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Rachelle Enns
Rachelle is a job search expert, career coach, and headhunter who helps everyone from students to fortune 500 executives find success in their career.
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What does micromanagement mean to you?
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Micromanagement is the practice of carefully observing or controlling the work of your employees or team members. Overall, the term 'micromanagement' can mean something different from manager to manager. Discuss what the word 'micromanagement' means to you. Be sure to mention whether or not you deploy a micromanagement approach.
Example #1
"To me, micromanaging is giving unnecessary supervision to team members, telling them how to do their job or controlling the smallest of their moves. I have been micro-managed by bosses in the past, and it's truly demotivating. I like to give my team the benefit of the doubt and let them work their magic in peace, giving them the space required to do their job."
Example #2
"To me, micromanagement is when a manager unnecessarily tell their employees what to do. I believe that if someone needs to be micromanaged to perform, they should not be in the role the first place. It's important to give employees space to move and trust them to do their job with care."
Example #3
"I define micromanagement as the practice of towering over your employees' every move. I believe this to be a waste of time. If I cannot trust my team members to do a great job, why are they on my team? Instead, I like to give clear guidance from the start and have an open-door policy for all questions an employee may have."
Example #4
"In marketing, there is rarely time to watch over each team members' progress every minute of the day. I do not micromanage. Instead, I show trust to those on my team. I give many opportunities for growth and learning, and check in regularly to ensure understanding along each project stage."
Example #5
"When I was a junior retail sales representative, I experienced a floor manager who watched my every move and micromanaged me. It was unnerving and did not help my performance. I will never do that to a staff member. Instead, I coach and mentor and make myself openly available for help and learning opportunities."
Example #6
"Many sales organizations are known for micromanaging numbers and KPIs. I keep a close eye on my team members' performance. I look at their sales daily and check how close they are to target. I like to keep this close eye so that I can pivot them to succeed if their results are sliding for the month. In my mind, this is not micromanaging because it is an effective action versus a controlling act."
Example #7
"Teachers are often known for pushing their students to work harder, and for squeezing the best grades that they can out of their students. I do not consider this micromanaging - more, I think of this as continual encouragement. When I know that a student has more in them than they are giving, I will push and encourage them to do better."
Anonymous Answer
"Micromanagement enables managers to make decisions, by controlling every move or decision people make."
Rachelle's Reply
The sentence structure is a bit rough but the idea is there. I have reworded, below :)
Rachelle's Reply
"Micromanagement is when a manager tries to control every move or every decision made, making it difficult to get a job done."
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Anonymous Answer
"Micromanagement means a lack of trust in the individual to get the job done. It can be highly de-motivating."
Lauren's Reply
This is a very good response. I would add language around your work style and how to avoid use of micromanagement.
Lauren's Reply
"Micromanagement is lack of trust in an employee to get a job done. A micromanager hovers over the employee, which can result in lack of motivation, resentment, and feelings of humiliation. I avoid micromanagement by providing clear instructions and expectations. I also monitor progress and check-in with employees routinely so that we are meeting goals and working at an acceptable standard."
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Anonymous Answer
"I really do not like micromanagement. it's a manager that controls everything you do. I feel like you do not trust your employee when demonstrating that kind of behavior."
Rachelle's Reply
Try spinning this to sound less negative. Success in an interview is all about spinning your words to sound positive. It's just like being a PR professional :) I have provided an example, below.
Rachelle's Reply
"I believe that a manager who micromanages is one that controls small factors that need not be controlled. I trust my employees and, when they demonstrate great work ethic, they deserve to have room to work."
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Anonymous Answer
"Micromanagement is not something that I do. It's important to coach and train your team so that you can trust them to manage their tasks without feeling as though you need to do their job for them. I check in regularly to ensure objectives are clear and goals are being worked towards and achieved, however, autonomy is important to a team's success."
Rachelle's Reply
Try answering what micromanagement means to you versus beginning with what you do not like about it. This would be a more direct way of answering the original question.
Rachelle's Reply
"The term micromanagement is easy to misinterpret. To me, micromanagement is when a manager controls every aspect of the work of their highly capable team members. I find this approach is demotivating and rarely helpful. I prefer an approach of coaching and training my team so that I can trust them to manage their tasks independently."
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Anonymous Answer
"I dislike micromanagement because I see it as you don't trust your staff to do their job."
Rachelle's Reply
This response does not answer the question. The interviewer is asking what micromanagement means to you, as a leader; not whether you like it or not.
Rachelle's Reply
"As a leader, I feel that the word 'micromanagement' is misunderstood. To me, micromanagement is continually overseeing the things you do not have to. If there is doubt in my mind as far as an employee's capabilities, I will lean in a bit more and coach them. However, if an employee is highly skilled and I was looking over their shoulder all of the time, that would be micromanagement."
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