Effective leadership requires trust. If your people don’t believe you trust them, it can have severe consequences on your work culture. The heart of understanding the difference between micro-managing and situational managing begins with trust.
When distinguishing between the two, the saying the devil’s in the details has never been more apt. As a leader, sweating the small stuff can result in losing sight of the bigger picture. At Consilio, we have been in your shoes and know the challenges you face. We understand that leaders aren’t born; they’re made.
We have worked with business leaders across industries, from bootstrap startups to Fortune 100s, and empowered them to bring out the best in people.
“Many micromanagers don’t realize they are micromanagers. A recent HBR study revealed that 95% of people think they are self-aware, but only 15% are actually self-aware. This is what we focus on in our tailored training and leadership lab.” – Stacey McKibbin, Consilio CEO
What’s The Difference Between Micro-Managing and Situational Managing?
While situational managing in business can require some micro-managing, micro-management inherently rejects situational management. The primary difference between these two management styles is flexibility and a lack of trust in themselves, others, or both.
Explore the difference between micro-managing and situational managing in more detail.
What is Micro-Managing in Business?
Micromanagement occurs when managers control virtually every component of their employee’s work, from decision-making to how they complete a task, in granular detail.
Micro-managing in business entails excessive control and limited delegation, which can be unhealthy for working relationships. As a result, this leadership style is often seen as inflexible, which is at the heart of the difference between micro-managing and situational managing.
While micromanagement can produce short-term results, its long-term use can be detrimental to a workplace and employees in several different ways, such as:
- Reduced employee confidence
- Reduced independence
- Increased frustration
- Diminished creativity
- Minimized productivity for managers and employees
- Disengaged employees
- High turnover
- Burnout in managers and employees
This form of management is, in many cases, toxic, and it can cause employees to look for employment elsewhere and feel anxious, stressed, and even depressed. But it doesn’t always come from a negative place. People employ this form of management because:
- They want to feel more connected with workers
- They feel more comfortable doing their old job
- They are scared their people might do something to hurt their reputation
- The work culture encourages this type of management
“Sweating the small stuff can have huge consequences, but this often comes from a place of passion. People in management positions reach this point because they are high-performers. For some, it is either difficult to relinquish control or scary to trust someone else to perform to the standard they have set for themselves. Regardless, this lack of trust and, at times, respect for their people is cancer to workplaces and culture.” – Stacey
What is Situational Managing in Business?
One of the most important characteristics of situational management is flexibility. With this management style, the leader adjusts their leadership style to the situation.
Situational managing in business requires leaders to take inventory of their people, weigh workplace variables, and choose the leadership style in their arsenal that best fits their targets and circumstances. In some ways, this is all leadership styles rolled into one.
It can include elements of micromanagement, but it should not turn into that. Situational management is fluid. This management style requires constantly assessing the circumstances and your people, making adjustments, and trusting your team to perform.
“Sometimes you can’t get around closely monitoring an employee’s work, like during onboarding, when they are performing sensitive or even experimental tasks, or when there are complex processes and a steep learning curve. But situational management comes down to scaling the degree of oversight, while micromanagement isn’t scalable. This lack of flexibility is, essentially, the difference between micro-managing and situational managing.” – Stacey
Premier Leadership and Manager Training in California
The modern business landscape can change in the blink of an eye, and what separates ineffective managers from prosperous ones is the ability to be flexible and adapt to shifting demands. Ultimately, that is at the heart of the difference between micro-managing and situational managing. At Consilio, we provide premier tailored leadership training that teaches managers to be more self-aware and adaptable and bring the best out of their people. This is at the heart of our leadership lab and the 4 pillars mindset.
If you are ready to create success on purpose and stay a few steps ahead of the changing world, Visit our Contact page and fill out a contact form to schedule a consultation.
