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Do you believe in efficiency of the micro-managing or macro-managing? Which one encourages employees input most their hard work?

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Question added by Sardor Rafikov , Marketing And Communication Specialist , Al Qubaisi Trading
Date Posted: 2015/12/15
Vinod Jetley
by Vinod Jetley , Assistant General Manager , State Bank of India

A great MICRO manager asks questions like:

 

  • What are the deadlines for a particular project?
  • How do we measure progress (and are we making progress)?
  • Is there sufficient feedback exchange?
  • How do we promote more accountability within the team?

But what about the MACRO part of management? Beyond your day-to-day role as a manager, you must also consider each person’s career trajectory.

A great MACRO manager asks questions like:

 

  • What skills does each employee want/need to develop?
  • What are each person’s career aspirations?
  • How will each person’s role develop over the coming years?
  • Does each member of the team feel happy and fully utilized?

As you can see, the MICRO and MACRO perspectives of management are quite different. But they are equally important.

Our challenge as managers is that we have an inherent bias for the MICRO side. Our operational obsession with near-term progress and great performance at any given moment often inhibits our MACRO perspective. As a result, we may lose people or fail to push our colleagues to their greatest potential.

So what’s the secret to great MACRO management? Defining and then reinforcing “success factors.”

“Success factors” are the specific attributes for each person to be successful in his/her job. For example, a great “Office Manager” is (1) extremely organized, (2) has a great attention to detail, (3) understands the operations of the business, and (4) is comfortable working with different personalities. These four attributes are success factors.

A great MACRO manager states these success factors up front to someone hired for such a job. And then, over time, would consistently reinforce them – and support their development – going forward.

Everyone on your team should know (and agree) on the “success factors” for their role. When you check in periodically with folks on your team, you should restate the success factors and discuss what each person is doing to develop them over time. Industry conferences, workshops, and continuing education all lend themselves to addressing one’s success factors.

Rather than obsess over day-to-day performance, consider your team’s success factors on a consistent basis. By doing so, you will develop one of your own success factors – your capacity to MACRO manage!

khaled elkholy
by khaled elkholy , HR MANAGER , misk for import & export

thanks with your invitation , and i fully agree with mr vinod

RAY KWAN
by RAY KWAN , Sabbatical , University of Liverpool

I believe that all managers need to practice both micro and macro management in all environments. At the start of any project, it is always wise to micro manage to ensure that everyone knows what they are doing. Once they are all well in place and well oiled for their jobs, macro management takes place.

Micro management then takes place again when the project comes to its closing to ensure that nothing is left out.

Emad Mohammed said abdalla
by Emad Mohammed said abdalla , ERP & IT Software, operation general manager . , AL DOHA Company

I fully agree with the answer been added by MR Vinod Jetley..............Thanks.

Believe in efficiency but also the atmosphere of company 

Idris Thomas
by Idris Thomas , Project and Property Manager , Ethical Property Company Ltd

You should not need to micro-manage your team. If you are micro-managing it should only be during some training. After that, your member should know what they need to do, to do well. Occasional, helpful encouragement to improve should be for everyone, with regular reviews of performance, where both managers and employees share their views, and the views of peers if necessary.

People are happier when they know what they are doing, and know that they are doing well or improving.

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