One big mistake that founders and managers do is regarding “micromanagement”.

This is an overloaded word that can easily misguide.

(a small thread)

1/ I’ve seen managers absolutely scared of giving detailed feedback to their teams because they’re afraid of coming across as “micro managers”.

That’s not just harmful to the company but also to the team too — feedback is how everyone improves.

2/ You have to realise that the amount of attention to detail needs to be directly proptional to how valuable / core is the work to your company’s existence.

The more important something is, the more obsessive, detailed you *have* to be as a manager.

3/ for example, as a founder, if you’re not micromanaging employee reviews, or product or brand positioning, you’re doing it wrong.

These things can make or break your company — and being hands off, not “micromanaging” them is a potential disaster.

4/ Ultimately, it’s about “skin-in-the-game”.

If something is critical for your company, you absolutely want to own it up.

5/ Unfortunately, this tendency can backfire if you don’t know what’s critical for the company.

You end up becoming involved in almost everything and that’s when “micromanagement” backfires because there aren’t enough hours in the day to do that.

6/ You really don’t have to be involved in everything under the sun but you absolutely have to be deeply involved in whatever is critical to the future of the company.

7/ Spending time sorting such priorities is a good investment.

After that, you can “micromanage” with confidence (and not be confused when someone accuses you of doing that, because you’d be “micromanaging on purpose”)

8/ Of course, it can lead to some people complaining or quitting.

But chances of that are low if: a) you’re respectful; b) your feedback actually helps your team; c) you explain why you’re so deeply involved.

9/ that’s it!

Hope you liked it.

Feel free to tag your founder / manager friends who may benefit from this thread.