18 Avoiding Micromanagement

Micromanagement is actually what happens when delegation goes badly, and it s usually due to one of three causes. The first cause is an incomplete evaluation. As I mentioned earlier, the evaluation phase is the phase that most people skip because they re often delegating under pressure. They re in a hurry to offload something during a stressful time, and that never ends well. The second cause is lack of clarity about the level of autonomy. When an employee feels micromanaged, it s because they thought they were getting a higher level of autonomy than they are. It s the manager s responsibility to make the level clear. When you communicate the level you re giving to the delegate, you eliminate any confusion or mistaken assumptions that either of you may of had. Over time, as employees are successful, you should be granting higher levels of autonomy. This demonstrates that you trust your employees, which will contribute to their motivation and engagement. The third cause of micromanagement is the manager viola