How to stop micro managing your employees

How coaching can help you overcome the practice of micromanagement.

First of all, what is micromanagement?

Micromanagement is to follow the development of things closely, to evaluate and control small steps of a larger process under scrutiny. There are contexts where a bit of micromanagement is useful: for instance, in monotonous, menial production processes, where the checking of technical features is essential.

However, most tasks in professional services and other industries are beyond mechanical. The level of autonomy your colleagues need may vary depending on their personalities, roles, and context. While progression evaluations, motivational systems and some supportive monitoring can increase performance, micromanagement diminishes trust and paralyses creative attempts.

To tackle the issue of micromanagement, in a coaching setting we look into, for instance, what other alternative approaches are available to replace micromanagement practices, why mistrust arose and how positive change can be created. The setting of mutually agreed goals, interim deadlines, and venues to communicate progress without becoming overly controlling are among the tools that can help to decrease micromanagement.