Leaders, Let them get on with it!

One of the major challenges for many leaders is, how much do you need to supervise your team? Lots of us have had that overpowering and micro-managing boss, and I bet most of us hated it. So how do we avoid this situation.

As the leader of our team it is important we set the goals and give our team members all the information they need. Then comes the hard part for us, how do we carefully step back and let them get on with doing the job?

One effective way to do this is to brief your team of the goal and expectations, then we need to set the team to work. Next look at the time allocated to the task and split it into three. These three time periods are for you, to check back with your team and the progress towards the goal.

After the first period has expired, casually check back with the team and its overall progress, check to see if anyone is completely lost or doing the task in an inappropriate way. If the task is coming along then maybe a few words of encouragement but other than that leave them alone to complete the task.

After the second period is up again quick check in to see that time and quality are on your side, again address any under-performers. At this check it is critical to assess that the team will make the goal.

At the final time period, check the task is done to your satisfaction and give praise to those who have done a great job.

By being careful about our supervision, we as leaders can ensure that our teams meet their goals and we aren't in our teams face and allow them the space to get on and do their jobs. Our teams will appreciate we take the time to check and correct any early problems without micro-managing our teams.