Stop Micromanaging Your Team

Stop it. Get some help. Micromanaging is never good. No excuses.

What is Micromanaging? Am I doing it?

Generally, micromanagement consists of a style of management where a manager will closely observe or control the work of their subordinates or team members. This includes reminding employees of the work which is already assigned. Micromanagers teach helplessness to their team and, by their ineffective style, make them unable to complete work on their own. This "dumbing down" of the team happens when managers make don't know when to make participatory decisions and when to make unilateral decisions. This type of micromanager does not have conflict resolutions skills to manage their team. Other times, the micromanager will tell employees how to do their job down to every detail, rather than giving them proper training and holding them accountable. Micromanagers will undermine their own authority as a leader by frequently second-guessing or criticizing employees for small mistakes. Executive micromanagers disempower those working with them by making them feel as though they are being constantly monitored or have limited autonomy or decision-making authority. Micromanagement only demonstrates to employees that you don't trust them. Rather than micromanaging your emotions and anxiety about the employees or the project, you should be doing something that is actually productive for your team and the results you want. Maybe there was a truly bad hire. Lack of training? Unwillingness to fire someone unfit? Don’t blame your employees for why you must micromanage them. Start implementing processes to address the root cause of the issue.

Stop it. Get some help.

Here are the root causes of why you are micromanaging:

1. You gave your staff a workload that they could not handle.

2. You are overseeing activities in an area in which you are not an expert. You are not keeping up-to-date with new developments in your field and/or industry.

3. You don’t know how to delegate.

4. You divided up work into too-small parts that also have multiple people working on it at the same time.

5. The quality of your work or service is declining and you don’t know the real reasons why.

6. Your better employees have taken their talents elsewhere.

7. You created a skeleton crew by giving too much work to too few workers.

8. You lack formal training or need more development as a leader.

9. You have no standardized processes for your team and you hold pointless meetings.

10. There are noticeable gaps in shared skill sets in employees on your team.

Alternatives

Of course, there are alternatives to micromanaging. For example, educating and training yourself and your team to address the issues. Or hire and bring on someone to fill in gaps in the team.

If that’s not where you want to take it, then take the long-term view and perhaps consider the following steps before the final decision is made based on your organization’s policies:

1. Ensure the negative behavior and interactions are documented and corrective measures are taken. If not, then you are not resolving anything.

2. Be sure expectations are communicated clearly and are understood. This could include something like a rewritten job description or a set of actions and procedures.

3. Talk with the employee to find out if there is something personal they are dealing with. Be sure you have not overlooked something affecting them personally, and be ready to support them within the means of the organization.

4. Develop a plan for things to improve. Put together a list of realistic future goals with check-ins along the way. These should be specific tasks that are within their reach to be accomplished.

Lastly, there is the option of firing them. Firing a team member is a complex decision that has many risks and downsides.

Your Next Challenge: To be the best you can be!

Now that you have considered these ideas, how can you put them into practice?

These insights could be your key to success!