FCW Insider: Micromanagement miseries

With a lack of trust comes micromanagement.

With micromanagement comes a loss of empowerment.

With a loss of empowerment comes employee turn-over rates and low morale.

All of which makes for a bad set-up for a pay-for-performance system.

But such is the situation one DOD reader, signing off as Jackie, describes in a comment on yesterday's blog. We had posed an open-ended question: What could your agency or manager do to make you happier on the job? Several of the early responses focused on such cultural challenges.

"Innovation and creativity are the enemies of senior management, and have even been referred to as 'Cowboy Culture,' likened to lawlessness in the early Wild West. Therefore, innovation equates to chaos," Jackie wrote.

Another reader agreed.

"I think this is happening across government," wrote routerdude. "Why is it when you want to look forward, you are micromanaged, told you are too smart, and are expected to only have the ability to manage contracts and not worry about any of the details."

What do you think?

Share your thoughts with us by posting a comment on this blog (registration required) or by sending an e-mail to letters@fcw.com (subject line: Workforce) so we can post it for you.

Comments should range in length from 75 to 175 words and be clear, constructive and specific. We will publish a selection of the comments we receive, along with commentary by management experts, in an upcoming issue.

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