How to Avoid Micromanaging in the Workplace

As a manager you have a lot of responsibility.

A key duty is to ensure that your team meets deadlines and produces high quality work while working in a fast-paced, competitive environment.

You want to provide your direct reports with all the resources they need for success, including the benefit of your knowledge and mentorship.

But sometimes, help and instructions go too far. Your managerial approach may be excessive and aggressive, leading to low morale and hindering production.

When this happens, you must learn how to stop micromanaging so that your team members know you have confidence in their talents.

Being micromanaged is not something that most workers like, so as a leader, it is better to stop this behavior before it causes problems like low morale, demotivation, and employee turnover.

We’ve put together a list to help you avoid micromanaging in the workplace, here’s how:

Find out how your team would like to be managed

Harrison Tang, owner of Spokeo Someone who believes in servant leadership tells us: “Your team will be greatly affected by micromanagement. Consider this: Would you want to work in an environment where other people are always teasing or criticizing your work?

And if you’ve ever been in a similar situation, you undoubtedly have opinions to share.

Because of this, as a leader, knowing the true feelings of your team members is a wonderful way to stop micromanaging.

To increase the likelihood that you will have a complete and accurate picture, you can encourage them to provide anonymous comments on your management style to learn how they would like to be managed.

Your team will value your act of trust and responsibility in responding to this input.

create an environment of trust

Build trust among your team, to increase productivity and free up everyone’s time.

Employees will feel empowered to pursue initiatives without your approval and you won’t have to constantly approve everything.

When it comes time to evaluate their work, employees will appreciate your supportive criticism because they understand that it comes from a desire to see them succeed rather than controlling them.

micromanage carefully

Rarely will you need to micromanage – for example, helping a coworker who isn’t performing well or training a new employee.

Yet there are very few instances in which micromanagement is required. Keep in mind that this is a stopgap solution.

After things settle down, you will go back to your pre-problem range.

physically remove yourself from the group

Leaders never really quit; Instead, they delegate tasks and strategies to their people.

For example, a worker scheduled his monthly commute to fit in a certain task. Delegation, travel to another team, and assignments were all developed as a result.

The team was in a better position because the leader was not looming over them in the next room. This resulted in greater freedom and productivity.

receive input

There is often a big gap between what leaders want and what the team is actually going through.

Your teammates may already be tired of you wandering around, so you may suspect something is up. To determine the importance of the issue, feedback is necessary.

You should conduct a cross-report assessment to find out what your direct reports really believe and whether it aligns with your goals.

Collect private information from your employees, or even better, have a third party collect it for you, then compile the findings so that staff members know who said what when it’s impossible to trace exactly what.

Although what you hear may be disappointing, it is important to understand the larger patterns and reactions as well as how [your micromanaging has] Your team was affected.

Decide what’s important and what’s not

No matter how big the job, you can’t teach and delegate like a smart manager if you’re doing everything yourself.

To start, decide which tasks – like strategy planning – require your full attention and which are less important (like editing a presentation).

Supervisors should review their task list to identify low-hanging fruit that can be assigned to a team member.

The priority on your list – that is, the big-ticket items where you really add value, should also be highlighted, and you should make sure you’re spending most of your energy on them.

Keep in mind that micromanaging replaces the real work of leaders, which is to create and communicate a compelling and strategically relevant vision for your group.

Recognize the limitations of your workers

Carl Jensen, owner of compare banks It recommends that you know your employees and give employees only what they can handle.

He says: “Some people can improve by taking a step back, but it is wise to provide the right kind of support.

Even if you’re not really active in a certain project or activity, talk about how you’ll support them and how you’ll help them overcome problems.

However, there are instances when it is necessary to maintain tight checks on certain initiatives or personnel.

For example, if your report is young or “not ready to trust yet,” you’ll need to monitor their progress closely.

Similarly, when delivery is urgent and has significant consequences, it may be appropriate to intervene or request frequent updates.

In this situation it is beneficial to let the person know why you are taking such a hands-on approach.

Over time, the employee should be able to perform tasks alone with your guidance and input.

Choose a small number of indicators and goals (and just a few)

Limiting your interaction opportunities is an excellent strategy to avoid becoming too immersed in your team’s work.

This involves narrowing down the project’s KPIs and goals to a smaller number. You should only provide comments on these measurements and goals.

Consider these measurements as limits for your team members. Why would you cross boundaries with your team if not with your friends and family?

Let’s take an example where your R&D head is working diligently to make the right adjustments that will double the speed of operation of your product.

Relevant measures include user-friendliness, completion speed, and some kind of security rating.

Don’t provide feedback on the employee’s methods for achieving these objectives, and don’t peek in while the process is still going on.

After the delivery is over, wait, evaluate only these metrics and plan your future actions based on them.