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Information technology is fast-paced and can require a lot of efficiency from IT professionals at every level within the industry—from IT recruiters to IT contractors to IT managers. One way to achieve that independence is to train IT consultants to act as self-sufficiently as possible, thus taking burdens off IT managers so they can focus on their own IT jobs.  There are a few ways IT managers can help their reports to begin to act more independently.

1. Give them confidence: Assert out loud that you trust your employees and you believe in their work product.  Help them find pride in their work so they both hold themselves accountable for their results and have the confidence to move forward without checking in with you constantly.
2. Create pre-determined check-in points when possible.  Doing this means the employee feels your trust in them, but everyone can check a project through various stages to make sure it’s progressing well.  The check-in points de-personalize your request to check an employee’s work (because it becomes just another deadline on the project), and thus underscore your initial implication that you trust them.
3. When employees do have questions, ask them what their first instincts and thoughts are.  Encourage the correct responses and gently and constructively correct the responses that aren’t right.
4. Praise employees when they get things right.  Emphasize that they accomplished something big- on their own.  They’ll want to re-live that feeling again soon.