, you play several crucial roles here: a) MECHANIC. You keep the productivity engine in good repair and provide the lubrication it needs to purr like a … [Read more...]
How Leaders Can Get More Done Through Others: How Micromanagement Can Kill Productivity and Creativity
Posted on 07/05/2011 by ·
If you want to destroy worker initiative, blast a hole in productivity, and scribble the bottom line with red ink, there's no better way to do it than by micromanaging your employees. Keeping workers on tight leashes and constantly interrupting them ruins their ability to find thoughtful, profitable ways to do their jobs, and it wastes your valuable time as well. True organizational productivity requires engaged, informed personnel willing and eager to work toward the organization's mission and vision. And it all starts with a simple concept that's amazingly hard for some people to implement: trust. Learn to Trust This can be a tough sell, especially if you've built your organization from the ground up. It's your baby; you know all its quirks, and it can be hard to trust even … [Read more...]
