Micromanagers Try to Manage Everything

I have several other posts on Micromanagers in my September archives, so if your manager is a micromanager go check them out.

Micromanagers are insidious. I will not state this any other way, because I feel ALL micromanagers should be doing something other than managing. I am sure there is something that they are more qualified to do.

If you work “with” or “for” one, you are groaning right now. Actually you never work “with” a micromanager and you should never work “for” one.

Micromanagers do not allow you to work “with” them. They are either doing your job or telling you how to do it. Then when you do not do something exactly the way they tell you, watch out. So it is impossible to work “with” a micromanager.

It is also impossible to work “for” one, because it will eventually make you mad, intolerant, insolent, obstructive, physically or mentally ill, or insubordinate.

Micromanagers do not stay within their own domain because they subscribe to a fundamental principle. The entire office is their domain. Watch the micromanager in your office - every office has at least one or two, or…. They will assign tasks to people they have no authority over. They will call meetings about issues that pertain to another manager’s domain.

If you get assigned a task by someone who does not have authority to do so, go to your manager and discuss it. That is assuming your manager is NOT a micromanager. If s/he is a micromanager you have a challenge. You are the odd man out. Any information offered is like starting a feeding frenzy for sharks. You should be looking for another job.
Give a micromanager an inch, they will take a mile and then some. If you are a manager and you just had something assigned to you by a micromanager that is your peer, ignore it. I would never confront the micromanager directly. You are asking for more trouble. Usually if you ignore the request, (even after 6 attempts) the micromanager will find someone else to do it. After all the office is their domain and they know there are plenty of suckers who will do what they want.

In short, rule of thumb is:

Avoid any interaction with a micromanager at all costs. If you avoid them, they will avoid you.

Old comments:

At 2/01/2006 09:06:00 PM, Carol said…

I had a micromanager principal one time who drove everyone nuts. We were glad to see her go.

At 2/03/2006 02:30:00 PM, Anonymous said…

I would like to agree in principle with your micromanager assertions but not all micromanagers are the same. There are different levels of micro-management that may be acceptable. One of the main issues with micromanagers is trust or the manager’s inability to trust that others are doing thier job. Building a strong trust between the employee and the manager is essential in reducing the micromanagement of employees.

Trust is very important in environments that have aggressive timelines and high pressure stress.

I’m a manager and have reduced my micromanager tendancies by building trust that the personnel that I’m responsible for are executing on the mission as I need them to. When deadlines approach and the team is not making headway toward completing the sprint, I will engage them to understand where the break-downs are occurring and offer assistance in removing the road blocks. This is often referred to as “MicroManaging”.

At the end of the day, the manager has be accountable for making the deadline or not. If the deadline is not met, I don’t think it is appropriate to hang the dev team out. The manager has to take responsibility.

signed - a recovering Micromanager

At 2/04/2006 08:23:00 PM, beatYourOwnDrum said…

anon,

Wht you describe is not micromanaging. In fact it is exactly what a good manager should do.

If you were once an MM, you surely are not now based on what you have mentioned here.

MMs can be rehabilitated, but rarely. It is usually a psychological disorder that goes back too far in their childhood.

I bet you were never an MM but rather labeled as one by another MM.

Cheers!

Eric

At 3/27/2006 04:43:00 PM, Anonymous said…

How refreshing, to see someone plainly state the truth - that the only way to deal with working for a micromanager is to find another job.

I read an article once saying that micromanagers are motivated by insecurity and fear of failure, so you should reassure them and win their trust. But there’s the problem - when you are swamped with actual work to do, you need to be left alone to DO it, and not have to waste valuable hours of the day doing all that “reassuring.”

Another ridiculous bit of advice I read was that you need to be the first to run to your micromanaging boss and volunteer information to them, since information is what they thrive on. Rubbish. This article is right on target when it says you shouldn’t talk to them about anything they don’t ask you about, because it is just like throwing blood in shark-infested waters.

Sometimes I think those “how to deal with a micromanaging boss” articles try to put a cheery face on things. Maybe the authors themselves work for micromanaging bosses who require them to “offer solutions.” But there is simply no way to work for a micromanager and keep your sanity.

At 12/29/2006 12:20:00 AM, Anonymous said…

I was just online searching about how to deal with micromanaging bosses and came across this. This is the first ‘real’ piece of advice I’ve received. Every other article I’ve found has said that you need to let your micromanaging boss in on things and try to work it out with them. There is NO POSSIBLE way I could do that with my micromanaging boss. He is INSANE. I had lost 50lbs before I began this job 18 months ago. Well I’ve gained it all back, I am mentally drained. Sometimes I feel like I need to be locked up in an asylum somewhere because I feel like I’m going mad. I think about how much he drives me crazy all the time. I’m seriously considering going to therapy because of him. It’s put a hardship on my marriage, my health, etc. I know I need to find a new job, but my problem is the company I work for has AMAZING benefits (of all kinds - retirement, medical, vacation, etc). I keep looking for another opening to come up within the company. There have been many as it’s a large company, but nothing that fits my qualifications has popped up yet. The jobs posted so far have been below or above my qualifications, so I just keep checking back for an opening that I’m qualified for. I just don’t know what to do with the man in the mean time. I’ve even started having dreams about beating him up I’m female btw, and I know I could take him. It’s not the ‘getting fired’ for that so much as the assault charges that he would file…LOL! I would never do that but it’s fun to fantasize. Almost EVERYONE in the company would congratulate me for doing it as well. That is the ONE bad thing about this place. Unless you do something illegal, you can’t get fired. So they can’t get rid of ‘bad’ managers. (I work for a college). Anyway, enough of my rambling. I’m just SO glad to know that I’m not alone in this. (Actually, I’m not alone in this at work either. EVERYONE in my department has had some type of mental or physical illness because of him. We talk about him all the time (when he’s not around - when he’s around we are not allowed to speak at all - not even laugh - laughing is NOT allowed) If you or anyone else has any other advice to offer, please email me at mamba_0182@hotmail.com and put ‘micromanager’ in the title so I know it’s not junk mail. Thank you.

At 6/18/2007 05:47:00 PM, Anonymous said…

If you are lucky enough to have a good job, learn how to deal with micromanagers. Make the most of the situation. That’s how I found your site, I am searching for ways to deal with my new microsupervisor and my new micromanager. UGH!

My point is this, make lemonade from the lemons. If you choose to leave for another job, you’ll still need to learn how to deal because micromanagers are everywhere.

Just my .02

At 6/18/2007 05:48:00 PM, Anonymous said…

Hey, this is Lemonade again… just found a good link:

http://www.careerknowhow.com/guidance/micromanager.htm