You probably aren’t going to like what I have to say.

I believe micromanagement is a good thing for teams.

It’s a requirement for scaling sales teams.

In fact, it’s a good thing for every part of the business that wants to scale quickly.

Before you jump on my case, let me explain.

What many people call “micromanagement” is just proper management, executed by a leader who knows their business from A-Z.

A leader that is willing to get into the details and manufacture outcomes for the team.

The problem is that good management from engaged leaders has been re-branded as “micromanagement”.

Good leaders are vilified by lazy professionals with low accountability and poor work ethic.

The people that don’t want accountability will complain about micromanagement.

It’s uncomfortable when someone looks into how you do your work, especially when there aren’t any results.

But in my experience, the best performers don’t mind it when someone looks into their work.

They want the extra set of eyes. They are always looking for an edge, something that will make them better at their job.

The popular thinking right now is that the best leaders must hire the best talent, delegate important tasks, provide autonomy, and trust that the team will deliver results.

This is good advice, but most people interpret it the wrong way.

The best leaders do hire the best talent, delegate, provide autonomy, and trust that the team will deliver results.

But they don’t just make the hire and walk away with the hope that it will work out.

The best leaders know that hiring and delegating an initiative or a task requires good management.

Good management means:

- clearly define the role for each person on the team

- outline the expectations for the role in objective terms that can be measured

- create an operating cadence where the team can communicate regularly

- build a reporting structure that delivers excellent feedback for both the leader and the individual contributor

This is especially true of sales leadership, where scaling the business requires that the leader get granular in the business. I’ve written about that here.

When you do this right, you manage your team to the expectations. There are no surprises. The entire team’s operation is fully transparent.

This doesn’t sound like micromanagement, it sounds like what you would expect of a good leader.

Having high expectations for team performance doesn’t make you a micromanager.

Getting into the details of your business and coaching an individual on the exact steps needed to do the job doesn’t make you a micromanager.

Setting objective targets and laying out the process to achieve those targets doesn’t make you a micromanager.

So if these are examples of good management, then what is micromanagement?

What is micromanagement?

Micromanagement is a real thing.

There are many bad managers who build a culture based on fear.

Managers who don’t trust their teams to do the work.

Managers who haven’t spent the time to outline the expectations and processes required to do the job.

These environments are stressful and can become toxic for everyone on the team.

Here’s the Wikipedia definition of micromanagement:

“Micromanagement is a management style characterized by such behaviors as an excessive focus on observing and controlling subordinates and obsession with details.

Micromanagement is generally considered to have a negative connotation, suggesting a lack of freedom and trust in the workplace, and excessive focus on details at the expense of the "big picture" and larger goals.”

Two things jump out to me in this definition of micromanagement:

1. “Excessive focus on observing and controlling subordinates”

Good leaders don’t want to “control their subordinates”.

Even the word “subordinates” makes my spine tingle. It’s gross.

Take a look at the search trend for “mouse jiggler”

As companies shifted to remote, managers lost sight of what their team was doing throughout the day.

When you are in an office, you can see when someone is sitting at their desk.

Bad managers assume that people are working when they are at their desk.

But in a remote work environment, you can’t see your team members. So what do bad managers do?

They create software to monitor the mouse and cursor on a computer screen.

In response, people have created “mouse jiggler” software that moves your mouse to imitate work.

What kind of world are we living in where people are faking work?

This is the exactly type of micromanagement that is not acceptable.

2. “Excessive focus on details at the expense of the ‘big picture’ and larger goals”

Good leaders operate tactically and strategically at the same time.

Getting into the details of the business are in support of strategic goals.

But what details are the most important?

I see sales leaders obsess over the exact wording of every email that goes out.

Or other leaders that make each salesperson read from a call script, never to deviate from a single word on the script.

This style of leadership fails to build the fundamental skills of the salespeople.

You can’t scale a team this way.

So how do you scale a team while keeping your eye on the details of the business?

You have the “mind the store”

Every company starts out with a founder that does every job in the business.

They are the salesperson, the bookkeeper, the inventory manager, the janitor, and everything in between.

As the founder brings on more people to the company, they have to delegate each task.

At some point, the founder removes themselves from the day-to-day operation of each function.

They aren’t writing each sales email or attending each sales call. They don’t have to restock inventory or make each purchase decision.

Most founders struggle to transition from the founder-does-everything stage to running a team of competent professionals.

That’s because they want control of all the details of the business.

The only way to make this jump is to be crystal clear about the job requirements and the actions that are needed to achieve success in the role.

The more specific you can outline the role and responsibilities, the easier it is for the leader to manage the team.

You manage toward the outcomes, but you must measure and hold the team accountable to the actions.

Great leaders know that you can’t abdicate responsibility for the role because you are ultimately responsible for the outcome.

You have to stay close to the details. You have to “mind the store”.

At times, you will need to jump into the details of the business and work alongside your team.

For sales leaders, that means you will need to help write an email or make a phone call. You will need to negotiate a renewal with a frustrated customer.

You do this because you are coaching the team and setting the standard for how you want the work done.

There’s no place for blame or pointing fingers.

It’s the leader’s responsibility to deliver the outcomes for the business, even if that means the leader has to get granular.

Don’t confuse this with micromanagement. This is just good management.