Micromanagement is never good for a team. There is only one reason why you should ever hire someone: because you trust them to do the job you need doing. The ability to be independent in a team is important- just as important as the ability to be a team player. A leader cannot lead if they are too busy looking over the shoulders of their team.
The damage that can be done to your team members as individuals, and therefore your team as a whole, is not easily reversed. Most times micromanagement comes with a slew of comments most of us recognize: “You’re not doing _______ right”, “This should be done _______ way”. We feel these people breathing down our necks on every project, every minute of the day. So what are the repercussions of micromanagement?
#1. Loss of Motivation
Eventually, when creativity is stifled too many times, people will stop putting effort into trying to be creative. Nobody would waste their time thinking critically or problem-solving if they know that someone is going to tell them exactly how to do their job. Once a team member feels that they don’t matter to the team and their thoughts aren’t important, they’ll lose their motivation to work as hard.
#2. Micromanagement Can Equal High Turnover
You knew this was coming, right? Once you don’t feel important anymore, and you don’t feel valued, you leave. Nobody should stay in a job where they aren’t improving and being challenged. If your team doesn’t have a solid foundation from leaders who are competent, your company will become a revolving-door.
#3. Loss of Trust in Leadership
If your leadership doesn’t trust you, then chances are you don’t trust them either. They don’t trust you to get the job done right, they’re always correcting you, they make you second guess yourself. If that isn’t enough to make you run for your nearest resume guru, I don’t know what is!
A team this damaged cannot possibly function properly. Solving team dysfunction is actually really simple. By using positive change and consistency are all you need to bring your team back to life.
How to Bring Your Team Back to Life
First of all tomorrow morning, instead of saying “you need to do ________ today” try a new approach. Say to your team member “what do you think you need to get done today”, and actually let them have a say in what they are doing. When your team member speaks up at a meeting on Thursday and tells you there is a better way to do something, don’t just shut them down. Listen to their thoughts. Give them a chance to defend why their method is better. Your team is smart. So let them show you.
Second, and you have to stick to the schedule strictly, do a bi-weekly check-in. On Monday, discuss what the plan is for the week. Then on Friday, discuss what got done and what needs to be carried over to the next week. Finally, don’t harass employees after you assign them a task. Trust them to be the employee you have hired them to be. When people like their jobs, they will work hard.
Let’s Get Real.
Micromanagement is really easy to fix. Stop watching every move your employees make. Let them breathe, trust them to do their jobs. If you can’t trust someone to do what you are hiring them for, don’t hire them. Remember that mistakes happen. One mistake here and there is not always good enough reason to stop trusting someone entirely.
Be forgiving, be aware without being overbearing, and be a leader who can be trusted to look out for their team. That is the first step to fixing a team destroyed by micromanagement. Check out Forbes’ thoughts on how to stop: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/06/04/try-these-12-strategies-if-you-need-to-stop-micromanaging/#374f0c611c48
