Increase employee accountability

You may want to be the anti-micromanager, but that doesn’t mean you can avoid holding employees accountable. Here are some rules you must follow:

Be consistent with your rules. You can’t let employees come in late and say nothing—and then become angry when an employee’s lateness inconveniences you. Set rules, hold everyone responsible for following them, and enforce them consistently.

Schedule follow-up meetings. When you address a performance or behavior issue and set expectations for employees, it is critical that you check in to monitor their progress. Before the feedback session ends, schedule a progress report meeting, and follow through with it. Otherwise, employees may not take your feedback seriously.

Focus on actions and results. Your favorite employee may stay busy and work hard but fails to meet goals. Another less desirable employee closes deal after deal seemingly without much effort. You can’t let your bias sway your evaluations. You must fairly assess performance and establish expectations for employees based on actions and results.

— Adapted from “6 Actions Even the Least Confrontational Managers Must Take to Hold Employees Accountable,” Shaw Doyle, Entrepreneur, www.entrepreneur.com.