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The evolutions of workplace And working methods are at the heart of business concerns in 2025: hybridization, digitalization, search for meaning, and increased requirements in terms of flexibility at work.
This transformation requires leaders to change their management style, often divided between rigid micro-management and permissive macro-management.
However, the key to sustainable performance lies in the adoption of a flexible and adapted managerial approach, both to the context and to the challenges of the teams.
This article offers an in-depth analysis of the advantages and limitations micro-management and macro-management, with concrete recommendations to find the right balance.
Definitions of the two managerial approaches
What is micro-management?
The micro-management refers to a style of supervision in which the manager carefully controls all the tasks carried out by his collaborators, requesting detailed reports, validating each action, and centralizing all decisions.
This posture finds its place in some work environments criticisms: highly demanding projects, deployment of procedures or support for very junior profiles.
Common manifestations:
- Constant verification of progress,
- Individual validation of operations,
- Multiplication of follow-up meetings,
- Excessive centralization of decisionmaking.
Main consequences:
- An obstacle to autonomy and the taking of initiatives,
- Slowdown in execution,
- Development of chronic stress,
- Deterioration of mutual trust.
What is macro-management?
In contrast, the macro-management is about setting global goals and giving great autonomy in how to achieve them. This management style focuses on strategic vision and purpose, while ensuring that actions remain aligned with the mission and values of the company.
In this context, the manager acts more like a guide or facilitator rather than a direct supervisor.
Characteristics:
- Important delegation with a strong confidence in the members of the team,
- Priority given to expected results rather than to the means employed to achieve them,
- Intervention limited to key points or in case of critical need,
- Encouraging creativity, autonomy and individual initiative,
- Establishment of a clear overall framework while allowing flexibility in execution.
Advantages:
- Promotes innovation and new ideas thanks to greater freedom granted,
- Strengthens the commitment of experienced professionals who value autonomy,
- Enables the manager to focus on long-term strategic issues,
- Encourages the development of teams' skills by empowering them.
Observed risks:
- Risk of vagueness in the distribution of roles that could create misunderstandings,
- Feeling abandoned or lacking support, especially for less experienced profiles such as juniors,
- Possibility of delay in detecting obstacles or intermediate problems,
- Risk of misalignment between individual efforts and collective priorities,
- Requires a subtle balance between autonomy and follow-up, which can be difficult to maintain.
Macro-management, although effective in an environment composed of autonomous profiles and with good control of their scope, requires a well-defined framework and clear communication to avoid excesses.
The limits of extreme approaches
Why is adopting one or the other exclusively counterproductive?
A manager practicing exclusively micro-management leaves no room for the experience or the progress of the people he supervises: frustration, disengagement, loss of meaning and absenteeism.
Conversely, a strictly macro-managerial approach can lead to a loss of control: lack of reference points, difficulty in supporting certain profiles, and sometimes reinforced isolation.
The lack of feedback is detrimental to skills development of teams and increase the Turn-over.
Examples of concrete failures:
- In an environment of teleworking or hybrid, micro-management increases fatigue, while unsupervised macro-management creates isolation. These situations have a direct impact on The hours of work effectiveness and the ability to maintain a better work/life balance.
- In critical phases of a project, insufficient supervision or excessive control can lead to costly mistakes or demotivation.
How to adjust your managerial style according to the situation?
There is no one-size-fits-all model that is valid all the time. One good manager must adjust his leadership style and posture to the following variables:
Level of maturity and experience of the team :
- Experienced profiles require more responsibility and benefit from macro-management.
- Junior profiles require a secure, temporarily more directive framework.
Complexity and nature of the task :
- Innovative projects: promoting autonomy.
- Critical/regulated projects: structure more, support closely.
- Remote/hybrid work : prioritize the clarity of objectives, organize regular meetings, avoid micro-managerial excesses that affect autonomy and ensure a healthy balance in the distribution of the workload
Project life cycle:
- Launch a new project: support, frame, secure.
- Autonomous execution phase: switch to more freedom by adjusting the level of follow-up by according to needs identified.
Best practices for balanced management
- Define a clear, shared and evolving framework:
Formulate objectives, roles and values as soon as you are integrated into the team, readjust them regularly.
- Set up regular progress points:
Replace follow-up meetings without clear objectives and establish real time for exchange allowing active listening, the escalation of difficulties and promoting a participatory management based on collective intelligence.
- Establishing indicators of trust and autonomy :
Evaluate performance based on the results obtained rather than on the frequency of reports.
Adapt the level of delegation according to the maturity and autonomy of each employee.
- Use the appropriate collaborative tools :
Centralize essential information to ensure the visibility of tasks without generating stress.
- Adapt your working methods continuously :
Regularly gather feedback from the team on the level of control, the perceived workload and the need for support.
Questions to ask yourself in order to take a step back on your management:
- Do you systematically require accounts for each action?
- Does your team rarely ask for your opinion for fear of criticism?
- Do you feel isolated within your team?
- Is the achievement of the objectives done without an analysis of the method adopted?
- Do you organize certain exchanges just to maintain some form of control?
If yes, a realignment of your management style is to be considered.
Conclusion
Performance in 2025 is based neither on micromanagement nor on pure macromanagement. One good manager must be agile, adjust his managerial style to the context ofwork environment, and pay particular attention to flexibility, accountability and skills development.
To remember:
- Opt for an agile and context-aware managerial positioning.
- Promote autonomy without abandoning the structural framework.
- Regularly measure the impact of your posture on motivation, commitment and performance.
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FAQ — Management, micro and macro management
What is a good manager in 2025?
A good manager is agile, attentive to the context, able to modulate his level of supervision and create the conditions for a lasting commitment. It provides a solid framework and a clear vision.
How to avoid micro-management?
Set specific goals, allow flexibility in execution, delegate gradually, and promote mutual trust through constructive milestones.
What are the disadvantages of macro-management?
Macro-management without a structural framework can lead to a vague distribution of responsibilities and a feeling of abandonment among some employees. In the long run, this can lead to a desynchronization of individual efforts, or even to isolation or stagnation within the team.
What managerial posture should be adopted when working from home?
The one that clarifies expectations and structures exchanges. It clearly defines the expected deliverables. It also guarantees the availability of the manager without being intrusive.
How do you empower a team without controlling them excessively?
Give meaning to missions, co-build objectives, gradually delegate tasks and support key moments to secure the rise in confidence.
Also read: managing a remote team
