[chw9e]

If your employee is blowing their time budget they are most likely either:

a) a bad employee who you should not try to micro manage to make effective but should just replace with a better employee

or

b) unaware of the context around the task and does not have aligned motivations with others to get this done quickly

If b - then a good manager should do a better job of figuring out how to develop the intrinsic motivation of the employee and find ways to align the incentives and motivations of management and employees better.

Trying to micro-manage to avoid employees doing things you don't want is putting a band-aid on the problem. In fact it's even worse because you're creating a bad work environment that will attract more sub-par employees who accept micro-management and will scare away the high-performing employees you so desperately desire. Eventually you have a bunch of micro-managing managers who themselves are being micro-managed and your company bloats to several multiples in size of what is actually required and efficiency is spiraling out of control.

[opportune]

There is not necessarily a dichotomy between good and bad employees, and I’m certainly not saying every engineer should be micromanaged, but IME certain engineers require it to be able to perform well.

I think it should be applied on a case by case basis when necessary, and I’ve seen effective managers do this in the past. Anyway, the type of employee who requires this treatment often is precisely the one that least enjoys it, which is my original point.

[phkahler]

How about C - someone who sees a lot more at hand than a specific problem being worked and goes on tangents fixing issues management isn't aware of or doesn't understand. It's career limiting to operate this way, but is long-term better for the company.

[esafak]

These people deserve a better company, and should seek one. Or start their own.