As someone that manages I will usually push it back on the asker with rhetorical questions ie: we’ll how do you want to tackle it. I’ll waste just as much of their time as they want. And when if the project slips it’s on them or if I have to engage to keep it on track it may or may not be reflected in their eval.

I engage just as much as I need to and nothing more. My more senior guys I try and get them to focus on deliverables and seeing the forest for the trees. For some that’s natural and others less so.

I prefer not to micromanage and be hands off. But at the end of the day I’m deliverable oriented and if it’s not getting done I will engage with the team members to get there or get them on track.

Most of my better guys know this and do enough and come prepared enough that they have basically full autonomy.

Others will end up in follow up meetings with me until what needs doing is done. In the few times they have communicated frustration I’ll usually, again, tell them if they want me to disengage then they need to come to the table with problems identified and solutions and know which ones really need my input and which don’t.