5 Things You Are Micro-Managing, But Shouldn’t Be

As an entrepreneur, it is probably hard to not micro-manage something going on in your business. After all, it's your baby and you want to make sure that everything goes as planned, correctly, and even exceeds expectations. While all that is understandable, you may be having a counterproductive effect if you are micro-managing particular areas of your business.

Letting go

There are some areas of your business that you will have to learn to let go of if you really want to see growth and have success. This may be hard to do, at least at first, but once you give it a try, you will probably be quite pleased with the results and feel more comfortable the more you do it.

Here are five things that you should never micro-manage in your business:

1. Creativity personnel

One of the fastest ways to stifle creativity is to have someone try and micro-manage it. If you want your creative employees to be come up with great ideas, give them some room. This is an area where you need to get out of your own way so that the creativity can flow.

2. Contractors

Whether you hire contractors to work in-house or you outsource, don't waste your time micro-managing them. Instead, focus on hiring qualified professionals in the first place, so you can feel confident the job is being done right. This is especially true when it comes to creative-types, like graphic designers. They are the experts, so you should let them put their skills to use for your company.

3. Delegated tasks

If you have chosen to delegate tasks to people, great. It can free up your time, so you can do more important tasks. But if you follow it up by micro-managing them to get those tasks done, you have defeated your purpose. Any task that you feel can be delegated should also be free from micro-management.

4. Sales teams

If you want to create stress and pressure with your sales team then micro-manage them. But if you want them to do their jobs well and sell, then simply give them the training and tools they need and back off. Sales people are generally working on a commission-based structure and therefore driven for the end results. You should not micromanage every step they make in trying to get the sale. Instead gauge their sales successes.

5. Administrators

Administrators work at making others people's jobs easier. If you are micromanaging them you are bringing back work to yourself that this person was hired to do. The end result is more work for you, and more frustration for the employee.

There are many reasons why you should avoid micro-managing, as you probably can imagine. It often makes people feel upset and defensive, and you will have the opposite impact that you are seeking. Anyone you have hired and made a part of your team should have the benefit of the doubt that they are qualified for the position for which you have hired them. And if they are not, then it may be time to re-think having them as an employee because they are costing you more, since you feel that you must micro-manage what they are doing.

Thanks to Mike Michalowicz / Open Forum / American Express Company
http://www.openforum.com/articles/5-things-you-are-micro-managing-but-shouldnt-be?intlink=us-openf-nav-ymal-t9a7pv4r6