Macromanagement: The Pros and Cons of Macromanagement

Macromanagement is a leadership style in which a manager gives their direct reports autonomy and freedom to complete tasks with their own processes and methods. A macromanager focuses on hitting milestones and the end result rather than the details of the workflows used to achieve those goals.

Macromanagement works by establishing trust in your work environment. This project management strategy focuses on employee empowerment; a leader with a macromanagement approach emphasizes the big picture and larger goals of a project while allowing individual employees to make decisions necessary to reach those end goals. Macromanagement can increase employee engagement by removing organization frameworks that might make employees feel constrained or untrusted.

While macromanagement is a hands-off management style, micromanagement is a hands-on approach to leadership. Micromanagement places nearly all decision-making in the hands of a team leader. When micromanagement shapes a workplace culture, the workflow inherently runs through the manager or team leader, and individual team members may feel like they have very little agency. In contrast, macromanagers allow direct reports to make independent decisions and control their workflows and processes.

Whether you run a large or small business, there are benefits to macromanagement. This leadership style:

1. 1. Builds trust: When you give your team members more autonomy, you show that you have trust in their problem-solving and decision-making skills. Trusting your employees is a critical leadership skill for keeping a team cohesive and engaged.
2. 2. Encourages innovation: When employees have more freedom, they may feel more confident pitching new ideas and taking risks.
3. 3. Favors long-term strategy: A macromanagement style allows you to focus on the big picture and long-term goals for your team and business.

Consider a few of the disadvantages of macromanagement before adopting the leadership style. Macromanagement can lead to:

1. 1. Employees feeling unappreciated: Some employees expect a more hands-on management style and may feel neglected by a macromanager. While it is valuable to be hands-off sometimes, a good leader should learn how to involve themselves in their employees’ work with the right balance of attention and autonomy.
2. 2. Lack of direction: A good manager needs to ensure everyone understands the project's goal, or the team may lose sight of the end product. The lack of meetings or check-ins gives employees fewer opportunities to ask questions and discover errors in their work.
3. 3. Short-term problems: Since macromanagement has fewer check-ins and more freedom, it may be harder for teams to meet short-term goals, depending on each individual’s work style. Projects with fast turnarounds and quick deadlines may be harder to meet.

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