How to lead well by avoiding micromanagement

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Micromanagement is a management style whereby a manager closely observes, controls and / or reminds the work of their subordinates or employees.*

This formal definition is full of negative behaviours and language, and can lead to negative impact on people and performance. 

When we look at people who are micromanaged and under that level of scrutiny, they start to lose their energy, confidence and focus and move into protection mode to demonstrate their self worth. In this state, your energy is not focused on the things we need teachers to be; thinking freely, creatively, problem-solving, in-flow and executing. 

So how do we get to that positive state? We move from micromanagement to leadership and here’s how…

7 foundational behaviours as a leader

1. Take the time to identify the vision (yourself)

Do you really know what your vision looks like? Do you know what you want to activate? Are you looking to create a collective vision, or is it your vision that you want to inspire others with? Have you understood what you want as an individual? If not, it might come back to bite you in the backside and it will lead into micromanagement due to a lack of clarity and self-assurance.

2. Identify the priorities needed to achieve these goals

Do you know the priorities to actually deliver that vision? Do you take time out of your context daily to identify, `if that is my goal and my vision, do I know what I need to do to get there?’ Making it happen is the next step but again, clarity upfront is key.

3. Aim to clearly understand and explain why something needs to be done

If you can’t explain it, why are you asking someone to do it?

There is great achievement and fulfilment in the need to understand what you are doing in order to have motivation and to create buy-in. If you don’t know yourself why the task exists or needs completing, can you really consider it a value-add? Is it really fair or beneficial to ask someone else to do it?

4. Know the benefits of trust and how to build it

Have you picked up some of the traits of micromanagement? Are you starting to identify that you’re actually being micromanaged? Have you just stepped into a new role and you are looking to develop your own leadership skills as a head of department, for example?  

Whatever your scenario, when you build a trusting team, they enjoy responsibility. People want to see their work contribute to the wider vision and their community so give the trust first. It is unbelievable what comes back when you give staff that trust, sense of control, autonomy and freedom.

5. Have regular, clear and honest discussions

As a team, make clear discussions on what your goals are the norm, so that everyone can be involved in it. Use your agendas to identify:

• What we’re doing
• Where we’re going
• Why we’re doing it
• When we’re doing it
• What everyone’s role is within this so they feel included and are empowered to contribute to those decisions. 

Communicate with people by having adult conversations around managing priorities. Make a change by initiating that conversation yourself. You’ll start to gain autonomy in managing your own day and demonstrate what you are contributing, plus you’ll start to see it from others.

It’s not about chucking out a load of orders, it’s about taking accountability and being clear on that vision so people can see it and feel it, rather than just be told to do it.

6. Assign agreed actions together during those discussions

Discussing together what actions need to be taken to help everyone involved achieve their goals, helping them think it through for themself and making them feel safe to share their thoughts are all techniques that help you become a leader and not a manager.

Using that ability to articulate why you’re doing what you’re doing, why it is important that these things are contributing to the wider vision, and making it an agreed action helps people feel a sense of control to make decisions. They feel ownership over how they’re a part of achieving that collective vision. 

7. Put those discussions and actions against agreed timelines

Set agreed actions against timelines that consider capacity, other assigned priorities (from someone else or themselves), and ask, do we agree this is something important that we need to focus on right now or at another time? Then plan accordingly. 

My seven foundational behaviours as a leader are essentially methods of organisation and planning that enable everyone to be a part of the final goal, which goes back to the original point of identifying the vision. 

That sounds more impactful than micro management doesn’t it?

3 ways to show leadership now:

1. Make data meaningful. In your school, do you track your attitude to learning? Add it to your Learning Characteristics on our pupil progress tracker. You can make it bespoke to whatever your focus is so you can shape your targets, monitor your curriculum’s impact and engagement, track individual students’ overall subject performance, adjust lesson plans, drive pupil progress by comparing effort vs attainment – providing appropriate intervention which has real impact.
2. Have your say. Complete our quick empowering education survey to let us know the areas you need most support in and how. Our panel of education leaders will use this to build a useful hive of helpful information and classroom resources.
3. Take control of your data and understand the human side of it. Not using Pupil Progress yet? Let’s chat about your needs and we can show you a quick demo of how the system works and help you create buy-in. We can even upload the data for you to kick things off, effortlessly. Take a look at what educators using our student progress tracker say on EdTech and choose a time that suits you for that call.

By Brett Griffin, Founder and CEO of Pupil Progress.

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