Although you likely won’t admit to being a micromanager of your business, it is a guarantee that your staff knows. Here is a set of characteristics that indicate you’re probably a micromanager:
- You frequently feel overwhelmed by work while others wait for you to tell them what to do. This indicates that you’re bearing the brunt of the workload and not delegating.
- You dictate the end result rather than work with staff to clarify expectations. Dictating the end results indicates that you need to be in complete control and you’re not using the assets and brain trust at your disposal.
- You may delegate a task, but if it isn’t being done the way you want it done, you retract the assignment and put it back on your desk. This behavior indicates that you believe you’re the only person who can do the job right.
- You hear these words running through your mind or coming out of your mouth:
- “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” If you think along these lines, you believe that you’re the only one who can do the job right.
- “Nothing can move forward until it is approved by me.” This is another way of saying that you need to be happy with the details. It also suggests that you have expectations you either haven’t told staff about or haven’t articulated clearly enough; otherwise, your staff would know how to accurately interpret your meaning and produce what you want on their own.
See yourself? If so, you need to overcome this tendency. Micromanaging sends the message that you don’t trust that your staff will perform. Lack of trust causes confidence to deteriorate. It’s also baggage that you have to shed if you want to progress to higher levels of decision-making. No single person is perfect, and one person alone, even one with a superhero cape, simply can’t be a company.
