Did you know that micromanagement can destroy your sales force? By micromanaging your sales staff you’re sending a clear message that you don’t trust them to do the job they were hired to do. Simply put, a micromanager believes they can do the job better than a subordinate.
Because micromanagers get overly involved in the small things, they can ruin the outcome, damaging the business in both the long and short term. A micromanager can’t possibly do the jobs of subordinates successfully along with their own day-to-day managerial responsibilities.
Are You a Micromanager?
You may be saying to yourself that you’re not guilty of micromanagement, but even on a small scale, micromanagement can lower morale and reduce productivity. Do you feel like you have to do it all yourself? Are you reluctant to delegate the task to subordinates for fear that they won’t be as successful as you would be? Do you require all business decisions be funneled to you for approval before implementation? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be a micromanager.
Effects of Micromanagement
Perhaps the most significant impact of working with a micromanager is its effect on staff and overall morale. Because employees feel they are not trustworthy in the eyes of their supervisors, they often disengage. The physical side of a disengaged staff is a decline in the quality and quantity of production deliverables. Micromanagement can also lead to increased staff turnover. When employees fail to gain a greater understanding of the organization and their role within it, by learning new skills and exploring new opportunities, they will often begin to feel stagnant. And that’s when employees begin looking for more challenging jobs.
How to Break the Micromanagement Habit
The easiest and most efficient method to break the micromanagement habit is to hire sales talent that can self-manage. If you’ve been micromanaging for a while, it may be a challenge to trust subordinates. That’s why a verified hiring process is vital. A comprehensive screening methodology will ensure that you bring people into your organization that not only have the talent and passion for succeeding in sales, but the demonstrated track record to back it all up. Now you can relax a little, knowing your sales staff are doing what you need them to do. And no one expects you quit old habits cold turkey. A few brief meetings in the early days when new sales staff are brought in will alleviate any fears you may still hold. You’ll be able to see the results they are generating, and that means you can get back to doing the job you were hired to do!
If you’ve been micromanaging your staff and would like to discuss ways to break the habit, or if you need new sales staff to get things moving again, talk to the team at Morris Bixby. They’ll put their industry-respected methods to work for you to ensure you have the sales staff you need; the sales staff you can trust.