by Sam at Management 3.0
Effective leadership is difficult, and falling into possibly toxic traits can be hard to avoid. Learning to delegate and trusting your team are the stepping stones to achieving effective leadership, without these foundations, leaders often find themselves in situations of micromanagement. Micromanaging, by definition, is a style of management in which the leader is involved in all aspects of the company’s work. While this style of leadership may have been acceptable in the workplaces of yesteryear, modern workplaces require a new approach.
Find out the various ways that you can combat micromanagement and become a more trusting and successful leader:
#1 Way to combat micromanagement: Practice Delegating: Not knowing how to delegate effectively leads to unintentional micromanaging. Effective delegation plays to the skills of your employees and gives them the ability to strengthen their skillset. Trusting your employees motivates them to do better work and guides them to a more collaborative work environment.
#2 Way to combat micromanagement: Focus on managing culture: Effective leaders care more about managing their culture than they do managing their team. Micromanaging can’t exist with a good cultural foundation. When you focus on your company’s values, you have less time to micromanage your employees’ actions. When employees understand that their leaders are working toward an effective culture, not only will they be more productive but more motivated to get the work done.
#3 Way to combat micromanagement: Set clear expectations: Establishing expectations upfront sets your team up for success, the clearer you are, the better your employees will perform. Many leaders micromanage because they think they’re the best for the job, but often they fall into the habit of doing the task without delegating what you want them to achieve and not how you want them to achieve it. Continue to practice delegation by setting these expectations and trusting your employees to do the rest.
#4 Way to combat micromanagement: Ask employees how they want to be managed: Start by asking your team what type of management would be best for them. A good culture is created by adhering to your teams’ needs and preferences. Great leaders often combat micromanaging by seeking employee input. Not only does this provide leaders with important information on shaping culture, but it also establishes trust and autonomy in your team.
#5 Way to combat micromanagement: Trust your team: The root of micromanaging is a lack of trust. No matter where your lack of trust stems from, building the foundations of trust at work will empower your team to be self-sufficient and increase productivity. Practicing new ways of trusting your team is a great way to challenge yourself to delegate effectively. You hired your employees for a reason, trust them to do the job you were confident they could.
#6 Way to combat micromanagement: Pass on responsibility: Overcoming micromanaging is difficult, especially giving up the tasks that you normally would do yourself. Trusting your team with more responsibility can lead to more creativity and collaboration. Rather than sticking around to manage every task, discuss the project, strategies and concerns upfront and trust your team to do the heavy lifting. Make yourself available to answer questions, and give feedback when prompted and allow yourself to focus on leading rather than managing.
What tips do you have to stop micromanaging? Share them below in the comments or contact us!
