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There’s a dark side to delegation and that’s micromanagement.

Micromanagement is defined as managing with great or excessive control or attention to details. When is micromanagement okay? There are actually some key points when it is. Most managers are going to recognize these, and this will be a review.

Obviously, if deadlines are missed, you need to step in, as the manager, and get people back on track, find out what happened and, if necessary, plan the action for the individual to make sure that they’re able to get the work done.

You may also need to step in if a project is not going as planned, or employees are hitting milestones but still falling short of expected results.

If a team member is not able to perform because they don’t have the skills, the time, or maybe the interest, then as the manager you need to step in to make sure that that task gets completed. This is important for the overall health of the team, but also for the individual. If the delegated role is beyond their skills, you might cause more damage by letting them completely fail than stepping in. You can turn the experience into a training experience and get the work done either by doing it yourself or preferably delegating to someone else, but have them stay involved so they can continue to learn from the process.

If, however, a team member has the skills, the time, and the ability, and is just not willing to perform, then you need to look at the situation from a personnel perspective. Ask yourself what is causing the problem. What’s going on with this individual? Remember, even seemingly individual issues can cause problems for the team very quickly.

If a team member is responsible for an especially sensitive file or job, you may need to stay hands-on simply because the averting the risk of information leaks or mistakes is of greater importance than ensuring that the person has complete autonomy.

But when is it not okay to micro-manage? This is actually a gray area that managers have trouble managing. When employees are feeling micromanaged, they tend to manifest this by feeling frustrated or even fearful.

What this means is that the individual ends up not trusting his own judgment when you’re second-guessing or asking a lot of questions on how he is getting to that end result. The less he trusts himself, the harder it is for him to take on the next delegated task.

The number one reason most employees leave a workplace is because of bad management. They feel that they don’t have the control, the autonomy, or the ability to grow. The good news is that these are all things you can control, as a manager.

If Micromanaging affects the mental health of the staff or the overall efficiency of the organization, it’s not okay. If you’re constantly undermining an employee’s decisions and performance, that behavior will inevitably affect their ability to perform, and it’s also going to impact the team dynamic. To see where you fall on the micromanaging spectrum, answer the seven questions below.

1. Is it hard for you to delegate tasks?

2. Generally speaking, do you think you can perform most of the tasks of your team better than they can?

3. Do you feel it is often that it is better to do the job yourself, rather than delegate?

4. Do you help your staff learn from their mistakes?

5. Do you spend an unusual amount of time overseeing single projects?

6. Are you as overworked as your team?

7. Does your team take initiative, or do they feel they should always check with you before taking action?

Did you answer the questions above honestly? Remember, it is not all black and white.