There’s no finer line an entrepreneur walks than that between management and micromanagement. Micromanagement is often considered one of the cardinal sins of business. However, it stems from a set of perfectly understandable, indeed admirable, impulses. People micromanage because they care. After all, your business is more than just a job, and more than just a living. It’s your livelihood; its values embody your own and your brand’s reputation is tied intrinsically to yours. Thus, while you get to bask in the glory of your business’ every success, you take its failures hard. A little too hard, in fact. Nonetheless, your personal investment and passion will no doubt drive you to involve yourself in every single facet of your business’ operations. While this is noble, it can be extremely detrimental to your employees, your business, and even your health. Here are 4 dangers of micromanaging your business you should try to avoid.
You want a workforce of autonomous employees, not drones
Develop a rigorous recruitment process to ensure that you’re hiring people who are intelligent and capable. Make sure you are using your employees’ skills towards their personal growth and the growth of the business. Great entrepreneurs can communicate with their staff the skills and knowledge they need to improve. This may include engaging their creative problem-solving skills to operate autonomously. Some entrepreneurs, however, may take over themselves if their employees’ efforts don’t match their standards. The “never mind, I’ll do it!” factor is understandable but can be crippling to your employees.
You could stunt your employees’ development
It would be truly selfish of you not to nurture your employees with regular training and continuing professional development. Not only is this good business sense, it’s an effective retention strategy. Micromanagement, however, doesn’t allow employees to grow in this way. It prevents them from engaging while it insulates them from risk. They know that if they get it wrong you’ll wade in to save the day so they won’t feel the need to learn to get it right. This will provide a serious impediment later in their career. Instead, make an effort to determine the best knowledge transfer strategy for your team. You owe it to them, and to your business.
Your attentions are better focused elsewhere
As the business owner, it’s your job to focus on the strategic management of your enterprises, marshaling your forces in the march towards sustainable growth. This involves a very particular set of skills including data analysis and creative problem-solving. You simply cannot do this if your working day is spent on the shop floor solving problems for your employees that they haven’t been empowered to solve themselves.
You can only do so much before you burn out
By all means, be there to offer help and support to your employees when they need it. But if you try and do everyone’s job for them, it’s only a matter of time before you burn out. Not only will all your frantic dashing around take a physical toll, you’ll become crippled with panic at the thought of taking a holiday or even a rest day. Instead, you should work on developing your staff so that you feel safe and confident in their skills and expertise.
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