Connect with Donna on ​LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube ​

Hi Reader,

I was thinking recently about a manager who spent nearly twenty minutes reviewing an email one of his employees had written.

The employee had done a perfectly good job, but before the email could go out, he changed a few sentences, questioned some of the wording, and eventually found himself discussing whether a semicolon should have been a period.

If you had asked him whether he was a micromanager, I’m pretty sure he would have said "no."

From his perspective, he was simply paying attention to the details and making sure the work reflected the standard he expected from his team.

I understand that instinct because most leaders care deeply about the quality of the work their teams produce, especially when they know their own name or reputation may ultimately be attached to it.

The problem comes when being involved in the work slowly turns into needing the work to be done exactly the way you would have done it yourself.

That distinction matters more than we sometimes realize.

When employees know that every email will be rewritten, every decision will be revisited, or every piece of work will be adjusted to match their manager’s personal preference, they naturally begin to rely more heavily on that manager.

Why spend time making a judgment call when you already know someone else is going to make the final decision for you?

After a while, the leader may start noticing that employees are asking more questions, waiting for approval more often, and showing less initiative than they used to.

What can be difficult to recognize is that these behaviors may not be signs that the team lacks confidence or capability. They may simply be responding to the environment that has been created around them.

This is where micromanagement becomes especially frustrating for everyone involved. The employee feels as though they cannot be trusted to do the job they were hired to do, while the manager becomes increasingly overwhelmed because everything seems to require their involvement.

Breaking that cycle does not mean leaders should stop paying attention or lower their standards.

It means becoming much clearer about when your involvement is genuinely necessary and when you need to give someone else enough room to think, make decisions, learn, and occasionally do something differently than you would have done it.

This Is a Great Conversation to Have With Your Leadership Team

Micromanagement is only one of the workplace patterns I explore through my Lunch & Learn sessions and team trainings. We can also dig into delegation, communication, accountability, decision-making, team alignment, and the everyday leadership habits that influence how people work together.

If you have managers who are learning how to step back without becoming disengaged, or experienced leaders who could benefit from examining some of the habits they have picked up along the way, I’d love to bring one of these conversations to your organization.

Reach out to learn more about booking a Lunch & Learn or customized team training for your organization. Book a complimentary consultation with me by tapping the button below.

CLICK HERE TO WORK WITH ME

At your service,

Donna Franklin West, MHA, PMP, CSM

Leadership & Project Alignment Strategist

​www.donnafranklinwest.com​

​
​
​