The Burning Question(s)

• Are todays leaders fearful of losing their power and being seen as weak if they let go?
• Are organisations turning a blind eye to a power of micromanagement in order to get the job done?
• Is micromanagement a form of bullying?
• Are leaders desperately wanting to feel safe enough to let go, and allow others to do their job? if you answered YES to this question then read on.

So where do you start?

Start by interrogating your reality. Ask yourself, why are you micromanaging? What stories are you telling yourself about your teammates, their decision-making capabilities, and their limitations? What data have you gathered to form those opinions? Is it accurate or is there more to the story? Can you identify times when they took full ownership without you looking over their shoulder and got remarkable results?

It’s helpful to have a trusted colleague or friend ask you these questions so you can hear your thoughts out loud. If not, writing down and reflecting on your answers will also give you some insights into your biases that could limit the results you’re getting.

Delegate

A powerful concept that at Fierce Conversations teach new and seasoned leaders is the Decision Tree Model. This unique model distributes various levels of autonomy to your colleagues that allow you to factor in:

The complexity and visibility of the responsibility/project

The competency, capacity, and interest of the person receiving the responsibility/project.

Your desire to stay close to the major decision points in the responsibility/project.

Intentionally working through these factors allows you to design your delegation strategy around the goals and priorities of your team, department, and organisation while considering the professional development of each team member you are delegating to.

Want to kick micromanagement in the butt? Then consider these 4 steps

Visualise a tree and divide it into four parts: the leaves, branches, the trunk, and the roots. At the leaf level of this decision tree, you are delegating a new responsibility and providing complete ownership and decision-making rights to the person you are delegating to. You are ready to part with this responsibility and trust the new project owner to make decisions in line with the organisation’s goals.

At the leaf level, you are empowering the “delegatee” with the freedom to run with the new responsibility and project without needing to report back to you. For micromanagers who like control, this level of delegation is one of the most difficult.

One step down is the branch level of decision-making. At this level, you still give autonomy to the “delegatee” to take the project and run with it, but you want to stay informed of key milestones or decisions being made. This allows you to report to our stakeholders and stay in the loop.

The trunk level is used when you are just starting to let go of responsibility. You can take your time to train and coach the delegatee. At this level, you make the final decision, but the delegatee is bringing ideas and solutions to the table as well as a recommendation of what direction they would head towards. This gives you a chance to assess their approach to decision-making before any action is taken.

Most micromanagers delegate at the trunk level. They’re ready to share responsibility with someone but have a need to keep an eye on all decision points before they’re implemented.

The final level of the decision tree is the root level.

This is where you either can’t delegate the responsibility because there are other decision-makers involved, or you simply don’t want to, but you still desire some input from your teammates to gain different perspectives. If most of your team gets delegated responsibilities at the root level you end up limiting productivity, creativity, and engagement in others.

What I find most powerful about utilising the distinct levels of the decision tree is that it creates clarity on how much ownership you want to share when you choose to delegate. When you check in regularly with your teammates, you’re also able to adjust the level of autonomy you share as people develop. This strategically expands the competencies of your team as their roles evolve and become more independent of your coaching in specific areas.

The more you see your teammates making effective decisions and getting impressive results, the less you will feel the need to micromanage.