How Long is Your Management Nose
Long-nosed managers sniff around in everyone’s business. Short-nosed managers seem disinterested, aloof, and uncaring.
How long should a manager’s nose be? One size doesn’t fit all.
My preference:
I preferred managers with short noses. Over-involvement offended me.
- Don’t you trust me?
- Do you think I’m incompetent?
- Don’t you have something better to do?
But, there’s more to the story. A few affirmations fueled my fire. An occasional, “How are things going?”, let me know they cared.
You’re a nagging meddler that doesn’t trust me if you’re over-involved. Too little involvement and you’re an uncaring jerk.
A manager reading my preferences might feel damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
2 conversation starters for the right size nose:
Optimal involvement with team members depends on each team member.
#1. Tell me about one of your favorite bosses. Listen and ask the following questions.
- How involved with you was she?
- Could you describe his involvement with you?
- How did you feel after an interaction with her?
- How did his involvement benefit you?
- What kind of involvement from me seems most useful? Frequency?
Before asking question #5, declare the purpose and goals for your interaction with employees.
#2. When you think about my past involvement with you, which types of involvement are most energizing?
- If I were less involved, what would be true for you?
- If I were more involved, what would be true for you?
- If I nudged the level of my involvement with you in one direction, would you prefer that I nudged it toward less or more?
Don’t stress out. Have conversations about optimal level of involvement.
Personal reflection:
Reflect on your boss’s involvement with you. How would you like to tweak that involvement? Perhaps it would be good for you to tweak your own involvement with your team in the same way.
How might managers determine an optimal level of involvement for each employee?
How might you tweak your level of involvement with team members?
Bonus material:
Signs You’re a Micromanager (HBR)
Stay Involved without Micromanaging (Management Center)
How might managers determine an optimal level of involvement for each employee?
I like your question 5. Start there.
Improve your diagnostic skills. What’s unique about the current situation? What would help the person perform at a higher level? Would more or less involvement help?
Experiment—Tweak your approach and see if the results improve. Take small steps and pilot different amounts of involvement–direction, coaching, feedback, etc.
Be flexible. Each team member and task may require different levels of involvement.
Thanks Paul. Your inclusion of the unique situation seems vital. During stressful situations employees might enjoy and expect greater managerial involvement, for example.
1 “Don’t you trust me?”
No, no I don’t. If I don’t watch you like a hawk 100% there’s no telling what you’ll do, or indeed whether you’ll do anything at all!
2 “Do you think I’m incompetent?”
Yes. I see no evidence that suggests you’re fit to be let out on your own, never mind be able to take on anything important/complicated/involved.
3 “Don’t you have something better to do?”
No, because if you really slip up, and I don’t catch it and sort it out, I won’t have ANY kind of job at all!
Thanks Mitch. I like your comments the more I read them. However, I’m glad you never were my manager. 🙂
I think Mitch is stirring things up for affect. I appreciate that. There is no way he is this poor of a manager and he taking time to read this content in an effort to be a better manager. My takeaway from Mitch’s comment is to check myself. I think I can make team members feel this way if I am not careful to find that sweet spot between support and empowerment.
The manager I resonated with was “Dan” he expressed his management philosophy in a simple principle “when things go off plan I want to be first to know, please don’t ever allow me to be surprised.”
Dan had a certain management technique I respected… when things did go off plan (they always do) he would join team meetings, not as a supervisor, but as a team member, in other words he didn’t grasp control of the situation but joined the team as an additional resource/asset, not forcing his way as CEO, but brining his experience and intellect to the mix. He did it very graciously, the team grew and the authority/influence of the group manager was enhanced not reduced.
Thanks Ken. Great illustration of how to be involved without dominating. As you indicate, a dominant or overbearing manager prevents the growth of team members and, eventually becomes a bottleneck.
The other thing that seems important is the fact that he gave voice to his preference. We can’t expect people to be mind readers. It’s frustrating for everyone.
Great writting, I will tweak it fully again and again.