How to Stop Micromanaging and Start Building Trust

“We love a micromanager.”

Said no employee ever.

“Micromanagement” has always been a subject of debate in the office.

According to SHRM, 84% of U.S. workers say poorly trained managers create unnecessary work and stress.

While this can stem from inexperience, the need to control everything an employee works on ultimately creates tension within the relationship.

And this lack of trust ultimately fuels the need to micromanage.

Instead, focus on building a culture of trust and reliability.

You’ll want to create a culture where your employees can trust you enough to seek your help.

Focus on the following:

• Be judgment-free. Don’t penalize or judge any mistakes or missteps an employee makes on a piece of work.
• Coach, don’t control. You don’t want to control the situation and solve their problems but rather coach them back on track by asking questions that help employees think critically.
• Offer assistance. Reinforce your availability to offer guidance when something is off or if they need an extra pair of eyes.

If your employees need help and trust you enough, they’ll go to you whenever there’s a roadblock.

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P.S.

​Have you ever accepted a new role to find out it wasn't what you were expecting?​

Business Insider reached out to get my thoughts on their work-advice column "What's Working?" where we go over this exact topic.

We talk about being direct with your hiring manager and how to approach reshaping your role to what you were expecting.