Dealing with a micromanaging boss is indeed tough and demands patience from the employee. We tell you how you can handle such a situation.
A micromanaging boss at the workplace is a literal daily nightmare for many amongst us. It is imperative for anyone to find it difficult to deal with a boss who always hovers over, and minutely observes whatever work you do.
On frequent occasions, the employees get so frustrated with this attitude of boss that they quit the job. But do you really think quitting the job is a right way to handle the situation?
It is definitely not the right way; who knows you may have to deal with the same at your next workplace also. You should thus not run away from the situation and should face it in a positive way. Quitting the job is the last thing we have discussed here.
Dealing with a Micromanaging Boss
It is expected from the boss to keep his employees motivated at the workplace. The boss should be an ideal, motivator and a leader for his employees.
Micromanaging is a negative trait and is a very broad term. A controlling boss pesters the employees even for the minute mistakes in their work.
Micromanaging people or bosses are often people with a strong type A personality. The characteristic features of a type A personality are aggressiveness, strong ambition for success coupled with a dominating nature. These people are control freaks and can go to any extent to achieve the targets they had set for themselves, and sometimes even for others.
You can now very well imagine the effects of having a person with these traits as your boss. Though this behavior is tolerable to some extent, in some cases, the person also resorts to a controlling and intruding behavior.
This includes giving unnecessary suggestions, calling the employee for no purpose and wrongfully pointing the mistakes in the reports or submissions of the employee.
In a workplace, the success of the organization depends on how the employees perform and it is generally the responsibility of the boss to derive optimum performance from the employees.
The failure of the employees to give the desired results is often considered the failure of the boss. In majority of the cases, it is this fear of failure that makes the boss indulge in micromanaging the employee and circumstances.
Sometimes in their drive for high performance and success they might micromanage and restrict the work of their employees in a way they desire. They observe their employees through a microscopic view.
Assess Your Performance
The first thing to do is to assess your performance at work. Have you been working in a way you are supposed to work?
Most of the organizations do not give the employees the freedom to work in their own way and expect them to work in a certain defined way.
The boss who is also the chief manager would be blamed if an employee does not perform up to the mark and in a way he is expected to. This tendency of micromanaging the work of the employees by the boss is thus quite expected. But, still for a successful workplace rapport, an employee is ideally expected to be given some space and independence in working.
Take it in the Right Spirit
The constant disturbance can affect your mental focus and can cause trouble to you in performing your tasks. It is thus, necessary to keep in mind that the nagging and the micro observation is part of his job.
To keep things positive it is wise to accept that the situation would make you a strong and patient person. Working under a controlling person is going to be difficult but it will make you an adaptable person in the long run.
So, let there always be a smile on your face and work with an attitude that the micromanagement of the boss would not affect you.
Communicate Every Detail
A simple and most popular way of dealing with such a person is communicating every detail of your work to him. Suppose you are working on a project, your boss will then every now and then pester you to inform him every detail of the project.
He will often ask you to convey to him the details through phone calls, emails and files. It is thus good on your part to convey the information to him on your own.
Consult and communicate with your boss before making any move, and discuss with him every single detail. This is in fact, a trick that will eventually trouble and disturb your boss, as he also has other work than constantly monitoring your work.
Discuss it with Co-workers
Determine if it is only you who is at the receiving end. If your co-workers are facing a similar issue with the boss, you should group together and convey your apprehensions to the human resource department head.
If you are the only one who is being troubled you can still convey it your supervisors and seek solution. You can also ask them to change your department if possible. These are the solutions that work the best.
When to Call it Quits
In some cases, the tricks we had discussed fail; the stubborn attitude of the boss would make you want to quit the situation. It is best to quit the job if the micromanaging attitude of your superior has crossed your tolerance level.
Put in all the effort from your side to handle your boss, but let it not affect your personality, assertiveness and ease of working. Your boss is definitely your manager, but there should be a limit to controlling and managing someone.
Micromanagement of your work is certainly not acceptable if you are performing up to the mark. These were some tips that might be useful.
Staying positive is the solution to every problem; and it also holds true for dealing with a micromanaging boss. Take the positives from the situation and help yourself be an adaptable individual through your boss.