How managers can waste less of their employees’ time  

Leaders don’t mean to waste their employees’ time. Unfortunately, many of them heap unnecessary work on the people below them in the pecking order—and are clueless they’re doing it.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, managers give orders without realizing how much work those directives entail. They make offhand comments and don’t consider that their employees may interpret them as commands. And they solicit opinions without realizing that people will bend over backward to tell them what they want to hear—rather than the whole truth, warts and all.
First, many bosses don’t pay enough attention to followers’ behaviors, needs and troubles.

The CEO of one firm studied, for instance, fell in love with new management concepts, such as “lean” operations, and frequently announced new company-wide initiatives. But those announcements typically didn’t take into account prior initiatives. Employees were often asked to drop what they were doing before and start a new mission from scratch.
Another way that executives waste employees’ time, slow the work and add to their own burdens is by “cookie licking,” a term inspired by sneaky children who lick cookies to deter others from eating them. Cookie licking happens when leaders of growing companies don’t realize or accept that the time has come to delegate responsibilities.
For instance, it made sense for one CEO to interview every job candidate when her company had 25 employees—but not when it grew to over 500. Then it caused a scheduling nightmare that wasted her staff’s energy. 
To get better, managers can start by being skeptical when they hear nothing but sunny feedback from followers, The Wall Street Journal recommends.
They should also be vigilant about their minor complaints and offhand remarks. When they say anything that could be misconstrued as a command or desire for change, it helps to add, “Please don’t do anything, I am just thinking out loud.”

And when leaders encourage candor and criticism from employees, they should make sure it isn’t just lip service, and back it up with actions.
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