Could you be a micromanager? How can you stop it?
Most people who are micromanagers do not know that they are micromanaging. They think they are being helpful.
Here are three things you can do to empower your team and reduce micromanaging:
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Declare your intent to be helpful.
Overtly declare that you want to be helpful to your employees. When a manager starts interfering without stating their intention of being helpful, people will start to feel as though you are taking away their job and responsibilities.
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Avoid giving too much advice in advance.
Do not tell employees things they probably already know. Wait until after the person begins the task and then say, “Hey, is there anything I can do to help you or support you?” They will be more open to hearing your advice this way—after they’ve already begun the task, rather than being told all the things they have to watch out for in advance.
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Avoid taking over work and redoing it yourself.
If you take the work away from someone, redo it all, and then you give it back to them, it is only going to frustrate your team. Think of the message this sends. If your boss takes back your work, reworks it, and hands it back to you, it shows that they do not trust you to do the work in the first place. Instead, offer some feedback and advice, and then let them rework it.
The next time somebody doesn’t do something the way you would like, stop taking that task away from them. There are two downsides to this.
One, it makes them feel like you do not trust their work. And two, it tells them they are not good enough.
To avoid being a micromanager, avoid taking over and reworking the work your employees do.
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