How to avoid micromanaging your remote workers

Maybe your company has been fully remote for years. Maybe you didn’t let your first employee work from home until March 2020. Either way, the performance of your team depends on your ability to communicate expectations without overstepping boundaries.

As an employer, it’s essential that you empower your employees and trust their expertise. 

The benefits of remote work are clear. However, it can be tough to keep track of your team without getting too involved.

Being able to recognize when you’re overstepping from guiding into micromanaging is crucial for your remote team’s autonomy and creativity. 

But how do you adjust your management style without compromising on quality and oversight?

Here’s a guide on self-reflecting and adjusting your management approach to create a more autonomous and productive remote work environment.

People have families, hobbies, and better things to do than sit in traffic for several hours a week to commute to an office. Businesses that fail to embrace remote work culture could see their best workers leave for more accommodating options.

Increased acceptance of remote work means managers and business owners must learn to manage remote teams more effectively. That requires striking the right balance between offering enough support and guidance without excessively checking in. 

Right now, not many leaders have deep experience in distributed management — and those who do sometimes find it hard to break the habit of micromanaging. 

If you want your team to deliver the performance benefits for which remote work is famous, start by addressing the way you manage your remote employees.

What are the signs of a micromanager?

Micromanaging is when a boss or manager tries to control every little part of their employees’ work. This tendency to oversee each minor detail becomes even more tempting when managing remote teams since the manager is not in the same room as them.

If you’re a manager, here are some signs that you might be micromanaging your remote team:

1. Frequent check-ins

Do you find yourself constantly asking your team for updates, even on small tasks? 

If you’re sending tons of emails or messages throughout the day asking about progress, that might be a sign that you’re micromanaging.

2. Over-detailed task management

Reflect on how you assign tasks. Are you giving extremely specific instructions for every little thing, leaving no room for your team’s input? Micromanagers want to know and control every step of their team’s work.

3. Not delegating enough

Consider whether you’re holding onto tasks instead of trusting your team to handle them. If you feel the need to be involved in every small task, that’s a sign that you’re not delegating effectively.

4. Constant feedback and criticism

Giving your team feedback is healthy. But too much of it, especially if it’s mostly negative or related to tiny details, is a sign of micromanaging. 

This not only undermines your team’s confidence but can also make it seem like you are always trying to find something wrong.

How to address micromanaging tendencies

If you’re a manager and suspect that you might be showing some signs of micromanagement, then it’s important to find a balance between guiding your team and giving them space to work independently.

Here are some steps to help you address and overcome micromanaging tendencies:

1. Acknowledge the issue

The first step is to accept that you might be micromanaging. This self-awareness is key to making positive changes in your management style.

2. Understand the impact

Reflect on how your micromanaging is affecting your team. Is it reducing their creativity and overall job performance? According to a recent survey, 85% of employees who feel micromanaged say it has reduced their morale, and 71% say it has interfered with their job performance.

3. Set clear expectations

Make sure your team knows what is expected of them. Clearly outline goals, deadlines, and the standards you're looking for so that there’s no need for constant check-ins.

4. Trust your team and their abilities

Recognize and appreciate the skills and expertise your team members bring to the table. Trusting their abilities allows them to take ownership of their work and grow.

With Remote’s HRIS, you can see everything you need to know about each employee and their skills. Having all your employee data and documents in one place means you’ll feel at ease knowing that your team of remote workers has the right skills and qualifications to perform their jobs well.

5. Delegate effectively

Learn to assign responsibilities and trust your team to handle them. Resisting the urge to oversee every detail is crucial for effective delegation.

6. Focus on communication

Keep your remote working communication channels open. Encourage your team to share updates and challenges, but don’t ask them to report on every bit of work they do.

Remote’s HRIS encourages clear and concise communication without the need for excessive reporting. From requesting time off to submitting expenses, both you and your employees will be in the know and in sync all the time. Say goodbye to back-and-forth emails.

7. Use technology wisely

Use technology not to keep a constant eye on your team but to streamline processes and facilitate work. Online tools and software should help productivity, not be a means for excessive control.

Remote is all about making your job easier, not about watching your team's every move. It brings everything you need to manage your team into one simple platform so that you can say goodbye to juggling different tools and save both time and money.

8. Give continuous feedback

Offer regular, constructive feedback focused on growth and improvement rather than just pointing out mistakes. Positive reinforcement and recognition of achievements are just as important as constructive criticism. 

