6 solutions for dealing with micro-managers

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere.   – Ronald Reagan

 

If you have a micro-manager, you might be heaving a big “harrumph” upon reading our quote this week.

 

Micro-managers are frequently on the list of workplace challenges I hear about, and I want to address that a bit today.

 

 

What’s a micro-manager?

 

If you have a micro-manager you might be seeing these things in your job:

 

• You feel as if someone is looking over your shoulder every minute of every day.

 

• If you think independently or suggest ideas, your manager appears threatened.

 

• Your manager gives explicit, specific directions on everything he delegates. You feel more like an “order taker” than a problem solver.

 

• Your manager resists new ways of thinking or doing things.

 

It’s certainly not an exhaustive list of micro-manager tendencies, but you get the idea.

 

As with so many other things in life, human behavior typically has some explainable element. Micro-managers are no different.

 

At the root cause of micro-management are a couple of things.

 

1. There’s fundamentally an overwhelming fear of failure.

 

Some managers simply believe that no one could do the job as well as they could. Handing things over to you means you might screw it up, which could put them in a compromising position.

 

By controlling you, your manager is at some level attempting to control his or her own anxiety about failing.

 

2. Your manager could be fiercely invested in the work, and want to protect it.

 

Say you work for a small family owned business. That person’s reputation and future are on the line. Every resource in his life has been poured into that business, and he cares passionately about what you deliver to customers.

 

He may take the oversight issue to an extreme. But his intentions are good.

 

3. Maybe you’re a new hire, or new on the job, and you haven’t proven your competence yet.

 

Your boss might need to look over your shoulder and see “sustained results” from you, to believe you really have the ability to do the job without his excessive participation.

 

What to do

 

Here are a couple of ideas to create a positive shift in this part of your work life.

 

• Try to see it his way.

Think about what your manager’s responsible for and the load he must be carrying. How would it feel to be in his shoes? What concerns would you have in his place?

Having empathy doesn’t resolve your manager issues, but it can help you to de-stress a bit and not take his interference so personally.

 

• Take the long view.

If you’ve got an over-passionate manager, understand that her tendencies may come from the place of trying to do the right thing, whether it’s helping customers, or delivering results for your organization.

 

• Demonstrate your competence.

If you’re new, provide demonstrable evidence – over time – that you have the ability to do the job. Allow for a learning curve that assures your manager you’ve got it under control so she can back off.

 

• Oversupply information.

One way to get an over-involved manager to relax is to assure him you’ll inform him every step of the way. Think “transparency.”
Explain what you are doing, or not, and why. Give him no reason to doubt your action or intentions, and it may help smooth your relationship out.

 

• Follow-up proactively.

When you have key deliverables, give your manager a heads up well before the due date. Let him know you are on track, and what you expect to have completed, when.
Anticipate questions before he asks. If you beat him to it consistently, he may back off a bit.

 

• Put the moose on the table.

If you can’t get your boss to shake her ways, have a one-on-one and put it on the table. Calmly, factually and professionally discuss your observations and issues.
Assure your boss you can manage without such oversight and provide evidence, or suggest a trial process. Suggest how much more time she would have if she delegated more effectively.

 

Take action this week.

 

Are you challenged by an overbearing manager? Try one of these suggestions this week, and let me know how it goes.

 

When you deal constructively with your micro-manager, you’re working The Positive Shift!

 

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