Hey, micromanager! How do you like this new remote structure?

It’s only Week Two.

Your team works from home.

The projects are still the same. (Well, maybe not entirely.)

What’s changed though is how much oversight you have on your team. And you are struggling with that, aren’t you?

You set up recurring online meetings. You share status updates, chitchat about the virus, meet the pets, and hear the kids playing in the background.

But at the end of the call, when the videos go off, and your kitchen office is quiet again, you sense that something is not right. Like something is out of your control.

Feel that? Do you know what that is?

It’s withdrawals from micromanagement.

Ouch!

Your team being out of sight, you feel like a fish out of water. That’s because you are a micromanager.

Look, I know this is a habit that’s hard to break. You might say that you are a “control freak” or that you just like to keep an eye on your team, but those are poor excuses.

First, know that micromanaging affects your team’s morale because it sets a tone of mistrust—and it thereby limits your team’s capacity to grow.

Also, it distracts you from focusing on more essential matters that fall within your areas of excellence. What a loss!

So, for the sake of work relationships and your team, this would be a good time to change.

Here are a few ways to deal with this:

Self-Reflection

I hope this doesn’t surprise you, but unless you develop an awareness of why you micromanage and understand where this is coming from, you won’t make much progress.

From coaching clients, I have learned that, most often, this stems from insecurity.

Relax, I’m not saying you are an insecure person, only that you might be afraid it will reflect poorly on you if your team doesn’t do something exactly the way you would do it.

Or you might be worried that you’ll look out of touch if you don’t immerse yourself in the details.

So, you tend to overcompensate.

Here is an important point to remember though:

Your projects, products, etc. are not YOU!

If a project fails, it doesn’t mean YOU are a failure. If you let go of this false equation, you can relax, adjust, correct, coach, mentor, and delegate.

Keep that in mind, and it’ll be a big step forward in dealing with your addiction.