In today’s labour market one of the main reasons someone will leave their job is because of their manager. It’s been said that people don’t quit their jobs they quit their boss. If you’re like most people you might not even notice what you’re doing is bothering other people until they tell you, or if you find your workforce turning over a little more than you might be comfortable with. One of the biggest reasons people leave is because of micromanagement.

So let’s talk about what you can do to avoid becoming one of those managers.

1. Realize that you’re not the only that can do things in the office

That’s what you hired people for. You might think, “It’s going to take me longer to explain it than it will to do it so I might as well just get it done.” Whether you realize it or not what you’re actually saying is “I don’t think it’s worth my time to let them try because they won’t get it right anyways.” The fact of the matter is that if you let them try and they do it right it frees up the time you would take to do it in the future. Remember that you hired people so that they could do those things for you. If you don’t let them, you might as well do everything yourself.

2. Don’t sweat the details

The biggest difference between being a good manager and being a micromanager is the “micro.” While that might seem pretty obvious it can be easier said than done. Letting go of the little, detail oriented tasks and beginning to focus on higher level problems can be hard. The key to overcoming this is to do it little by little. Try going through your TO DO list and figuring out what easy tasks you can pass off to your team mates, as time goes on you’ll find it easier to let go of the small stuff and work on the big things.

3. Focus on what you need

When it comes to the work that your people are actually doing for you make sure that you know exactly what you’d like the outcome to be and communicate that to them. However that should be everything you need to communicate. Don’t worry about how it gets done. You may think that you know the best way to do something but until someone else shows you that they have a better way you’ll never know. There’s nothing wrong with suggesting how you might do it, but when it comes to actual execution its best to let your employees do it how they like, as long as you get what you want when you want it does the how really matter?

4. Trust your people

The biggest reason someone might micromanage is usually because they’re scared of failure. Instead of hovering over your employees shoulder to make sure that they get things done successfully, try telling them what success looks like. The more autonomy you give your staff the more likely it is that they will be happy at work. Additionally when you trust your people to do their work usually more gets done than when you micromanage them.
Remember no one wants to be micromanaged, just as no one wants to be seen as a micromanager. Doing your best to focus on the big picture, rather than the details will keep you on the right track, and help yyou be the best manager or employer that you can be.