Most business owners, if they are honest with themselves, have to admit that they are guilty of “micromanaging” employees from time to time. And while the desire to micromanage is usually well-intentioned (caring about the details and insisting on quality work are both great qualities!), when micromanagement becomes a habit, it’s a problem.
So take a few moments and be honest. Do you give your trusted employees the resources and the autonomy they need to get the job done, or do you find yourself regularly micromanaging them? If you’re a micromanager, again, you’re not alone. But below are three reasons this habit may be damaging to your business:
1) Micromanaging eliminates creativity and fresh perspective. When employees are expected to strictly follow established procedure all day long, they quickly learn to turn off their creative instincts and essentially become robots. While it is obviously important to set guidelines and ensure that key requirements are meant, giving trusted employees the ability to use their creativity and bring fresh perspective to the workplace is important. Your employees are a valuable asset, so don’t fail to tap into their creativity.
2) Micromanaging takes up time that could be better spent. If there is one trait that nearly all small-business owners share, it’s that they are always short on time! Running a business is exhausting and time consuming… trust me, I understand. But many business owners make matters worse by insisting on being involved in every detail of every employee’s workday. If you trust your employees… let them work! That’s why you hired them, after all. If you’re going to concern yourself with every minor detail, you may as well just do it all yourself!
3) Autonomy and trust keeps employees engaged. Finally, building a high-performing team requires employees that are engaged and motivated. Micromanaging employees has the opposite effect. Let your team know that you trust them, and give them the space to use their unique abilities to get the job done.
If you’d like to learn more on this subject, please feel free to contact me today!