New Supervisor? Your First Mistake May Be Micromanaging

How can you know if you are a micromanager before you find out hard way? Micromanaging means “overseeing” the details of work assignments given to your employees, usually doing so in a meddlesome manner. That's a pretty simple definition. Although micromanaging affects employee morale, its disruption to the professional development of employees is perhaps its greatest harm. The goal of the micromanaging supervisor is to have work done correctly and productively, yet the opposite usually occurs because everything must pass through the micromanager. The other consequence of micromanaging is the undermining of employee initiative. Why take initiative when the penalty is aggravation? Most micromanaging supervisors have difficulty with time management and feel uncomfortable with the free time produced by effective delegation. They often don’t understand the difference between delegation and simple assignment of tasks. Experiment with letting go. Read about delegation and its powerful use in supervision.