As a small business owner, it is natural for you to want to be as involved in your company’s operations as possible. Whether out of personal interest and curiosity, or just natural paranoia that something won’t go right if you’re not involved, it would not be a great shock for you to take an exceptionally active role in managing your small business. However, there is a fine line between being an active, proactive and caring manager and one that micromanages. While there are certainly some situations where it would be beneficial to be especially involved in assignments, in general, micromanagement is a terrible management tactic,and one that is likely to alienate your employees in the short and long run.
According to The Great Office Escape, micromanagers are actually some of the most dangerous types of managers around, particularly at small businesses. One of the hallmarks of running a small business is the level of intimacy and closeness that every employee feels with each other. While, on the one hand, micromanagement would seem to feed into this, on the other hand, it’s actually a great way to make employees feel bad about themselves, while annoying them in the process.
Instead, according to Inc. Magazine, good managers displaythe appropriate amount of attention on their employees. There are several factors that contribute toward walking this fine line. For instance, regularly soliciting employees’ advice and opinions on assignments and broad goals is a good way to create the opposite effect of micromanagement. The key is to empower employees to work and think on their own, and asking their opinions is a good start. At the same time, managers should be available toemployees. Leaving your door open and making yourself readily available lets employees know that you are interested in their work and care deeply about them – but not too much.
How have some of your employees dealt with unwanted micromanagement in the past?
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