If you’re new to supervising employees, one of the easiest traps that you can fall into is micromanagement. Fears about your employees making mistakes or underperforming can make you feel out of control. A common reaction to this is to keep a closer eye on everyone you’re supervising. A micromanaging boss constantly checks in, or worse, hovers right over an employee’s shoulder. It’s impossible to feel trusted or respected when working in this kind of environment. Not only that, but an employee gets less work done if they have to give constant updates or answer questions. Micromanaging can make your productivity suffer as well, because you spend more time watching others work than you do working yourself. Here’s how you can start to build trust with your employees:
Start small.
If you’re afraid to trust your employees with big tasks, why not start with smaller ones? Identify a handful of things that need to get done in your workplace. Ideally, you can think of tasks that aren’t critical if someone makes a mistake. Taking your employees’ talents and skill sets into consideration, delegate the tasks as you see fit. Let everyone have complete freedom when they work, then note how quickly and how thoroughly things get done.
Accept mistakes.
As much as you may wish otherwise, mistakes are inevitable. Micromanaging your employees will not keep mistakes from happening. No one, no matter how skilled or motivated or careful, is perfect. Your role as a manager is to evaluate the mistakes your workers make. You have to determine how big the mistakes are, what they impact, and how to move forward once they’re made.
Get to know your team.
If you’re still struggling with trusting your employees to get their work done, ask yourself how well you know the people who work for you. If you haven’t taken the time to develop a professional relationship with your team, it’s hard to be a hands-off manager. Make an effort to get to know your employees and their strengths. Once you know what they can accomplish, you’ll feel much better about delegating tasks to them.
Trusting your employees starts with hiring great people. At Burnett’s Staffing, we’re tapped into some of the best talent in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. If you’re struggling with managing your team, contact us today for help. We look forward to hearing from you!