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Micro Management 2.0

No one benefits from a leader, who is taking care of every detail of the business. This so-called Micro Management is common style of leadership. The Micro Manager (MM) can be recognized by the following aspects.

  • He cannot delegate.
  • He is always on the run, has no time and works around the clock.
  • He is interested in every detail.
  • He favors deciding everything by himself.
  • He corrects personally every error, no matter how small they are.
  • … (You surely find some additional attitudes).

This „over-steering” results for the employees in reluctance, work to rule, decreasing quality, regular delegation upward as well as the habit to react instead of acting independently. The whole is reinforced by the possibilities of the Internet and the extensive accessibility through smartphones, iPads and WiFi. This leads to Micro Management 2.0.

Mikromanager2 0

The Micro Manager 2.0 has the additional following properties.

  • Smartphones junkie
    Micro manager 2.0s have their smartphones always in standby. He/she reacts immediately to incoming calls or messages – in the office, a meeting, at lunch, in front of the television, in the restaurant, on the beach or wherever she/he currently is.
  • Smsing, whatsappen and Co.
    The means and ways that you can use today to communicate, are multimedia-based – text, sound and images as well as all combinations, synchronous or asynchronous. This reaches from short messages, to emails, to Skype. 0 are reading and smsing regularly one or two sentences, give direct orders or send a message that they come back later. Emails are essentially passed on with a short comment.
  • CC-supporters
    0s attach importance on being in all emails carbon copied (cc). Although they cannot cope with the resulting flood of information, they want to receive it because they could need the information later. Even so that this is mostly never the case. If the improbable case should happen, they will anyway simply request the latest version.
  • Calendar surfer
    In the Pre-Net age there was no choice for the micro managers than asking the secretary or the room neighbor, where Dick and Harry were. A 0 lives today in paradise, since he can access the calendars of the employees from everywhere. He does not limit himself to check where someone is. No. He asks, when and why not differently and what for at all.
  • Quality assurance
    It becomes particularly labor-intensive for MM2.0s, if they turn into the general quality control of the employees. Are the documents complete, error-free, perfectly bound, with enough copies,…? It starts, when they take over the spell checking. This, of course, can be intensified by checking the calculations of Excel sheets and by revealing all kind of minor flaws.
  • 10hours+Alpha-day
    Understandably the MM2.0s are not able to fulfill all tasks in the context of a normal working day. Even not the chosen expansion of work time to any extent greater than permitted is sufficient to accomplish. Therefore, after maximum 12 months, the MM2.0s are running on empty. They cannot keep up and start overseeing errors. Above all, they do not have time for their actual task – the leadership of their scope of responsibility. At the latest they are now overworked.
  • Thinking out loud
    In the absence of time, MM2.0s cannot provide a documented strategy. Although they have a vision and strategic goals, they are not able to express their ideas in a consistent way. Therefore they always think out loud and proclaim their feelings – either this or that way.
  • Penniless
    The largest deficit of the MM2.0s is the omission to look for sufficiently large budget. Thus, they are often penniless. They activate the official escalation way and the top management has to release of necessary means – or not.
  • Walking question mark
    The backdoor for executives, who do not have time to reflect, is the fully developed ability to respond to questions with a counter question at any time. Even if MM2.0s intervene everywhere, they do not think that they can solve everything – but they believe that they have to.

Bottom line: We suffer with Micro Management 2.0 faster and much more „over-steering”. The available ICT solutions provide more and more mobile and at all time ready systems. They offer unlimited uses to the Micro Managers 2.0. Nobody actually believes that leadership style does not deliver any benefit for the executives, the enterprise or the employees. Nevertheless companies allow that valuable energy is wasted with this approach.

Do you have to go abroad?

Looking to the future of work, global mobility is often highlighted, besides new technical, social and legal aspects. The actual potentials for Germans cannot be found in the available data *1), because

  • the total number of outward migration between 1991 and 2012 increased only by 20%,
  • 80% of the outward migration consists of foreigners,
  • the outward migration includes also the members of the expats as well as other emigrants, and
  • not all expatriates are included in the statistics.

Based on the available data it is difficult to decide, whether one should agree to work abroad.

Migration

The more global an enterprise, the larger is the probability that one should consider the opportunity of an international assignment. You can use the following questions, in order to find out your readiness.

  • What is the status of your career?
    The flatter structures abroad enable a closer cooperation with top managers. Thus, the probability increases that following the assignment your career will accelerate. Which career goals are supported by your foreign assignment? Or does an international mission offer you the opportunity to leave your current role? Are there reasons that could influence your career negatively?
  • How do you deal with culture?
    Within assignments overseas you meet completely new cultures – languages, business manners, and lifestyles. The ability to adjust is an important condition for a stress-free, successful sojourn. Are you interested in other lifestyles and languages? Or do you have trouble with alien cultures?
  • How does the international assignment impact your private environment?
    Although the business environment is changing for the employee, in principle, the daily routines are continuing as usual. For the family members it is more difficult. On the one hand, they are pulled out of their previous everyday life. On the other hand, they have to fight for the new environment. Did you find out the opinion of your partner concerning a foreign assignment? What about your children? How important are friends for you? Or are there private reasons to go, e.g. thirst for adventure, divorce? What are other private arguments against it?
  • Which professional advantages offer an international assignment?
    In your usual context, you have a proven network and you know the procedures. Abroad you have to set up yourself within very short time, so that you can obtain results and to reach your professional goals in the two to five years of the assignment. Do you like new technical tasks? Are you interested in more responsibility? What financial advantage does the assignment has to offer? Which professional disadvantages do you see?
  • Do you expect an improved social status?
    As Expat you receive private amenities that are above the standards of the homeland – apartment, car, insurances. Additionally, foreigners have in the countries of destination often a special, social status. Which aspects have to be fulfilled, in order to accept an international assignment? What speaks against it?
  • Are there other influence factors?
    The individual reasons can go beyond the previous ones. Which aspects have also to be fulfilled, so that you accept to go abroad – privately, professionally? Are there other KO criteria?

It is recommended to note all aspects that speak for and against an international assignment. You should walk through these questions before you get into negotiations with your company, in order to provide a decisive impression – whether you want to go or not. Discuss it with your family and friends. It is particularly helpful to contact colleagues, who are/were already abroad, perhaps even in your destination country.

Bottom line: You do not have to go abroad. Since a foreign assignment is a great decision that has a large impact on you and your family, you should analyze the aspects from all perspectives. There are companies that offer the possibility to visit the country in advance. For some people it is helpful in order to make the decision. For others these short impressions are not sufficient to make the decision about a long-term engagement. In any case, it is important that the entire family is committed. Otherwise, during your stay, you will have additional problems that will be hard to solve.

*1) I couldn’t find statistics of German enterprises that show the actual situation. Indications can only be derived from the statistic yearbook of the Federal Statistical Office Germany (only in German) http://ow.ly/FuRSv .