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Oh man, sorry you’re dealing with this. It’s so tough to navigate because you’re right, nothing will ever satisfy them. Know that this behavior is a symptom of their own fear, not necessarily that you’re not doing well. I would do everything possible to set expectations on work upfront with them, literally a checklist. Then be as proactive as possible to keep them apprised of how your work is progressing and any roadblocks. If you can pre-empt them enough, you can help them realize you have it covered and they may back off a bit. This has worked for me but ultimately I moved out from under my micromanager and it was much better. If nothing else, you know the strategies that do not work for leadership in the future.
Thank you this is very helpful!
I would also add, once a decision has been made on your approach (after discussing it with them)…send them an email confirming that approach. I know it’s Mickey mouse but you want to have documented coverage, because when your review comes up, they will use all of this against you.
Omg that sounds scary
I’m also thinking I should ask them questions before they even give me the micromanaging directions… but does that make me look ignorant too?
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That is a fair point. I’d love to tell people who had specific expectations to do the work themselves lol.
Trying to pull those expectations out can be helpful. I worked with a particular consultant years ago who was like that and I’d ask her if she had examples of her expected end result i could mirror. That worked for the type of work we did, because the info I was working with was relatively static. The values themselves might be different client to client, but the variables were the same. She could easily show me how she liked things presented. That might not be an option in the line of consulting you are in.