Micromanagement & Macromanagement in the Advertising Industry

Micromanagement, as defined by Dictionary.com, is "the direct management of a project to an excessive degree, with too much attention to detail and insufficient delegation". This type of management style is most common in environments where people have a difficult time trusting others to execute their job adequately, so they take it into their own hands to ensure success by micromanaging the employee until the job is completed.

The Effect of Micromanagement in the Workplace

Micromanagers can sometimes lower moral in an office environment because people pick up on the lack of trust and begin to feel undervalued; however, junior employees, may appreciate a micromanager because it takes some of the accountability off of them and helps ensure nothing is overlooked - but this grows old quickly for most.

You Know You are a Micromanager if You:

• Feel compelled to tell people the 'right' way to do things, without recognizing that there may be more than one 'right' way

• Insist on being included in every interaction, even when your presence is not necessary or helpful

• CC others' bosses on basic email communications that do not necessitate their involvement

• Resist delegating work to the appropriate parties, in favor of taking full control of the project yourself

• Even when the work is done to satisfaction, you still want to fiddle with it before you let it pass your hands

Micromanagers in Advertising

In the advertising industry, micromanagers are most prevalent in the account service area due to the fact that client relationships are fostered over time and including others in that relationship requires that one trust the other not to damage that relationship in any way. So for some, in order to avoid any miscommunications, misspeaking, or overlooking of details, people often micromanage every detail of the relationship to ensure they maintain a tight pulse on the relationship.

What is Macromanagement?

Macromanagement is the complete reverse of micromanagement - so rather than not trust people to get their job done, a macromanager may have too much trust in the employee to get the job done, to the point that they under-communicate details and make assumptions that things are being taken care of, without any real knowledge of what is going on.

The Effect of Macromanagement in the Workplace

Though some more senior employees may appreciate the freedom that macromanagers allow, the lack of communication in this management style can lead to the overlooking important details, and frustrations erupt when people

Where a micromanager may appear pushy and bossy, a macromanager often appears lazy.

You Know You are a Macromanager if You:

• Frequently assign projects and then don't check in until the day the project is due

• Trust junior employees to know how to complete tasks they may not be experienced enough to take on by themselves

• Tend to assume people have all of the information they need and that things are being taken care of without actually checking in

• Tend to delegate your work so well that you have little left on your own plate

Macromanagers in Advertising

In the advertising industry, macromanagers are most common in senior-level management where intentionally hire people that they think they won't need to spend a lot of time managing so that they can focus on other things and not have to worry that things are not being taken are of. This management style is more likely to foster growth in employees due to the added responsibility they have to manage themselves, but it is also more likely to allow for errors and miscommunication.

Choosing the Right Management Style

Everyone has a preferred management style that works best for them, but most commonly a balance between macromanagement and micromanagement is the safest route. By maintaining a balance, people are allowed the freedom to learn and grow, but not so much freedom that they feel lost and mistakes are made due to poor communication. There are always going to be times when you have a peer who really needs help at every step along the way due to inexperience or incompetence where micromanagement is necessary, or a subordinate who really functions well when you just give them a project and let them run with it and you can trust them to get the job done with no oversight - but in general most people fall somewhere in the middle.

The key to effective management of any team is open communication, setting reasonable expectations and delivering on those expectations.