I was talking to a friend recently who was telling me about his experiences with micromanagers. He’s in a senior position and it’s killing him to have to work under such restrictions.
I’ve been thinking a lot about it since our conversation and about my own response. I need independence in my work life. I need the autonomy to do my job. It doesn’t mean I don’t seek out advice! I do, because I know what my own limitations are. But faced with a micromanager... I begin to exhibit behaviours I’m not proud of.
What bothers me most in my work or my personal life is when someone micromanages my movements. In my book, micromanaging says the other person doesn’t trust me to be competent or able. It tells me that they believe they are somehow better at whatever and feel the impulse to make sure I do it their way. I receive it as a judgement of not only myself but of my skills. It becomes very personal. But it does more-- it limits what I can do and how I do it. I stop being inventive or thoughtful, and my own personal frustration increases. I begin not to want to do the job. It is no longer engaging for me and I cease giving it my all. My standards fall – to survival mode -- just getting the job done.
Micromanagers are highly emotional people. They can be wound up or easily stressed, they can lack confidence or live in fear that they are losing control. They can be easily threatened by others and can sometimes be volatile. They can rely on gossip in the organization and seek out misinformed comments from others and then feel they have the right to act. Even if they appear to hold no emotional history don’t be fooled – even the most controlled are working on their emotions and not on the well being of working relationships, the team or the organization.
So what to do about micromanaging?
There are some people who will never change. You can try to understand what their insecurities are – and my experience tells me they generally have a mountain of issues of their own. Issues I rarely want to figure out or even want to address with the person. I just want them to change the behaviour that most affects how I perform.
Here’s what I do. I ask them what they need. I tell them I need them to go away and not to call or to try to improve on what I’m doing, or undermine my authority.
Then we negotiate a middle point on what they will do and what I will do.
If the agreement is breached by either party then the issue is revisited simply and concisely: i.e. You did this. WE agreed not to…I understand your position but let’s not to do it again while this project is being developed. I have learned that with micromanagers you must essentially negotiate everything.
I know it sounds exhausting and it can be, but expecting them to back off for good is expecting too much.
~ Dr. Helen Ramirez
