I’ve been meaning to write two separate blog posts. One was about a terrific meeting that I had back in November with Mark Dance, a former President at Creo.  The other post was suggested to me by an Impact leader who was looking for advice on how to stop herself for micromanaging her team.  Tonight, I realized how much overlap there happened to be between these two topics:

For my meeting with Mark, one of the questions that I asked him had to do with advice for leading a virtual team for Impact that would be situated all across the country.  However, his response was a powerful one that applied to leadership in any instance, virtual, or not.  Funny enough, his five points are the exact advice that I would pass on for how to prevent micromanagement on a team level:

1. Clear Vision. This is where it starts.  Everyone has to be on the same page.  You need to have a common vision among the team and everyone needs to see the picture that you are trying to paint.

2. Tons of Latitude. You need to trust your team to accomplish the vision.  You must do that by giving them tons of latitude to complete their portion of the project.  Let the team come up with their own direction to get to the final product.

3. Clear Limits. While you are giving the team lots of freedom in the form of latitude, it is just as important to have clear limits and boundaries that are well-communicated.  Having set limits gives proper context to the scope of their direction.

4. Cheer Success.  A leader must be involved in the success of the team.  Celebrate that success and let everyone enjoy that feeling.  It will keep everyone working towards more successful outcomes.

5. Help when Failing.  Although we are trying not to micromanage, we do need to know when to step in.  When someone is struggling or failing, you need to get in there quickly to help them through the rough patches.

That’s it.  Thanks to Mark’s insight, I was provided with a clear and simple way to describe the actions of leaders:

Clear Vision. Tons of Latitude. Limits are Clear. Cheer Success. Help when Failing.

Discussion Points: How relevant are these five points to the companies that you run?  Are any key points missing? Would following these guidelines help a habitual micromanager?