Demian Moore

Spring 2012 - The Public Manager

Budget experts have watched the federal government’s budget process fail over the last few years as the policy choices required to put the budget on a sustainable path grew more challenging. The darkening long-term outlook, masked by investors’ willingness so far to lend to the U.S. government at low rates, could at any time be greatly complicated by rising interest rates, or by unpredictable but inevitable future economic or other emergencies demanding higher spending. The publicly held federal debt is racing past 70 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and is projected to grow even more rapidly in coming decades, driven by the long-forecast retirement of the baby boomers and continuously rising healthcare costs—two of the biggest factors in what fiscal commission co-chair Erskine Bowles calls, “the most predictable economic crisis in U.S. history.”

Back to Fixing the Federal Budget Process

When we feel like we’re being micromanaged, there’s usually one of two possible reasons for your coworker’s behaviors:They don’t fully trust you because you aren’t consistently reliable.They are stressed because of pressure being put on them, and they’re transferring that stress to you.Regardless of the reason, however, here are some tips to help you manage the situation:Reflect on Your BehaviorOrganizations are littered with people who think they are high performers and yet are perplexed why they don’t get promoted as quickly as they believe they should. Such employees commonly feel they are being slighted and wronged. And yet most of them have a career-limiting habit that they don’t see or aren’t willing to see.Are you consistent at doing what you say you’ll do, when you say you’ll do it? If trust is what makes or breaks a team, then getting stuff done is the currency of trust. I’d challenge you to dig deep and ask yourself:What’s my role in this?Do I see a pattern of people in my life checking up on me?Am I constantly making excuses for why I can’t finish commitments?Let me be clear—I’m not saying this IS your issue. But I’m not sure that it isn’t either. I don’t say this to try to demean you, but to wake you up to a new view of yourself. We all need this in our lives. I once received feedback that my tendency toward persuasion was abrasive for many of my colleagues. Tough news to hear, but it was vital tough love.Master Your Stories and Bring It UpIt’s better to address the pattern you’re experiencing than continue to suffer through it. But you need to start by checking your emotions; your frustration is likely coming from a story you’re telling yourself that this coworker is micromanaging you. Since the problem of coming up with ugly stories takes place inside your own mind, that’s also where the solution lies. Those who are best at holding Crucial Conversations tell themselves a more balanced story. Instead of asking, “What’s the matter with that person?” they ask, “Why would a reasonable, rational, and decent person do that?”By asking this humanizing question, you should gain a few other possible explanations for the checkups, and you’ll be more effective talking about the issue.Once you’ve checked your story and calmed your emotions, just be candid. Say something like, “Hey Juan, I’ve noticed with the last few assignments I’ve taken on for you that you check in on me almost every day, even though we agreed on a due date. I had every intention to finish by the date we agreed. But when you check in on me, it makes me wonder if you think I will finish on time. Can you help me see your side of things?”Use Checkups and CheckbacksSometimes, the other person is so stressed that their worry drives them to become a nag. They may trust you, but the stakes are so high for them that they want to guarantee nothing goes wrong. While it’s understandable that someone might get to this point (we’ve all acted ineffectively because of stress), it’s also detrimental to others. So, to those who are giving the assignments, you need to know the difference between a checkup and a checkback and use them correctly.Do a checkup when you’re giving the assignment and are nervous or have questions. Say something like, “Since this is such an important project, I’m wondering if we could meet next Wednesday at 10 a.m. to review how it’s going.” In this case, you are in charge of the follow-up.Use a checkback when the task is routine and has been assigned to someone who is experienced and reliable. Now that person is in charge. He or she offers suggestions, “How about we follow up at our next scheduled meeting?” or “The deadline is two weeks from today. Could we meet next Thursday, fifteen minutes before our team meeting, to touch base?”To get results AND maintain healthy relationships, both checkups and checkbacks can be helpful.

What to Do When You Think You’re Being Micromanaged

Winter 2010 | Volume 39, Number 4: Innovations in Government Oversight, Stewardship and Accountability The winter 2010 issue is built around five articles that explore innovations in government oversight, stewardship and accountability:The feature article by Richard Wenning and **Damian**Betebenner demonstrates how datavisualization technology is helping to improve educational accountabilityin Colorado.Check out two recent podcasts with Damian Betebenner and technologists fromUniversal Mind. Deborah A. Milks, a former US Peace Corps Volunteer now serving as an instructor with the GraduateSchool, takes us to theSouth Pacific and shares how local officials are improving oversight and accountabilityone island government at a time. Brian Green of Learning Tree International irons out linkages between budgets, performance and accountability with a caseillustration of how the US Department of Veterans Affairs is improvingperformance and building the business acumen of acquisition professionals. Michael Lennon and Gary Berg-Cross provide atemplate for achieving a high-performing, more open-style governance approach.My podcast interview with Michael Lennon, in which he elaborates on thisarticle and foreshadows the US Department of Energy’s citizen engagement effortsaimed at DISPOSAL OF NUCLEAR WASTE, will be published to our site early next week. Lastly, Jack Malgeri adds athought-provoking piece on how organizational foresight and stewardship havedramatically improved accessibility of our national treasures overseen by theNational Park Service. We also peer into the changing public sector workplace - people, budgets, technology, and learning - with articles about leadership in the U.S. Army, strategic budgeting for local government equipment, and how IT managers need to prepare for new demands. Your subscription to The Public Manager gives you online access to these full articles from our Winter 2010 issue and 39 years of archived issues.

Demian Moore

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