Managing Without Micromanaging
Picture this: you work hard every day, checking tasks off your to-do list, meeting deadlines, and completing outstanding projects. But no matter what you do or how well you communicate your accomplishments to your manager, it feels like they are always looking over your shoulder, offering “suggestions” that don’t help. Their micromanagement only slows you down and makes you less efficient.
Sound familiar?
Nobody wants to feel like they’re being micromanaged. Most managers know from personal experience how annoying that can be. However, as a manager, you must be able to track your employees’ progress. This means you need to find a balance between digging into the details of their work and trusting them to work independently. Here are a few ideas to help you walk that line.
- Communicate effectively and get to know your team members. Quality communication always makes management easier. Start by finding out how much management each of your team members prefers and try to work within those preferences. For example, some people might want frequent feedback and specific conversations while they work on a project, while others thrive when receiving guidance only at the beginning and the end.
- Set up systems that enhance collaboration and create transparency. In one recent job, I set up a spreadsheet/calendar/tracker where team members could provide progress updates on their projects. Since our projects were collaborative, this tracker helped everyone know when they needed to complete their specific tasks. Once you set up a system, make sure people are using it correctly and updating it regularly. If they are, it will not only help them collaborate, but also allow you to track progress without being overbearing.
- Do spot checks of projects for all team members. Even the most independent workers should expect some oversight from their managers. Set up a schedule for completing check-ins and follow up with your employees on what you find. These checks shouldn't be so frequent that they feel onerous, but frequent enough to give you the information you need. If people are meeting deadlines and quality standards with the level of feedback you’re providing, all is well.
- Don’t be afraid of a little temporary micromanagement. If a team member is missing deadlines or falling short on quality, you may need to increase oversight for a while. Start with a conversation to clarify expectations. Work with the person to develop a plan to help them improve performance and meet deadlines. Then follow up. Make it clear that once the team member shows consistent improvement in performance, you can go back to working within their management preferences.
- Remember that everyone needs help sometimes. When I was working in journalism, we used to say, “Everyone needs an editor.” Even people who generally do outstanding work may struggle at times, so don’t forget to check in with your top performers. To avoid making them feel micromanaged, use your regular one-on-one meetings to ask about potential problem areas and offer suggestions.
As a manager, you’ll occasionally have to get in the weeds with your team members’ projects. If you’re following these suggestions, those situations should be infrequent. When you put systems in place to avoid micromanagement while ensuring quality standards are met, you will empower and motivate your team members to do their best work.
What experiences have you had with micromanagement, either as an employee or as a manager? How do you avoid micromanaging your team? Let me know in the comments, and let’s talk about it.
Comments
Post a Comment