New managers, overzealous managers, and entrepreneurs at the helm of start-up companies often find themselves reluctant to ease their grip on the steering wheel. But why invest high energy in your staffing and training efforts if you can’t place your trust in your teams? Effective leadership requires faith and delegation, and you’ll get more out of your employees if you step back and give them the breathing room they need to do their jobs.
If your micromanagement tendencies are starting to hold your company back, here are a few tips that can help you distribute responsibility without losing control over project outcomes.
Distribution and Delegation: Getting the Most Out of Your Project Teams
1. Hold weekly meetings and keep them efficient, short, and organized.
There are two key rules to effective weekly meetings: Don’t skip them, and don’t waste them. One perfectly executed status meeting per week can keep everyone on the same page regarding priorities and deadlines. Just make sure your weekly meetings don’t devolve into circular conversations that allow key members to tune out. Meetings are designed to strengthen productivity, not erase an hour from the working day. All team members should leave with clear takeaways.
2. Be specific about deliverables.
Team members should always know exactly what’s on their plates between one weekly meeting and the next. To control energy sprawl, keep each project short and divide long term goals into actionable items lasting only a few weeks each. Each project should have a clear beginning and end, and deliverables should be understood at the outset.
3. Share the big picture.
As far as possible, share your vision of the company’s future and make sure team members understand your long term goals. This may be the most effective way to help team members manage themselves. Any step that engages employees and encourages them to care about the project as much as you do is a positive step.
4. Simplify with standardization and templates.
If you find yourself sending team members off on similar missions again and again, don’t reinvent the wheel. And don’t make them reinvent it either. Recognize steps that repeat over and over and simplify these steps by developing templates and protocols. Google documents and sophisticated project management software can help you identify step-by-step processes and determine how long each step should take.
5. Learn.
Don’t make the same mistakes over and over. Take lessons away from every project, share what you learn with your team, and make sure they do the same.
6. Keep things fun.
When employees are having a good time, they’re engaged, motivated, and dedicated. And few things are more enjoyable then shared project success. Keep your team focused on the positive and give them a moment to celebrate each victory.
Could your projects benefit from a little less micromanagement? Are you looking for ways to increase independence in your staff so you can focus your attention on larger goals? Turn to the Houston HR professionals at Expert Staffing. Put our years of staffing agency experience to work and watch your company grow.