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You're Not a Micromanager. You're a Gap-Filler.
You know that task you keep checking on?
The one where you ask "did you send that?" or "did you remember to include...?" or you just quietly fix it yourself before the client sees it?
You're not micromanaging. You're filling a gap that shouldn't exist.
The Micromanaging Trap
Every time you:
Check their work before it goes out
Ask "did you follow up on...?"
Redo the parts they got wrong
Step in because "it's easier if I just do it"
You think you're being controlling.
You're not. You're compensating for a missing step in their process.
The task isn't broken. The process is.
Why They Keep Getting It Wrong
Your team member isn't incompetent. They're guessing.
They don't know:
Which step matters most
What "done" actually looks like
The one thing you always check for
When to ask versus when to decide
So they do their best. Get it 80% right. And you fix the other 20%.
Every. Single. Time.
Michael Gerber said it decades ago: "The system runs the business. The people run the system."
No system? They're running on hope and memory. And you're the safety net.
The 30-Minute Fix
Pick one task you micromanage. Just one.
The quote they always miss something on. The invoice that's never quite right. The follow-up that doesn't happen unless you remind them.
Tell the person doing it: "Write down exactly how you do this task. Every single step. What you actually do, not what you think you should do."
Give them 20 minutes. They document their actual process.
You read it. Takes 10 minutes.
You'll see it immediately:
The step they skip
The part they guess at
The decision point where they choose wrong
The thing they have to ask you about every time
That gap is why you micromanage.
Example: The Quote That's Always Wrong
Sarah's admin sends quotes. Sarah checks every one before it goes out.
Why? "She forgets things."
Sarah asked her admin to write down her process:
Customer calls, I take down their details
I fill out the quote template
I send it
Sarah read it and saw the gaps immediately:
No step for checking which service tier applies
No step for adding travel time
No step for checking if they're an existing customer (different pricing)
No step for logging it in the CRM
Her admin wasn't forgetting things. She was never told to do them.
Sarah added four steps:
Customer calls, I take down their details
Check customer history in CRM - existing or new?
I fill out the quote template using the pricing sheet (link in shared drive)
Add travel time if job is 30+ minutes away (use travel calculator)
Log quote in CRM with follow-up date (3 days)
I send it
Her admin now sends quotes correctly. Sarah stopped checking them three weeks ago.
Example: The Follow-Up That Never Happens
Mark's service manager is supposed to follow up on estimates over $2,000.
Mark does it himself. Because "he forgets."
Mark asked him to write down his process:
I write the estimate
I send it to the customer
I wait for them to respond
Sarah read it and saw the gaps immediately:
No step for checking which service tier applies
No step for adding travel time
No step for checking if they're an existing customer (different pricing)
No step for logging it in the CRM
Mark saw the gap: There's no step for what happens if they don't respond.
His service manager wasn't forgetting. He genuinely thought "wait" was the next step.
Mark added three steps:
I write the estimate
I send it to the customer
I add a follow-up reminder in the system for 3 days
If no response after 3 days, I call to check if they have questions
If no response after 7 days, I mark it as "declined" in the system and archive it
His service manager now follows up consistently. Mark stopped chasing estimates two months ago.
Why This Works
You're not creating systems from scratch. You're extracting what's already happening and fixing what's broken.
David Jenyns nails this in SYSTEMology: most business owners think they need to create systems. They don't. They need to capture what's already working and fix the gaps.
The person doing the task documents it. Takes them 20 minutes.
You read it and spot the gap. Takes you 10 minutes.
You add the missing step. That's your system.
30 minutes total. One task fixed. One less thing to micromanage.
Start With One
Pick the task you can't let go of. The one you check every time. The one that's wrong if you don't step in.
Get the person doing it to write down their process.
Read it. Find the gap.
Fill the gap.
That's it. You just stopped micromanaging that task.
Next week? Pick another one.
In three months, you'll have twelve tasks you don't need to check anymore
.
That's not micromanaging. That's managing.
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