Women Are Revealing How They Manage Being Micromanaged At Work, And I Am Taking Notes
Micromanagement is a real problem people face at work. Often times, we face a manager who literally tries to babysit you or wants updates from you every freaking hour.
NBC / Via tenor.com
Working with a micromanager can be extremely frustrating and affect your natural approach to work.
The sad truth is that we all come across a micromanager at least once in our careers. Last week, Reddit user u/Sneakerkeeper123 posted a question in r/AskWomen, saying, "How do you deal with being micromanaged at work?"
I read through all the responses and have selected the best ways to deal with a micromanagement situation:
1.Ignore them.
CBC / Via tenor.com
"Luckily, I work remotely almost all the time. When I was in an office, I replied with, 'I didn't ask,' and went back to my work. If they want to micromanage me, they'll need to up their game. I raised a passel of kids and currently have mini goats. ... I can ignore ridiculous behavior all day long."
2.Try to figure out the reason behind their actions and act accordingly.
NBC / Via tenor.com
"If it is a serial micromanager, I say during meetings with them, I have shown you XYZ type work before, do you have any improvements to make — and explain that I can work more efficiently if I don't have to run everything by them (or whatever is the case). It may take a few iterations. I am a professional, and there is nothing wrong with reminding a boss of this in a respectful way that is more about me getting work completed than their managerial type. Most managers have been burned before, so putting them at ease with my work is step one.
"I would not be passive-aggressive or weaponize incompetence. Try to figure out what is making the manager behave this way, and tackle it from that angle."
3.Let it run its course.
Dream Work Animation / Via tenor.com
"My last job had a manager that would micromanage. So, I did all the things he asked until he grew bored of them because he could see the issue he caused by creating a new pointless rule. Everything works itself out in the end."
4.Communicate your boundaries.
Nickelodeon / Via tenor.com
"I have only two rules of working:
(a) minimum interaction (one or two messages a day where we share things or update each other).
(b) independent working. I like to do things on my own. I am very particular with my work, so my employer knows bugging me won't make a difference.
I have never never been micromanaged."
"I filter all unnecessary suggestions to do my work and ignore them. If they pester me about that, I speak to them once. Set my boundary, firmly, then tell them that if they continue to distract me from my work, they'll be the cause of my lack of productivity."
5.Keep them busy.
"Micromanaging usually comes from a place of being insecure about whether you're doing your job, so give them ALL the information so they know you're doing it. If building trust doesn't work, you can at least keep them busy enough that their boss will eventually tell them to cut that shit."
6.Tactfully ask them to stay away.
Darren Star Productions / Via reddit.com
"I just tell people to stfu and let me do my job 'cause I’m capable. I’m usually tactful about it, though. It works 'cause nobody expects my little 5’0" ass to say anything."
7.Make them fall into the pit they've dug.
The Morning Breath Podcast / Via tenor.com
"I was on a PIP (manager was sleeping with my team leader and felt insecure), so there's that. She wanted to know what I did every hour so I did a breakdown of what I did every five minutes.
"10:05 a.m. went for a wee. 10:07 a.m. washed hands thoroughly. 10:09 a.m. returned to the desk, team leader spoke to me about his weekend. 10:11 a.m. filled in this PIP plan in detail. 10:15 a.m. updated whiteboard, etc. I did that from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and handed it to her. She was bewildered! It was so funny. I said, 'No worries; I can do the same tomorrow if you need?'
"'NOPE, I'm good,' she said. Was taken off immediately."
8.Ask for a meeting and explain the situation.
Netflix / Via tenor.com
"Ask for a meeting with your boss and the offending colleagues. Lay out what’s going wrong, and discuss clear guidelines as a team.
Make sure you bring concrete examples of the micromanaging behavior and how it negatively impacts your and your team's productivity."
9.Over-communication is the key.