Continuous feedback encourages a culture of constant learning and improvement.

What your remote work program should look like

Remote-optional companies rarely offer a great experience for distributed teams. When you reluctantly allow remote work but fail to embrace it in your company culture, people who choose to work outside the office often feel disconnected from their peers and from advancement opportunities. 

To go properly remote, you must ensure that remote work feels less like a concession and more like an investment in the well-being of your workers.

Offer benefits that facilitate easier remote work, such as ergonomic office furniture, wellness stipends, and nicer electronics. Employees who carve out niches in their own homes to create home offices save their employers money on real estate. The least you can do is use some of those savings to ensure your remote team members have everything they need to do their jobs well.

Tools and perks don’t just apply to individuals. Your company also needs great remote work tools, such as programs like Notion or Slack, to facilitate communication among teams. The more your teams (co-working and distributed) buy into your communication programs, the better your odds of developing a truly remote-first work culture.

Communicating expectations and remote best practices

With your infrastructure in place, set the groundwork for your remote communication strategy by embracing asynchronous workflows. Remote workplaces function efficiently because the people within them understand how to document everything they do, how to make clear handoffs, and how to assume the best of their colleagues.

At Remote, we follow asynchronous communication strategies to make it easier for our global team to collaborate on projects. If we held more unnecessary meetings or demanded that team members work on the same projects at the same time, our efficiency would take a significant tumble. Instead, we insist that our team members do all their work with asynchronous tactics in mind to ensure nothing slips between the cracks.

First-time remote team leaders and people who are not deeply familiar with remote work best practices may have some difficulty making the switch. Traditional offices have taught us to waste time in meetings and to judge the productivity of others by the hours they spend logged in. In a remote-first culture, those old-school expectations should give way to more progressive, more effective communication standards.

Costly remote micromanagement mistakes to avoid

You will get some things wrong as you communicate with your remote team. Don’t feel bad; everyone does sometimes. You may assign blame to the wrong person or get frustrated by the unfamiliar. Practice the art of self-forgiveness so you can better handle the unique challenges that come with remote team leadership. Communication is more an exercise in trust than a series of timelines for email follow-ups.

Challenge the assumptions you make about others’ motivations. When we can’t see people, we sometimes assume certain things about why they act the way they do. In a remote work environment, this can quickly create resentment if not held in check.

No one goes to work to do a bad job on purpose. Don’t install spyware or tracking programs on your team members’ computers. Either you trust your team or you don’t, and if you can’t trust the people on whom you depend to keep your company moving, you have bigger problems than simple communication.

Tracking mouse movements or screen sleep time only serves to make workers resent the leaders who enforce such draconian rules. If you insist on micromanagement, you will only succeed in learning which of your employees are creative enough to outsmart whatever barriers you put in place. Judge performance not by arbitrary metrics of hours worked but by productivity and effectiveness.

When you make commitments to your team members, keep those commitments. If you tell someone she has full control over her own hours, don’t be upset if her schedule doesn’t remain consistent with everyone else’s. You cannot offer conveniences you do not expect your employees to use.

Eliminating micromanagement in remote-first businesses requires leaders to be more proactive in establishing replicable communication standards and in trusting team members to do things the right way. No amount of tracking software and no number of check-in meetings can replace goodwill and mutual respect. To avoid micromanaging your remote workers, you must view your team members as people worthy of respect and honesty.

FAQs

Is micromanaging employees illegal?

Micromanaging isn’t illegal, but it can lead to a negative work environment. Plus, it could become a legal issue if it leads to discrimination or harassment.

How do you control remote workers?

Rather than “controlling” your remote workers, focus on guiding them. Set clear expectations, use technology for streamlined communication, trust your team, and provide support without excessive oversight.

What is the psychology behind micromanaging?

Micromanaging often stems from a manager’s need for control and fear of uncertainty. It can indicate a lack of trust in the team’s abilities or the manager’s struggle to delegate effectively.

Empower your remote team and say goodbye to micromanagement

Ready to let go of micromanaging? Remote provides the tools and support to help you lead with confidence and trust.

Our HRIS system centralizes HR tasks in one platform, making it easy to manage your team without needing to check in constantly. It also streamlines onboarding, offboarding, and document handling, saving you time and effort. 

Plus, our self-service options let your team members manage their own tasks, promoting independence and trust. That way, you can focus on effective communication and supporting your team rather than micromanaging them. 

For more details, book a demo with our team, and let’s talk.