As a manger, there is a natural inclination to focus on every detail, give your input on every decision, and scrutinize your staff closely. And while these are not bad instincts, your habit of micromanaging your staff may actually be compromising their efforts and yours. Here’s why.

You Will Get More Done

Spending all your time focused on every little decision doesn’t leave many hours in the day for you to focus on your own work. If you can take a step back and trust your staff to complete their tasks and stay focused on their own work, you can focus on the responsibilities that a manager is really there for – making big-picture decisions, devising management and leadership strategies, and serving as a liaison with upper management.

Your Employees Will Be More Engaged

Micromanaging has a direct impact on employee morale. It just makes sense that an employee with a manager constantly looking over his shoulder would be less motivated, and would turn the focus of their job into meeting only your immediate expectations. Give your staff the space to work on their own and you will likely be surprised just how much they get done in a day/week/month.

You Will Identify the Leaders in Your Organization

When you move on to a new position and your role has to be filled, how will you know if anyone in your staff is qualified if you never give them the space to make their own decisions? When your staff has to lead each other, choose between competing options, and deal with the consequences of their mistakes, the true leaders will begin to stand out in the bunch.

You Will Improve Retention

We already mentioned the link between micromanaging and engagement. That leads directly to turnover, which forces you to begin a recruiting process that can be long, expensive, and disruptive. In almost every case it’s better to hold on to the staff you already have, and you will have more success at that if you’re not scrutinizing their every decision.

You Will Support Innovation

When you micromanage you basically create an echo chamber in which your voice and ideas are the only ones present. Giving your staff more room to collaborate and make their own decisions introduces new ideas into the conversation, and that’s always a positive. Where those ideas will lead is impossible to predict, but one of those conversations could spark your next big breakthrough.

Part of overcoming your micromanaging tendencies is leading a team that you can trust. And that requires a better recruitment strategy. Begin building your ideal team by working with the IT staffing experts at RennerBrown.