How To Deal With A Micromanaging Boss

By Ryan Morris - Mar. 18, 2021
Articles In Life At Work Guide

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Micromanagement is one of the most stressful workplace situations you can be subjected to.

If you’ve ever experienced it, you know what it looks like — it feels like every day there’s a new meeting for everyone to update the team on their progress, while every five seconds there’s an email or a Slack message from someone who controls your paycheck asking you “Hey, when am I going to get that thing?”

It’s exhausting, of course, and not just for the employees — keeping on top of everyone in the office is tiring for management as well.

Micromanaging is just the kind of thing that’s bad for everyone all around — and yet people still do it, time and time again.

While it can be stressful for your boss, we’re more worried about you. So, as a worker, what are you supposed to do when your boss is micromanaging you to death?

Fortunately for you, we’ve got a guide to help you through this exact scenario.

Why Does My Boss Micromanage Me?

First thing’s first — it’s important for you to understand that if your boss is micromanaging you, it may not be because of anything you did.

They might just be extremely stressed out. You see, the farther up the totem pole you climb in the corporate world, the less direct control you have over the things that occur.

At a certain level, you’re no longer doing a lot of direct work — instead, you’re coordinating a whole team of workers.

It can be frustrating when you know that you’re responsible for the outcome of a thousand different problems if you have no direct method of solving those problems.

And in extreme cases, that kind of pressure could cause anyone to overcorrect.

In situations like these, overcorrections tend to be micromanagement — your boss breathing down your neck, looking over your shoulder, double or triple checking every single thing you do to make sure it’s done well, and trying their best to control your every action.

Some other reasons your boss might be micromanaging you include:

  • They’re responsible for too many or too few people

  • They’ve lost control of a project they initiated

  • They have an innate need for control and authority

  • They’re insecure about their performance

  • Their team has many inexperienced or unskilled members

  • They’re new to a supervisory role and still figuring it out

  • They feel pressure from their boss

There are ways you can deal with all of these situations, more or less. Your boss being bad at his job or insecure, however, is more a mission of damage control than really resolving the situation through your own actions.

But it’s also worth pointing out that there’s another explanation for why your boss won’t stop checking on your work. And that’s that your work is underwhelming.

If you’re a bad worker, then your boss constantly checking up on you isn’t micromanagement — it’s just good management.

So before you take a look at our suggestions below, first take a look at your own behavior. Are you being micromanaged? Or is it possible you’re just not doing so hot?

Signs Your Boss Is Micromanaging You

We all have moments at work where it feels like a manager is breathing down your neck for no good reason. You may be getting work notifications off-the-clock, but those could just be times when your boss likes to get that part of her job done. She might not even be expecting you to reply right away (unless she’s clearly indicated otherwise).

With that in mind, let’s take a look at common signs that your boss is micromanaging you:

  1. They rarely delegate. Micromanagers have a trust issue — anything they deem to be sufficiently important or urgent, they’ll take for themselves. When they do delegate, they often receive work and make changes without telling you.

    This can be a huge issue, as you’ll get used to doing your job one way, while your boss has other expectations, thus snowballing their belief that they need to micromanage for things to get done correctly.

  2. You can’t make decisions without consulting them. For business to proceed efficiently, employees at all levels need to be empowered to make decisions throughout the day.

    Clearly, some stuff is outside of your purview or the scope of your authority, but most day-to-day tasks should be within your power to perform independently. When your boss requires you to check in for every choice you make, you’re being micromanaged.

  3. They want frequent reports. You may start to feel like you have more meetings to discuss your job than time spent actually performing your job’s duties. If your boss is never satisfied with the information gleaned from tracking software and wants updates more frequently than common sense warrants, they’re a micromanager.

  4. They have a negative attitude. Micromanagers tend to see your one mistake over your thousand successes. They use that mistake to justify their constant supervision, even the issue has been sorted out and you know what to do now. They’ll go out of their way to find mistakes, which can make for a very draining work environment.

  5. Projects take forever. The truth is, micromanagers aren’t just bad for your mental health — they’re bad for business. It’s extremely inefficient for all decisions and projects to be bottlenecked by one micromanaging boss. If you notice that projects tend to drag on because your boss is holding things up, you’ve got a micromanager on your hands.

How to Deal With Micromanagement Without Confrontation

If you’ve decided that you are in fact being unfairly micromanaged, there are two main ways you can deal with it — either with confrontation or without it.

For starters, let’s go with ways that avoid confrontation.

After all, avoiding confrontation at work — especially with people who are managing you — comes with a whole host of benefits. You won’t be stepping on anyone’s toes, they won’t think you’re a troublemaker, and overall, people will just like you more.

Of course, non-confrontation isn’t always possible, and there are many cases when confrontations are warranted. But it’s important before you get to this point to do what you can to resolve things in a more peaceful, low-key way.

