By Jaimy Ford, business writer and editor.

Having high expectations is certainly not a bad thing. However, when high expectations translate into nitpicking, it is a problem. When you or your employees are detailed-obsessed perfectionists, it puts unrealistic demands on everyone else, it wastes time, slows progress and leaves people feeling overwhelmed, annoyed or even defeated.

If you are a nitpicking boss, you could be crushing employees’ morale. Every time you pick apart an employees’ work, they’ll think “Man, I can’t do anything right,” and they may give up trying to meet your unrealistic expectations. It’s demoralizing to work hard on something, only to have the boss disregard the effort and positive qualities and focus on some trivial detail.

Here’s a perfect example: An employee, we’ll call him Mitch, worked incredibly hard to create a fantastic sales presentation for a meeting. Rather than commend him for what he did well, his supervisor, we’ll call her Lisa, complained about an image the employee included in the PowerPoint presentation. Mitch walked away demoralized and uncertain of how to make his boss happy.

If you are a nitpicker boss, knock it off. Seriously. You don’t need to find fault with employees’ work to do your job. Not everything needs to be dissected, revised or corrected. While you should maintain high standards, realize that great work is great work, and it’s not necessary for employees to do everything exactly the way you would. And while you should offer negative feedback to improve performance and results, make sure that you’re offering praise too. Most employees, whether they’ll admit it or not, want a pat on the back (rather literally or figuratively) from time to time.

Now, what if you are dealing with a nitpicking employee or coworker? You know, those people who question everything, edit everyone’s ideas, correct everyone’s work, and are so fixated on details that they completely stall progress?

Some nitpickers are just highly arrogant types who think they know what’s best for everyone. Others are actually anxious and worrisome, and they nitpick because they need to feel some sense of control. Others believe that they are offering the team a valuable contribution by over-analyzing everything. Regardless the type, follow these steps to manage the behavior:

  • Tap into their strengths. While the nitpickers’ actions can be frustrating, their attention to detail and focus can also be a positive for the team. Offer them assignments that require them to dig into and analyze details, find problems and report them back to the team.
  • Keep them on track. When they bog down brainstorming meetings with minutiae, reel them in by saying “We have time to sort out all the details; right now, we are focusing on generating big ideas.”
  • Make them see the big picture. Progress often stalls when nitpickers need all the answers upfront or want to focus on planning, rather than taking the first step to move forward. When that happens, remind them what the overall goals are, and ask “Can we still hit those goals if we don’t address that right now/don’t take that step/don’t do that?”
  • Take away their power. The nitpickers on your team shouldn’t be criticizing you or your coworkers’ work. If they nitpick your work, say “Thanks for your input, but I’ve got this.” And if you see them nitpick someone else, say “Thanks for your help, but this is Carrie’s assignment and she knows what she’s doing.” Plus, if a nitpicker ever “tattles” to you about someone else’s work, don’t allow it. Say, “While I appreciate that you care about this, it’s not your responsibility, and I will take care of any issues that I see.” If the nitpicker doesn’t catch on, be more direct and tell him or her exactly what behaviors you want to see end.

Tell us: Do you agree with our take that you should put an end to nitpicking? If not, tell us why in the comments section. 

Photo Credit: http://www.freeimages.com/photo/loupe-1237390

 

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  1. This sometimes nitpicker enjoyed your post, up to a point. (You nitpicked nitpickers.) To nitpick, when others don’t want to be bothered listening to nitpickers (an important point you didn’t cover), that’s bad. Yes, overlook issues that don’t take away from the presentation or discussion; no, don’t let flawed work pass. It galls me when someone dismisses what I have to say because they don’t want to listen, regardless of quality. Yes, put all inputs in perspective; yes, deal with personality problems; yes, take disrupters to task. But don’t blame nitpickers just because they nitpick; you may miss something really useful.
    Generally there is something worthwhile in what anyone, nitpicker or not, has to say. Turning your back on good inputs is bad business, pure and simple. If you can’t listen to every input with the same openminded tolerance, you don’t belong at the table. Those who are arrogant anti-nitpickers are still arrogant too.

    1. Thanks so much for your feedback, Bob. You are correct. There is an exception to every rule, which is why I popped in “usually” causes more harm than good. I certainly think there is a time and a place to point out mistakes, correct problems and dig dipper. That said, nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking or for the sake of “being heard” is often counterproductive. Plus, I absolutely believe if leaders only focus on the flaws, they miss key opportunities to motivate employees to keep doing what they are doing well.

    2. There is a difference between nitpicking and sharing an observation, knowledge or experience that is relevant to a common business goal.

      I will never take insight from a nit picker. You can learn to promote team success, or you can be pushed out of the group. The disruption you cause to the team dynamic is NEVER offset by any benefit you *may* provide.

      We will figure it out without you.

    1. We believe that most employees’ performance can improve and meet expectations with plenty of coaching from a manager. That said, if employees’ don’t do the work to bring performance up to an acceptable level, unfortunately, termination may have to be the last resort.

  2. My nitpicker boss
    always comes even just to tell me the silliest things
    or if I am there
    LIKE u put the cups in the wrong place
    I feel like saying does this really matter? Can’t he just move them & not worry
    Sure glad he not my partner
    I have ended up on antidepressants & tranquilizers because of this
    I don’t want to leave as he will know why & why should I let him get the better of me

  3. I ignore nitpickers and they wonder how I keep getting promoted lol – They get worked up about details and errors that get caught eventually anyway and are usually easy to fix. I personally never heard a nitpicker bring up a problem that requires a creative solution or systemic change, TBH. Plays against their use of time more than it helps others.

  4. Yes we have a lady who has worked here for 1 year & tells me what to do
    SERIOUSLY
    I DONT answer to her, I already have my jobs lined out & she not my boss,
    I HAVE BPD & need to have tranquilizers because of her

  5. There’s a a person like that where I work. Always scouring the files to find and point out mistakes. Yet comes to office only couple times a week and when does show up likes to yawn loudly. Coworker is in no position to nitpick abd should quietly fix the issue herself. Employers have given her too much free reign and need to shorten the leash .

  6. Great article. Nitpickers stand out and earn the name from always having something negative to say. I notice they harp on things that are trivial and harp long. I find them to be overbearing and overall bad for morale. I get keeping policies and practices fluid, but there is a point where its just nit-picky. This is easy to tell by the way employees are spoken to. Disrespectfully and crude. They seem to look for things to complain about about who is pulling them up on their manners and business approach? People need to consider approach, wording and tone. We all need a pull up for sure, but I believe we can all agree it’s all in how you do it.

  7. I too have a lot of coworkers like this & seriously.
    I am BPD & have to have zopiclones to cope, I have support of my dr that’s it.
    My family & so called friends make me worse
    How do I deal with this

  8. I have the same problem but in a different environment. My dad, who’s 87, nitpicks whenever we go anywhere. For example, the other day when we were having breakfast, he called the manager over to complain that the pancakes were too thick and then proceeded to tell him how to fix them. He also complained because the waitress brought his plate with a biscuit on it after he told her to leave it off when he was ordering, and that the manager should fire her for that because she was “wasteful”. This was on a recent family vacation, and he complained to the manager in every single hotel and restaurant, and then provided his expert opinion on how to fix it. It was wasteful of time, both to the employees and also to us, as it cut into our family fellowship time. Every time we tried to redirect him away from his complaining, he refused until he’d bent the ear of the waiter or manager long enough that he felt he’d “fixed” the problem.

    Any insights?

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