NBC / Via tenor.com
"I let the manager take the wheel. Want to be CC'd into every email? Sure thing. Want to dictate exactly which shade of green this flyer needs? Here are 12 nearly identical-looking swatches that you need to choose from by 3 p.m. Miss that deadline? Sorry fam, working on this other job. Which one takes priority? Okay cool, ima send an email to the owner of the job I have to defer stating that my manager has prioritized this other job. With my manager, CC'd in ofc — if they have a problem, they can go straight to the manager.
"I'm fortunate that I'm not hurting for money, so I can make my manager's life hell. But I'm of the vengeful sort."
10.Send this message:
"While I do appreciate you ensuring that my work is done adequately, I do not require this level of personal management; but I will be sure to reach out promptly with any questions or requests for assistance."
11.Confuse them.
"I’m a young manager at my work, so my older colleagues CONTINUOUSLY try and micromanage me because they’re older.
"It may seem petty, but I like to talk to them about what I actually do as my job and the specifics and ask them questions, and they really quiet down when they don’t understand what I’m talking about or know the answer.
"I also talk to my boss in front of them about my extra responsibilities and how I’m working on new stuff.
"It gets me temporary respect."
12.Sneak in what you want to do when the manager is busy.
MGM / Via tenor.com
"It doesn't happen where I work now, but at my old job, my manager super micromanaged me all the time.
"I mostly just waited until she was busy with something else, and then I did what I wanted."
13.Deal with it while continuing the job search.
St Vincent / Via tenor.com
"Five years of fast food and retail say I'm pretty good at my "yes ma'am, no sir" responses. I don't like it, but if it pays the bills, then I'll deal 'til I find something better. And I found something better."
14.Make them manage everything.
BBC America / Via tenor.com
"I ask their opinion on every single insignificant thing. If they want to micromanage me, I will make them manage everything. WASTE THEIR TIME. Oh, I didn't know if this sentence needed a comma, can you help me? The client asked if today was Tuesday, can you confirm? You seem overly concerned with me handling this very menial task, could you walk me through it step by step?
"If someone wants to act like I can't handle my job, then I make them handle it for me."
15.Respond. Challenge. Ignore.
Netflix / Via tenor.com
"Initially, I would say either that I was working on that project/piece, or that it was on my list. I would usually point out what I was working on instead. This morphed into me challenging the idea of 'priorities' because no matter what I was working on, it was never the right priority at that specific moment. I would ask what should be dropped in favor of the new thing, and be told that it was a priority, too. I would snap and say that everything can't be a priority, or nothing is really a priority. There has to be a ranking of some kind.
"I just started ignoring what he told me to do or how he wanted it done. I was perfectly capable of keeping track of what I needed to do. I had more work than could fit into my work week, and was often required to stay late or come in on weekends (unpaid, because I was management). I would constantly re-prioritize my tasks to try to get the most critical things done. No matter what, there would be some comment — it was never good enough. Meanwhile, the staff the boss liked and the male workers could get away with everything...
"Eventually, I infuriated him so much by challenging him that he stopped talking to me. This was my direct supervisor. He'd go weeks without acknowledging that I existed. I would email questions if I had them or updates that he needed to be aware of, and he wouldn't respond. It was extremely petty, and he remains the same today. I started a new job a year ago, but still have to interact with the old boss. He still refuses to respond to me."
16.Walk away from the job.
Kenny Sebastian / Via tenor.com
"I walk away from the job. I have the education, experience, and skills, let me do my damn job. It's one thing for constructive criticism, it is another thing to have you up my ass. You trusted me enough to hire me, now get the hell out of my office."
17.Reply with carefully constructed sentences.
NBC / Via tenor.com
Context: This is for when someone who is not exactly your boss is trying to micromanage you.
"I would reply to each email with 'I will let you know when it is relevant to your role.' And if it is relevant, 'This information will be provided to you [date you intend to advise them]' and start replying with 'You have already been advised of this, do you need to be reminded?'"
18.And finally, you could have this ONE conversation:
"Is there a problem with my work?"
"No."
"Then, please stop micromanaging me, and let me get on with it."
"This has been effective both times."
