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Field Guide: How to Not Micromanage but Still Help the Work Succeed
Hard-earned lessons from someone learning it the hard way.
The space between leading and micromanaging is razor-thin, and most of us only realize we’ve crossed it after the damage is done.
1. Let’s call it for what it is… I’ve been micromanaging.
I didn’t see it that way, though… I thought I was leading. I was certain I was helping. But micromanaging rarely looks like barking orders or standing over someone’s shoulder anymore. It’s sneakier than that. It shows up as an extra Slack message or a late-night comment thread. The “quick thought” that turns into another round of revisions. Or a hovering cursor in a Figma file, rearranging components after a designer thought they were done.
I’ve done that. Maybe you have too.
And when I asked myself why, the answer wasn’t complicated: I care about the work. But I’m also learning something important.
The work doesn’t permit me to choke the team’s process.
Quick gut-check: Have you said any of these in the past two weeks?
- “I’m just going to fix this real quick.”
