My Way or the Highway : The Micromanagement Survival Guide

Most people think that micromanagement occurs only in management-employee relationships, but the truth is that it happens everywhere: employees micromanage managers, customers micromanaging vendors, board members micromanaging company leaders, parents micromanage children, governments micromanage citizens, peers micromanage one another, and more. With shoot-from-the-hip style and plenty of real-world examples, My Way or the Highway illustrates how micromanagement interferes with performance and productivity, resulting in huge costs - hidden, direct, and indirect - to individuals and organizations. In highly practical terms, management expert Harry Chambers explains the art of dealing with micromanagers at a personal level and how to introduce the more system-wide changes needed for productive environments. Readers learn valuable strategies for lessening the impact of micromanagers, as well as how to identify and correct their own managerial behaviors. By the author of the bestselling Bad Attitude Survival Guide (more than 40,000 copies sold), named one of the top business books of 1998 by Executive Book Summaries Everyone thinks they know what micromanagement is, but this book presents a specific, detailed definition illustrated with concrete examples Offers successful strategies for overcoming your own micromanaging behavior and for responding when you are being micromanaged Micromanagement is one of the most widely condemned managerial sins, and one of the most common employee complaints. It results in significant direct, indirect, and hidden costs to organizations, contributing to low morale, high turnover, inefficiency, instability, and lack of continuity. And being perceived as a micromanager can have a significant negative impact on your career. But what, precisely, is micromanagement? More importantly, what can be done about it? In My Way or the Highway, Harry Chambers proves that micromanagement can be objectively identified and successfully resisted, both by those who (often unknowingly) inflict it and by those who are its victims. In an informal, entertaining style Chambers describes five specific defining traits of micromanagers: placing their own self interest above everything else; controlling and manipulating time; attempting to determine exactly how everything must be done; requiring elaborate approval processes; and establishing dysfunctional monitoring and reporting requirements. He even provides a Micromanagement Potential Indicator test so you can see whether (and to what extent) you might be a micromanager. He then devotes a chapter to each trait, providing real-world examples of the trait in action and an analysis of the damage it does. But this is not just a book of diagnosis-Chambers provides treatment as well. He devotes several chapters how to respond if you are the micromanagee (a victim of micromanagement), how to eliminate your own micromanaging behaviors, and what to do if you have to manage a micromanager. Avoiding micromanagement should be a major goal of every manager, would-be manager, team member, or collaborative peer. My Way or the Highway offers detailed, actionable, field-tested strategies that will eliminate the damage that overcontrolling behavior causes and increase creativity, risk-taking, productivity, and initiative in any organization. Micromanagement is one of the most widely condemned managerial sins, and one of the most common employee complaints. It contributes to low morale, high turnover, inefficiency, instability, and lack of continuity in an organization. Being perceived as a micromanager can also have significant negative ramifications on your career. But Harry Chambers proves that micromanagement can be identified and resisted--both by those who (often unknowingly) inflict it and by those who are its victims. Chambers details the defining traits of micromanagers, and provides a Micromanagement Potential Indicator (MPI) test to help you evaluate whether (and to what extent) you might be a micromanager. He provides real-world examples of micromanagement in action, analysis of the damage it does, and advice on what to do about it--whether you're the victim or the perpetrator. He offers detailed, field-tested strategies that will eliminate the damage that over-controlling behavior causes and increase creativity, risk-taking, productivity, and initiative in any organization No one likes micromanagers. They are petty dictators. They constantly interfere with their employees. They waste everyone's time. They hurt morale. They reduce productivity. They make staffers' lives hellish. The problem is, micromanagers exist in almost every office. Nearly eight out of 10 employees report that they work for micromanagers or have in the past. Despite its near universal prevalence, few executives, managers or supervisors acknowledge micromanagement as a personal failing. Harry E. Chambers discusses why micromanagement occurs. He teaches you how to deal with a micromanager - whether you work for that person, or he or she works for you. And he explains how to eliminate your own micromanagement tendencies. getAbstract applauds Chambers for his thoughtful treatise on a common - and odious - problem. Particularly note his recommended tactics for dealing with a micromanager's outbursts proactively before they occur. It's like making sure dynamite doesn't explode by never connecting the fuse Micromanagement is one of the most widely condemned managerial sins, and one of the most common employee complaints. It contributes to low morale, high turnover, inefficiency, instability, and lack of continuity in an organization. Being perceived as a micromanager can also have significant negative ramifications on your career.

But Harry Chambers proves that micromanagement can be identified and resisted Shows that micromanagement can be objectively identified and successfully resisted both by those who inflict it and by those who are its victims. This book describes five defining traits of micromanagers including: placing their own self interest above everything else; controlling and manipulating time; and requiring elaborate approval processes With shoot-from-the-hip style and plenty of real-world examples, Chambers illustrates how micromanagement interferes with performance and productivity, resulting in huge costs—hidden, direct, and indirect. Arguing that micromanagement interferes with the profitability of a company, the author presents a sensible, straightfoward plan for training employees and managers to know when to pull back. Original. The term micromanagement has become another overused buzzword in today's jargon.