Transitioning from Individual Contributor to Manager

With a desire to help the team be successful, new managers often continue with the same tactics they used as individual contributors. Because of their comfort in the area, a manager may immerse themselves in the minutiae of an assignment to almost the same extent as their team members. On the other side of the coin, new managers may focus on the area in which they have the least experience or for which they have long desired to control. It is also common for new managers to begin focusing too much on the big picture and charting their future plans.

Micromanagement saps the enthusiasm and energy from employees by creating the impression that they are not valuable or in control of their own projects. Given enough time, the resulting disengagement can negatively impact your team’s quality of work and even retention. Additionally, a manager’s focus on the details causes them to ignore their primary duties of visualizing the big picture and enabling strategic priorities.

A focus too far removed from daily activity and with too many changes too quickly can leave team members unsure of their priorities and progress. Without guidance, team members will do what they think is best based on the limited information they possess. This leads to a fragmentation of effort within and among projects, effectively halting progress.

Personally overseeing projects is still an aspect of a manager’s role. Rather than trying to influence every detail along the way, this responsibility is better accomplished by setting concrete goals and monitoring progress at key milestones; tracking team member performance, and offering support to encourage self-directed, longer-term progress. The appropriate conversation is for managers to put team members’ projects in the context of the business’ overarching business strategy.