Morning! I have found myself in a situation where micromanagement of my role is becoming very stressful. What are your tips for managing up in this scenario? I'm unsure how to frame this feedback.

My company did this then I went to a mental heath professional. Just like that I had 12 weeks off. By the time I came back I was moved off the team and enjoying a much less workload and micromanagement oversight. They fire me, they open themselves up for litigation via retaliation. Cheers

Find a new job. It will never get better

Stop

For those who don’t understand micromanagement means they probably are one. It doesn’t have to be your boss. It could be a coworker, a stakeholder or some other person that works with your team, but is not part of the team.

If it’s not your boss let your boss know and have specific examples. Most likely they will be everyday things. Give examples of as much as you can. If it is your boss start asking why they are asking or why they need so much detail. Depending on the boss sometimes continuing to overload them with information helps break the control- this will either break them or make them ask why and you can respond that they always want to know the details so you are trying to be helpful and share it so they don’t have to ask you later.

This happened to me. Sometimes it's poor management. Sometimes it's bullying. I would push back and tell them that there is nothing set in stone about the order the tasks need to be done in, etc., then you will have your answer.

Going to mental health professional may also be a wise move. Just don't let them know about it in advance.

I am so sorry. I have been in the same type of situate and I will say that it won’t last forever. I have heard it said to micromanage them before they can micromanage you. Things like providing extra detail, sending prior to them asking for said tasks, being consistently in front of them with DMs providing the info and then asking what else you can provide them, etc…. The hope is they get annoyed and leave you alone. I haven’t tried that personally but heard friends share about that.

This may not apply to everyone, and is easier for some to do than others in this unpredictable job market. I had this happen to me twice. Once at a job that I had worked on for over 15 years, where the new manager arrived with some boot camp certs, but had no real exposure or experience with anything related to the jobs that we did. He made changes constantly, and when we got audited, he blamed the team for the mistakes that he implemented. I lost a lot of respect for him after that. You never throw your team under the bus when things happen based on your own choices. I left that job, and found out that he got released not long after I was gone. The second time, I was working a contract where the older, more experienced people were managed by millennials, who spoke to us as if we were teenagers. Imagine being in your 40s and taking orders from someone in their mid-20s who still lived with their parents. They micromanaged so much that they started listening to our phone call with customers, and begin telling us how to speak to them. I finished the contract, and never looked back. I found out that the company folder before the year was out. My current job primarily consists of older people like myself. There is very little micromanagement, and based on your experience and certs, you become the primary lead or subject-matter-expert of whatever you are working on. My advice would be to find something similar that is different and better. Work carries enough anxiety. You don't need to add another variable to it that can make it even worst.

Hang in there. It will not last too long.

More details are needed to provide any kind of feedback.

If there is genuinely room for improvement I focus on what ai can control, if it's simply a controlling manager I update my resume and move on as soon as the tight opportunity comes along.

Company I work for, they have cameras that monitor each one of us, and 3 dedicated people that watch every move made. Of course looking but this is a tough market to get a job. If you are late 1 min you get wrote up, leave early 1 min get wrote up. President calls at 2 min before time to get off and expected to complete work before leaving, some projects 2 to 3 hours long, and everyone is salary. So I guess micro management is worse than others.

micromanagement can be a precursor to them moving on from you, so might be worth taking as a signal to start looking

I agree, find a new job, it will not get better. In the interim keep notes of tasks and due dates, in your 1/1’s if virtual record on teams, or in person record with your phone.

I see you a lot of​ the other posts telling you to basically catalog your experience and run with your tail tucked between your legs but that's not, to me, a healthy way to handle this obstacle. Actions become habit. In my 30+ years of experience​ in working in various environments, many in which people who don't share my characteristics like to try and micromanage me, I like to basically give them what they ask for. I micromanage myself lol 😂. I report EVERY SINGLE THING to them via email and no longer engage in undoc​​umented conversations. Before I make a move, I send them an email asking for their permission. Before I go to break, the bathroom, lunch, end of the day, I send them an email letting them know. I create my own time tracker and send it to them daily. Takes about a week or so but this gets on their nerves soooooooo bad they have, usually 99% of the time, demanded that I s​top. No more micromanage!​ 😁 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What sort of micromanagement? A lot of the replies assume that it's about inspecting your performance. That happens. But other times it's just that your manager wants to make decisions that you should make. They want to be seen as having great ideas, so they constantly push anything that comes into their minds.

They tried to pull this on me. During a sit-down with my supervisor, she asked me why the work wasn't moving. I told her straight out: Management Interference. I'm not taking any responsibility for any failures as long a Management is preventing me from doing my job.

I told her, let me do my thing and the work will start flowing again. She got Management off my back, and not only did I get the work moving again, I got us caught up.

Whenever Management would try to interfere, I would stop what I was doing, and the only thing that would come out of my mouth are, "What exactly are your instructions?" If they want to micromanage, I will become a lackey, and they can tell me what they want done down to the minute detail, and that is exactly what I will do.

Just waste a lot of time taking notes on what you're doing. Ultimately you'll be less productive, and when called on the carpet about, show all the notes you had to take to satisfy the micromanager. Make sure to keep a tally of ​how much time was wasted to keep the notes. It's called "malicious compliance." Make sure to be looking for other opportunities because most micromanagers don't improve even when faced with how much productivity is lost through their micromanagment.

This is one of the most difficult situation to be in as an employee haven been there myself. The truth is, the solution is not simple. You have to take on the responsibility of malicious compliance.

1. Understand company policies, processes and procedures that pertain to your job.
2. Create reporting templates for every thing you do, no matter how small, document it.
3. Share that document with your boss when the details have become unreasonably detailed. The idea is to always direct him or her to the information so they can leave you alone.

the document should be well documented with every single status and when they ask you a question, always point them to the section of the document. Don't ever respond outside the document.

For example: Manager: what is the status of xxx project
You: I updated the status in the tracker for your review yesterday. And status of subtasks have also been updated in the document.

This forces them to either keep refreshing the document or leave you alone. When they realize asking you a question has become pointless, they will back-off and start attacking you with tasks. before they assign any task, tell them you want to open the tracker so both of you can capture the items correctly. Don't be easy, be compliant. and compliance is a real headache for everyone

How bad is it?

Been there, done that. I had a manager (now a director) who was so bad about it that it drove people to hate him. Back then, the culture was ‘keep your mouth shut, don’t say anything.’ It’s changed now — people are more open about it, and upper management realizes it takes a mental toll and drains people’s motivation to work when they have someone who micromanages but doesn’t actually do the work themselves. (Some people just can’t do both — it’s not realistic to expect it.) Managing and actually doing the work go hand in hand, but there needs to be a realistic timeframe and understanding around SLAs.

Couple of questions, has the micro-managing just started? Or has it been there from day 1? Also, does it happen just to you or is it a company wide problem?

As a previous project manager that’s experienced a similar experience; find the managers rhythm and get in front of MM deliverables (document the journey along the way). Schedule weekly 15 minute 1.1s; ask use case management questions to help find out more about the management style you are dealing with to flush out the “why”. This will assist you to find the rhythm of their management business purpose. If it’s a team building style great! If it is to meet key objectives coming from upper management to downsize the project team or make adjustments to the talent and you are on the list, well you’ll need to make some personal decisions. Be strategic look at it as an opportunity and move towards a solution that serves you well. Don’t stew —stir it into something that you know is good for your own wellbeing.