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How does one stay involved in a project without micromanaging their team?
How can a manager stay involved in a project without micromanaging their team? What tips do you have to offer?
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6 Answers
Set milestones with progress reports. These can be short informal meetings unless deadlines are not being met.
If you, as a manager, are going to insist on being involved every step of the way, then there's no point in delegating it. Just do it yourself.
Make sure you have the right team and that they understand what you need from them. Define how, and what, you want to receive regarding project status. Meet with the team to hear what support they need on a regular basis. If this is a big project split teams into sub-teams to avoid long meetings.
If the team are not meeting expectations establish what needs fixing and fix it quickly. Failure to do this will inevitably lead a period of painful micromanagement.
This is an issue that all managers face and the process tends to be as described in the previous posts. What is important for the manager is to be "on top" of the status as opposed to involved in all of the details. If the status reports are brief, deal with measurable milestones, are timely and are not overly burdensome for the people doing (or managing) the work, things tend to run smoother.
What management needs is an early warning system to avoid or navigate around problems.
If managers can see themselves as Obstacle Removers and Resource Providers for the other people, their job becomes easier and ultimately more rewarding.
Great question Caty. I've found it helpful to create an agreement with the team as to what will be done, by whom and by when. Then you can just let people do their thing and report their results by the deadline. At that point you can all re-evaluate how things are going and make any adjustments. The agreement doesn't have to be complex or formal, it's just so that everyone is on the same page and understands what's expected. It's also positive to encourage people to work on the part of the project that best fits their interests and abilities.
1. Be clear with your staff of your expectations.
2. Set milestones and put those milestones on a timeline.
3. Meet regularly to discuss progress.
4. Make changes and/or get involved when necessary.
If you are someone that like to be in control (like me), this will be very hard to accomplish. Overtime, it will become easier. Key though is always add a little fluff in your schedule (if possible), for mistakes or unforeseen issues.
If you need to micromanage then
a) you have the wrong managerial skill sets
b) your team has the wrong project management skill sets
c) your project manager doesn't have the correct skill sets.
Other wise Bruce's answer is very good.
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