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Here we are at Just Over Broke (JOB) University.  Now I know that you probably won’t believe this, but we ran into a Micromanaging Boss.  Gosh, I didn’t even know such a person existed.  LOL!!!

Now I’m sure a lot of managers would like to increase productivity.  But I hardly think you go about achieving this by showing a lack of trust in your employee’s abilities.  Once an employee is hired, yes you should expect them to do the job but you also need to give them the autonomy to do so.  However as I’m sure many of you know, this is not always the case.

Typical Micromanaging Boss…

Are you done yet?  Are you done yet?  Are you done yet?  Are you done yet?   Are you done yet?

And I know many of you want to scream… NOOOOOOOO!!!!   I’m not.  Here is a letter to the micromanaging boss.

Letter to Micromanager (Source: Scott Burkin)

Dear Micromanager:

Owners of thoroughbreds never stop their horses mid-race, every ten seconds, to remind the horse and jockey how to run, where the finish line is, or that it’d be good to finish first. Why? It would slow them down. Only an idiot would do this.

If you’re a manager, you must assume you have thoroughbreds working for you. Your job is to give them what they need to win their respective races, agreeing with them on goals and rewards, but then getting the hell out of the way. Until they start jumping fences or attacking other horses, you must let them run their race.

Even if you are 30% better at a task than someone who works for you, the time it takes for you to check on them every few hours, and demand approvals over trivial decisions, costs more in lost morale, passion for work, and destruction of self-respect among your staff than the 30% you think you’re adding.  No one works well if they feel they are being treated like an idiot child. Having two people involved in work that should only require one wastes everyone’s time.

So, if you have a micromanaging boss, you may be tempted to bolt… but hold up before you make
any rash moves.

In this economy employment is high.  The best way to get out of this situation if it can’t be resolved is to have a Plan B which will turn into your Plan A.  But until you come up with such a plan, here are a few tips to you you manage your micromanaging boss.

1. Predictability… Micromanagers are highly predictable.  If you know where they experience pressure, you can help to ensure that those things are not an issue.
2. Helpfulness… Show the micromanaging boss that you are willing to help them and make his or her job easier.  Take something off of his/her plate to ease their load. 
3. Reliability… Ensure that you, your team and your department are meeting deadlines.  Deadlines are probably big pressure points for your manager.  The micromanaging bossmay feel out of control and get aggravated if deadlines are not met. 
4. Proactive… Try to anticipate the needs of the team and department.  Look at problems that may arise and come up with solutions beforehand.  This demonstrates that you are proactive and shows that you are ahead of the curve.

There are a lot more ways to handle a micromanaging boss but be sure you do so with tact.  You don’t want to alienate your boss and put your job at risk, especially if you need it right now.  However, make sure that you work on a Plan B for yourself so that your micromanaging boss does not have total control.