You know the type. She’s always checking in on you by emailing, calling or barging into your workspace. Some micromanagers try to subtly shoot the breeze and then drop in questions to check up on your work. Others are more direct, coming in and looking over your shoulder at what you’re doing or telling you how to do every little thing. Either way, almost everyone finds this highly obnoxious; even the micromanager probably would if they were in your shoes! How can you ease your pain?
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Think broadly. While it may seem counterintuitive, imagine what your micromanager’s challenges are and why she might be scrutinizing your work. Maybe others on your team are not performing well or getting their work done on time, or the previous person who held your job was that way. Maybe her boss is pressuring her. These are not reasons to back down or be passive about these issues, but it will give you some perspective. This will make it easier for you to negotiate if you’re coming at it from a position of understanding; you’re empathetic without necessarily agreeing.
Inform. When you’re in the hovering manager zone, you probably mostly keep quiet and simply wait for her grand exit. However, there may be a way to preemptively stop her from checking in. Send a daily (if she just can’t stop from constantly bugging you day after day) or weekly status report with a lot of detail about the work you’ve accomplished and outstanding tasks with deadlines. In other words, try to cover in your report any and all questions you anticipate she may ask. This takes time, yes, but it could result in a healthier work environment for you, which is priceless.
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Ask questions. Another way to go is to put the micromanager on the spot by asking your very own questions of her each time you’re given instructions. Some examples: “How would you prefer that I approach this task?” “When do you need this by?” and “How would you like to receive updates about my progress on this?” Asking questions is a great way to deflect some of their behavior.
Broach the subject. Self-awareness doesn’t come easily to most people, and your micromanager is no exception. It’s likely that she has very little idea of how her actions are affecting you and other staff. If you’re comfortable with it, try to confront her in a nonthreatening way. As much as you can, frame it from her point of view. You might say, “My goal is to help you do your job, so what can I do to best assist you?” or “How do you prefer I communicate with you about projects?” Gather as much information as you can about their style of communication and preferences and follow them to a T.
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Earn her trust. Once you’ve established how you can best work with her preferences in mind, implement them immediately and stick to them. One of the best ways to begin or improve a relationship is to continue to demonstrate trustworthiness. If you’ve agreed to provide a progress report on a daily or weekly basis, put it on your calendar as a reminder and do it. Since she’ll be well-informed, she may bother you less. If she asks for more frequent reports, comply with her request. This shows her you are willing to work according to her terms.
Protect yourself. If you’ve tried all of the tactics here and nothing is working, it may be time to study communication styles to figure out how to better work together. If you find it’s impossible to adapt to your manager’s style, you may want to search for other opportunities inside or outside of your organization.
During your career there are going to be people who you have trouble connecting and working with. If that happens to be your manager who’s constantly on top of you, it’s not going to make for a great work environment. Do your best to seek to understand the person and adapt — because there are a lot of difficult personalities out there and you have to try your best to play nice — but if you just can’t make it work, it may be time to say goodbye.
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How to Manage Your Micromanager originally appeared on usnews.com
