Stop Micromanaging: Manage Outcomes, Not Activity | Dr Brooke Smith

Send us Fan MailIf you have to watch people constantly to make sure they are working, you are not managing performance. You are managing appearances.In this episode, Peter Boolkah speaks with productivity and time-freedom coach Dr Brooke Smith about replacing industrial-age management with an outcome-led approach.Brooke explains why micromanagement wastes the manager’s time, drains employees’ energy and encourages people to concentrate on looking busy rather than producing valuable results.The alternative is to give people clarity around what needs to happen, why it matters and when it must be completed - while allowing them greater ownership of how they achieve it.You’ll discover:Why visible activity is a poor measure of productivityHow micromanagement wastes the time of managers and employeesWhy employees end up “managing the manager”How to move from supervising activity to managing outcomesWhy leaders should define the what, why and when without prescribing every detail of the howHow excessive processes and overly detailed SOPs can restrict innovationWhy the best process may be the minimum effective amount of structureHow values and mission should inform performance objectivesWhy rewarding innovation sometimes means recognising intelligent failureHow to maintain culture across a dispersed teamThe questions leaders should ask employees about improving performanceHow to separate deep work from smaller reactive tasksWhy flexible working hours can improve both productivity and quality of lifeWhy knowledge work requires a different management model from factory workThis is also a direct lesson in founder dependency.When the founder decides how every task must be completed, approves every variation and constantly checks whether people are working, the business cannot function independently.Clear outcomes, boundaries and decision rights allow people to take responsibility without abandoning accountability. They enable managers to lead, employees to think and the business to keep moving without waiting for the founder.Micromanagement creates its own Hamster Wheel Trap®: the manager spends all day supervising, while employees spend their day explaining what they are doing.The answer is not less accountability. It is better accountability.GUEST INFORMATION FROM THE ORIGINAL RECORDINGWebsite mentioned: https://drbrookesmith.comInstagram mentioned: https://www.instagram.com/drbrookesmith/CONNECT WITH PETER BOOLKAHWebsite: https://www.boolkah.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boolkahInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/pboolkah/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoolkahX: https://twitter.com/boolkahABOUT PETER BOOLKAHPeter Boolkah is a business coach, author and speaker who has spent more than 20 years helping business owners build stronger, more valuable businesses that do not depend on them for everything.He is the creator of The Hamster Wheel Trap® and author of Your Business Sucks: Build a Business That Works Without Destroying Your Life.Peter works with founders and leadership teams on the issues that ultimately determine whether a business creates freedom or becomes another job: leadership, founder dependency, people, profit, execution, scaling, exit readiness and enterprise value.His approach is direct, practical and built around one simple question:Do you own the business, or does the business own you?Learn more at https://www.boolkah.com