When you oversee an office space, you are ultimately responsible for all the output that comes from your employees and out of your office. This often leads to a lot of stress, anxiety, and overbearing management styles that do more harm than good for your workspace. When you are managing an office, you need to oversee the workflow and the output, but without stepping on the toes of your employees and letting them shine and do their work how they know best. Here are a few tips to help you avoid micromanaging your office space.
Clearly Communicate Expectations
The first tactic that can prevent you from micromanaging your employees at work is to clearly communicate your expectations. When your expectations are not communicated explicitly to your employees, you will find that you are continually giving notes, ideas, and micromanaging your employees work, not because they can’t do it right, but because you haven’t told them what you want specifically. If you communicate your expectations clearly and directly, upfront, your employees will be able to deliver what you want without having to always berate down their necks.
Take Advantage of Visual Management
Another great tool at your disposal to help you avoid micromanaging in your office is to take advantage of visual management. When you rely exclusively on words to communicate with your employees, whether written or spoken, they can begin to feel smothered by your management style. It also alienates visual learners and those who gather information quicker visually rather than verbally and aurally. Pictograms are simple visual representations of information and are great for communicating information in a quick, efficient manner. After all, a picture is far less overbearing than a pop in visit and discussion.
Trust in Your Employees
The final tip that might help you avoid micromanaging your office space is to have trust in your employees. As a manager, you are likely involved in the hiring process for the employees in your office, or at the very least are aware of the qualifications and strong points of your employees. Because of this, you should have trust in your employees that they don’t need you to babysit them to accomplish their work. Trust that your employees will succeed and will come to you for help or guidance if they need it.
There are few things that can be as annoying in the workplace as micromanaging. When you micromanage, you hurt employee morale and often find decreases in efficiency and output. Use these three techniques to avoid micromanaging in your office space for success across the board.
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