I have written from time to time on micro-managing or the what not to do’s like micro-managing. I don’t want to say that I am a recovering micro-manager, but I was starting to see those tendencies of micro-managing in my day to day work recently! I’m not sure that my team will say that I am micro-managing or not. I just know that I feel like I am crossing that line. Micro-managing is ineffective and destructive.
Here are the things that I must remember….
- I don’t have all the answers
Well, that is completely true in my current role. I am not a content expert in my overall role. I have strong skills in some areas of the role, but I do not know everything. No one knows everything. Accept that you don’t know everything and use those around you.
- Micro-managing will not get your team to the fullest of their potential
I have listened closely to micro-managers wonder why their teams are not very productive. The teams start to lack the ability to make decisions on their own. They feel afraid of making a mistake. The basics to hampering productivity.
- Being in the day to day, keeps you from your work
This one is simple to say, but extremely hard to move forward from. Letting go is difficult for some. You must delegate in order for you to be successful with the items that you should do. How many times have you heard a micro-manager tell you that they need to start focusing elsewhere, but just don’t let go of anything that could help them get there. Let it go!
- Good luck with innovation or new ideas
Micro-manage and you can just about be assured that innovation or having the team come up with creative ways to do things will be non-existent. It is like there is only one person talking in the discussion. The rest of the folks are looking like they are listening, but probably are not. Step back and don’t talk. Let the silence sit for awhile. Maybe someone will kick off a solid discussion on the topic at hand. Then resist wanting to talk until the third person has spoken. Then just summarize the discussion without judgment. Maybe the culture of the team, will slowly start to change.
- Strive for Synergy
Webster defines synergy as the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual parts. When I see my team working together, that makes me happy. I just have to remember to stand back and enjoy the activity. Micro-managers have the tendency to step in and control the situation. When that happens everyone just shuts up and heads disappear back to what they were doing, themselves.
I definitely don’t want to get back into micro-managing. I certainly don’t enjoy being micro-managed. Never believed in micro-managing – hire the best talent and let them do what you brought them in to do.
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The CWIE Way.