Here are some things you can do to deal with your micromanaging boss while avoiding a big blowout fight:

  • Make sure your work is absolutely stellar. If you have a pretty good idea that your boss is going to nitpick certain things about your work, double and triple-check them yourself. The less your boss has to pick at, the less chance they’ll try to micromanage you.

  • Anticipate. For the most part, your boss is going to be checking in on your responsibilities that you typically are responsible for anyway. So make a habit of turning these in earlier and earlier.

    If each time your boss asks “hey, where’s that thing?” you’re able to say “sitting on your desk,” then they’ll be progressively less likely to ask in the future.

  • Ask questions. Before you start on a new project, make extra sure to check with your boss about how they’d prefer that project to be done, and write these requirements down. Then if later on your boss takes issue with the way that something has been done, you have something to defend yourself with later on.

How to Deal With Micromanagement Through Confrontation

As we said, it’s always better to resolve things through careful preparation and quiet diplomacy.

But sometimes, even when you’re doing your best and working to avoid confrontation, your boss still won’t stop micromanaging you, and shows no signs of slowing down anytime in the future.

And in these cases, confronting them can be extremely useful. But, again, you have to be careful. You don’t want to lose your temper with the person who controls your paycheck, after all.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you need to confront your boss about their micromanagement of you:

  • Pick your moment carefully. If your boss is actively asking you for an update, telling you to do something, or otherwise in the process of micromanaging you, that is a bad time. They’re likely to see your confrontation as an unwarranted outburst, and they’re going to get mad.

    Pick a time when they’re a little more relaxed, when they might be a little more open to hearing suggestions.

  • Focus on yourself when you talk. Keep making “I” statements where possible — ask how you could be doing things better, rather than telling them about behaviors they need to change.

    But use your “I” statements to allude indirectly to things they might be doing — let them draw the conclusion that they are micromanaging you all on their own.

  • Talk about trust. If you’re able to frame it as a matter of trust, they might be more receptive to your message. Ask them what you can do to earn their trust back if you’ve lost it.

  • Be aware of your relationship with them up to this point. Some people are going to be more interested in an informal conversation — others might only listen to your words if you come to them with the utmost professionalism.

Tips for Dealing With a Micromanaging Boss

Regardless of how you choose to handle the situation, here are some general, high-level tips for dealing with a micromanaging boss:

  1. Learn your boss’s priorities. Your boss might be focused on entirely the wrong things, but until they realize that, give them what they want. For example, if your boss criticizes the font size on your report, get clear directions on his preferred formatting. It might not matter at all to you, but it’s a low-effort way to avoid issues.

    This tip doesn’t really apply for more important things that your boss is getting wrong — you do have a duty to stop major disasters from happening rather than giving in to all of your boss’s wacky whims.

  2. Figure out the “how.” If your micromanaging boss is big on process, learn her preferred methodology for doing things. If she wants you to do your job in a way that she’s convinced is better, give it a shot.

    If it doesn’t work and you become less efficient, you can come to her with that problem and proof that your own way of doing things works better — for you.

  3. Suggest a tracking system. If the main issue with your boss is how hard they make your job with all the constant check-ins, suggest a tracking system.

    Even something as easy as a Google spreadsheet that’s shared between the team and the manager, where employees can simply check off their tasks throughout the day, can help put your manager’s mind at ease.

  4. Be honest. As we’ve said, micromanaging bosses are bad for the whole company. If you can have a frank conversation or slowly chip away at your boss’s micromanaging tendencies, you’ll do your part to make the office a more pleasant and efficient place to be.

    Unless you and your coworkers really can’t get any work done without someone standing over your shoulder — then your boss was doing the right thing all along.

  5. Be grateful for small changes. Once you’ve made comments and implemented the strategies we’ve discussed, your boss will (hopefully) start to adjust.

    Don’t expect her personality to change overnight, but show appreciation when she allows you that little bit of extra autonomy. As you continue to do a great job, your relationship will naturally improve.

Final Thoughts

One of the best ways to sidestep most of the negative effects of micromanagement is just to make sure your boss receives updates from you as constantly as you can.

If they’re constantly hearing from you, they’re not constantly wondering “what the hell it is you’re doing” or “where that damn report is already.”

Instead, you’re a known quantity. They might still have high expectations and voice disappointment at your progress, but odds are they’ll quickly move on to the coworker whose work they’re still in the dark about.

Do this for long enough and they’re likely to check in with you less and less frequently, assuming you’ll only update them when it’s important.

Eventually, you might find that the micromanagement has totally stopped on its own, just because your boss is no longer wondering what you’re doing all the time. You annoyed the curiosity right out of them.

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Author

Ryan Morris

Ryan Morris was a writer for the Zippia Advice blog who tried to make the job process a little more entertaining for all those involved. He obtained his BA and Masters from Appalachian State University.

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