Art, obsession, and identity
Managers often spending a lot of time telling their employees what to do. More effective is to spend time helping your employees understand what the team is trying to achieve.
Training is very important here: make sure that your team members have the required training to complete their assigned tasks. Then delegate those tasks, and manage outcomes only.
Delegating is all well and good, but leaders often forget to physically leave. This can create an atmosphere in which employees feel ill at ease or less comfortable than they otherwise would.
You might like to try planning your travel to coincide with a delegated assignment. That way you will be forced to physically leave your team, allowing them the space to thrive.
It is important that leaders spend time on the tasks that only they are able to do. This means that they must delegate other tasks with confidence and trust.
Once all team members understand the objective of a given project and what is expected of them, there is no need to micromanage or instruct on a granular level.
It may sound easier said than done, but you must trust your employees. Many leaders micromanage because they don't trust an employee to do a job as well as they can.
This will give you important information about your team's dynamic, as well as establishing trust and giving your employees that all-important autonomy.
Once an employee truly understands the culture of their company and knows why their leader thinks in a certain way, they are more likely to behave in a way that aligns with the company's values.
The best leaders manage their company culture first and their people second. They communicate clearly with their employees about the values and beliefs that define the company culture.
A simple way to ensure that you are not micromanaging and that you have a positive relationship with your team is to ask them how they'd like to be managed.
Not being able to trust employees often stems from trust issues in a manager's personal life. You may need to confront any personal issues and use the learnings in a work context.
Micromanagement is often the result of perfectionism. If you want to kiss micromanagement goodbye, you must first wave goodbye to perfection.
Employees must be allowed the autonomy to fail from time to time. Try to create a culture in which employees are not afraid to fail, but rather embrace their failure and learn from it.
Micromanagement can also occur when leaders have a strong feeling that they don't know what's going on. You may want to try a project management system that gives you visibility.
A project management system that gives managers the opportunity to view project documents can ensure visibility while removing the need to check in every 10 minutes.
Try to think of yourself as a facilitator, not a taskmaster. Earn your employees' trust in the first instance by sharing with them what is important to you and why.
Once the trust is established, be sure to create a line of open communication. Keep your inquiries to a minimum, but make sure your employees know they can come to you at any time.
Many leaders get where they are because of their competitive instinct. However, it's important not to overstep your team by following your own desire to deliver the win.
If you are too obsessed with being the person who comes up with the solution, you will likely send the message that you don't trust your team to get the job done.
You may find it helpful to encourage "intrapreneurship." "Intrapreneurs" are essentially entrepreneurs within a company.
Make sure that you discuss the project and strategies upfront and that you are always on hand to answer questions and listen to concerns.
If you're the one being micromanaged, the best way to get your boss off your back is to show them you don't need to be constantly monitored.
This one is tricky, but you might try giving your employees more responsibility than you're comfortable with. Don't just delegate a task and send the employee on their way, though.
Taking on those tasks that you know you can complete successfully will show that you have credibility and make your boss more likely to delegate to you in the future.
If employees are expected to maximize their creative potential and contribute to realizing the company's vision, they will feel more enthused by their work.
If you feel that you need your manager's input on the small details of a task, try to complete the task on your own first and ask for their input second.
It is a good idea to spend some time getting to grips with your company's medium- and long-term goals. Firstly, this will improve the accuracy with which you complete assignments.
Doing it in this order will give you an opportunity to use your own initiative and put your ideas into practice, while still respecting the authority of your manager.
The term "micromanagement" may sound like corporate jargon, but in fact it refers to a very real problem that exists in businesses ranging from local coffee shops to multinational conglomerates. Essentially it refers to the inability or reluctance of managers to delegate, meaning that they pretty much manage their employees' every move and thus create a culture of distrust.
Micromanagement can arise for a number of reasons, but most of the time employees do not like being micromanaged and it should be avoided wherever possible.
Check out this gallery for some tips on how to avoid micromanagement.
Secondly, you'll also be able to better anticipate what your manager wants from you, thus demonstrating that they needn't micromanage and watch your every move.
Sources: (Forbes) (Elegant Themes)
How to avoid micromanagement
Some tips for employers (and a few for employees)
LIFESTYLE Work
The term "micromanagement" may sound like corporate jargon, but in fact it refers to a very real problem that exists in businesses ranging from local coffee shops to multinational conglomerates. Essentially it refers to the inability or reluctance of managers to delegate, meaning that they pretty much manage their employees' every move and thus create a culture of distrust.
Micromanagement can arise for a number of reasons, but most of the time employees do not like being micromanaged and it should be avoided wherever possible.
Check out this gallery for some tips on how to avoid micromanagement.