How can I hold my employees accountable without micromanaging?

This is the great fear of every manager, director, or supervisor that actually wants a team of people that can operate without them; or do they?

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What the hell is micromanagement?

We must use definitions, so I’d say micromanagement refers to the actions you take with an employee to make sure they do some specified process, or project in a very particular way, that means a great deal to you personally and/or professionally.

That doesn’t sound too bad until we consider what it means to the person being micromanaged. You don’t trust them. Whether it’s their skill, character, general intelligence, just take your pick.

What they know is you are annoying them with details because you don’t trust them with this important thing. If you did, well, you wouldn’t be micro-ing them, would you? No, no you wouldn’t.

Chances are, you micromanage for one of three reasons. The first two matter most.

Micromanagement is either because you have control issues, or because you don't. We will get to the third one further down. If you don't have control issues, then you have poor training processes. The things that matter most to you are not made clear enough to the people doing them.

It is probably a training problem, so act like it.

Step one: Review the things you find yourself micromanaging. Look at the onboarding and process used to train those things, and the support after the training.

• Support after training. Sometimes the training is great up front, but there isn't enough support afterward, like one-on-ones with someone who can explain things, do something about problems and remove obstacles. An employee needs consistent access to somebody who can help with obstacles, especially when new.

• Stickiness. You may get a lot of agreement in the moment, but the information doesn't stick. Do you know how most people learn?

• The person could be the problem (third category). But go to your training and systems first before you judge the person. You can get a perfectly competent human being to look like an idiot in a stupid system.

Step two: Improve the training by documenting things the way you want them done. Choose the method by the thing:

• A process where they move through space: video can help.

• Paperwork: almost always helpful, especially digital.

• A custom app for your business that houses onboarding, training and a resource for employees. You have no excuse not to have good, ready-made documentation at everybody's fingertips.

If you know you have a control problem

This is a common tale for owner-operators, tired of working every day in the business, and realize that they built it so that it must rely on them.

I will give a great deal of credit to these folks. It takes a lot to assess yourself that deeply. Kudos. If you're self-aware enough to know you have control issues and don't want to keep them:

• You have to start small, with one or two people.

• You’re gonna have to own it; probably more than you’re comfortable with: “[fill in name here] I know that I have a real problem letting things go. I think it is because [fill in reason here]. It must be very annoying and insulting to you. It is something I am going to change, and I’ll need your help.”

• Bring them into your world. Remember, this has to be people you really trust. Start the handoff procedure with them; have them help you plan it. Make sure you include what they can do when you start stepping in again. Also a routine of checking in with you to keep you up to date.

*If you don't have anybody like that, find somebody. Without that person, you can't step away from the business anyway.

What if it is them?

If you notice that it is only one or two people that you act this way towards, it could be that they are not in the right job or in the right company. That absolutely happens and people get fired when they are the problem. And I promise you, the company overall and your leadership skills particularly will be better off if you do not first resort to blaming them. Especially if you are a young company. Check the processes first; Check the systems; Don’t waste a perfectly good failure due to ego.

Above everything else, remember…

Consistent, supportive accountability increases morale, without question.

Do your people know what matters most to you, or are you checking every detail yourself? Take the free Leadership Reputation Snapshot: twelve questions, a few minutes, and one thing to work on this week.

Why do I micromanage my employees?

"Chances are, you micromanage for one of three reasons." "Micromanagement is either because you have control issues, or because you don't." "If you don't have control issues, then you have poor training processes." "The things that matter most to you are not made clear enough to the people doing them."

I'm Steven Cochran. I help business owners develop their leadership skills through Leadership Advisory Groups, One-on-One Coaching, and Workshops.

Join me Thursday, December 10th for the Team Goal Setting Workshop.