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Tag Archives: #productivity

Mastering the Micromanager: How to Thrive Under Close Supervision

One of my ex-managers was a great guy. However, a couple of my colleagues found him to be micromanaging the team. Even at his level, he often asked a couple of my colleagues to include him in their meetings and requested daily updates from his team on what they worked on and which meetings they attended. I completely understand the need for transparency and getting frequent updates to ensure we are heading in the right direction, but being included in every meeting and asking for hour-by-hour reports can be slightly extreme. Thus, a couple of my colleagues reached out to me for help. During that time, I provided a few recommendations that are universally true, and hence, I want to share them with you.

Be Proactive: Most of these leaders might be bombarded with a lot of information each day and may not have enough confidence in you to handle these challenges. Therefore, I recommended being proactive to build trust with their managers. For example, rather than sending an update at the end of the day about what you worked on, send a note of your priorities for the day and how they will impact the bottom line. If possible, include your blockers too, so they can get a clear picture of your work and how they can support you.

Clarify Expectations: Often, these managers are micromanaging because they don’t establish clear expectations. Thus, I recommend that everyone should establish clear communication guidelines with their managers and define expectations. For example, during your one-on-one meetings, agree on providing updates at specific times, outline steps to take if there are any blockers, and discuss your work style and how you want to receive feedback. Once expectations are clarified, most managers become more receptive to your feedback as well because this establishes a cadence where they can expect updates without needing constant check-ins.

Document Everything: Document not just the work that you are doing but what you are achieving with your work. Don’t assume that they will automatically know what you are doing and how it impacts the company. Often, these leaders are bombarded with information, making it difficult for them to keep track of progress. They often reach out to you when there is an issue or something isn’t working as it should. Thus, documenting everything and sharing it with your manager is ideal. For example, don’t just wait for your yearly or quarterly reviews to document your achievements. Maintain a running log of things you’ve done and the impact you’ve made. Share this log with your manager and review it frequently to build trust. This document will also ensure you don’t miss highlighting any accomplishments during your reviews.

I hope these tips prove helpful to you in improving your work environment in the future if you are working for a micromanager. Please share your feedback and any other strategies you have found effective in managing such situations in the comments.

Thanks – Bhavin

Tags: #Micromanagement, #WorkplaceTips, #LeadershipAdvice, #EffectiveCommunication, #EmployeeEmpowerment, #WorkplaceProductivity, #ManagerialSkills, #TeamManagement, #TrustInTheWorkplace, #ProactiveEmployees, #DocumentYourWork, #WorkplaceChallenges, #OfficeBestPractices, #ManagementStrategies, #EmployeeEngagement

Driving Success: How TPMs Help Resolve Dependencies Between Teams

08 Mar

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business environment, cross-functional teams are becoming increasingly common as companies seek to innovate and stay ahead. However, with multiple teams working on various projects, dependencies between them can be a significant challenge, resulting in delays, miscommunication, and even project failures. Technical Program Managers (TPMs) can play a crucial role in resolving dependencies between cross-functional teams. This blog post will explore how TPMs can help facilitate effective communication, collaboration, and coordination between teams to ensure that programs are delivered on time and achieve organizational goals.

Facilitating communication: TPMs coordinate communication between teams, identify gaps, and ensure that everyone is on the same page. Regular meetings or stand-ups can be set up where teams provide dependency updates, identify roadblocks or dependencies, and prioritize tasks. These sessions can be used to share progress reports, discuss risks and mitigation strategies, and align on timelines and deliverables.

Identifying dependencies: TPMs often have a high-level view of all the programs executed within the organization. Thus, they can identify dependencies between teams and track their status to ensure they are being addressed in a timely manner before they become a blocker for achieving the company’s objectives.

Prioritizing and tracking dependencies: TPMs have a deep understanding of intra-team and inter-team dynamics, given the cross-functional nature of their role. Thus, TPMs can manage inter and intra team dependencies to ensure that one team’s work is not blocked by the lack of progress on the part of another team. They can prioritize the work of different teams based on their impact on dependencies and the company’s objectives, and identify and mitigate risks associated with dependencies across different teams.

Building relationships and trust: TPMs can help build relationships and trust between cross-functional teams to ensure they can work effectively, particularly when dealing with dependencies. This can be achieved by sharing information, being transparent, conducting joint brainstorming sessions, breaking down silos, defining ownership, setting clear expectations, and strengthening personal relationships by driving offsite events.

Improving transparency: TPMs can provide the necessary transparency to the team to drive efficiency in resolving dependencies. They can communicate deadlines to the right stakeholders to adjust plans accordingly and use tools like JIRA, Asana, Microsoft Project, Wiki, and collaboration platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams to facilitate communication through shared dashboards and/or weekly reports.

In summary, TPMs play a vital role in managing dependencies between teams by facilitating effective communication, tracking and prioritizing work, building relationships, and improving transparency. They ensure that teams work together effectively and that all dependencies are identified and addressed in a timely manner to ensure program success.