5 Ways to Stop Micromanaging Staff

When owners tell their employees exactly what success means to them in the position the employees hold, they greatly increase the chances of seeing it. And, if being detailed oriented is the most important thing to you, tell your employees.

3. Create space for employees to figure out how to be successful at their jobs.

Many owner/advisors still believe they are "the boss" instead of the trainer. They believe employees should do it their way and walk uphill both ways to do it.

Everybody has different strengths and weaknesses; different talents and abilities. The goal should be for each employee to perform at a high level.

To do that, they'll have to use their abilities and work around their weaknesses. Bosses who force employees to work one way, usually prevent this from happening.

4. It's important, especially in these times, to let employees do their jobs their way.

For one thing, their skills and abilities undoubtedly are different than the owner-advisors: to maximize their contribution, they'll need to figure out how to apply their skills to their job.

Let them. And let them make mistakes along the way. It's the only way to learn their job.

5. It's key to focus on each employee's results, rather than how or when they got the job done.

Reviewing the finished product tells them their work is important, and constructive guidance about how to do it better tells them that you believe they can.

If you give people the autonomy to do their jobs — and the training to succeed — you'll find they are more motivated, more productive and more innovative.

As we have seen throughout the pandemic, people find ways to do their jobs and contribute to the success of a firm that their owner-advisor would never have thought of.

If firm leaders continue to micro-manage, they'll end up doing most of their employees' jobs for them — and not maximizing their own contribution to the success of their firm, thus never fully growing.