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My boss, Rudolph, is micromanaging me.  Rudolph wants to read emails before I send them out, view my schedule, sit in on meetings and send him a list of what I do each day. I can hardly function like this. How do I handle a micromanaging boss?

When micromanaging is a new behavior

You’ve worked independently in the past, and now Rudolph is nitpicky and overly involved in your work. What changed? 

You may assume that this came out of nowhere, but people don’t generally change on a whim. There is a reason Rudolph wants to read your emails, view your schedule, accompany you to your meetings and see what you accomplish each day. What is that reason?

It could be something you did. While I hate to say it, sometimes micromanaging is the correct response to an employee who is not performing at an acceptable level. Have you done any of the following lately?

• Sent out emails with lots of typos
• Sent out emails with serious errors
• Had someone complain to your boss about your tone — either when you speak or when you write
• Fallen behind on projects
• Prioritized projects so that the most important things were not done

If you are the problem, your boss may well be trying to fix it through micromanagement rather than having a direct conversation. Some bosses find it difficult to have direct conversations, so they use this passive-aggressive method. 

If you know your work has slacked off and Rudolph started this nitpicky behavior after that, shape up! Go to Rudolph and say, “I know my work has not been great lately. I want to improve. Can you help me make a plan to improve my performance? I want to earn your trust again.”

It could also be that Rudolph’s boss is pressuring him. Rudolph may be trying to justify his own work and worth by showing how much “managing” he’s doing. Again, a direct conversation is often the best approach. 

Try saying something like this to Rudolph: “I’ve noticed you’re making more changes to my work and asking me for more detail. What problem are you trying to solve?” Rudolph may well let you know, and he may back off. Sometimes, just pointing it out is enough. But if the pressure is coming from above, it might not be so easy to fix.

When micromanaging is how your boss has always managed

Leading people is hard. Most people aren’t natural-born leaders, and most companies don’t train their managers in leadership. Your boss may not be horrible; he just may not know how to manage.

He may be a horrible person, but you should always start from a position of grace and assume the best. Ask Rudolph for a sit-down meeting and express your concerns. Make a business case for more independence. Use “I” statements rather than accusatory you statements. For example:

• When I have to wait for approval before sending out an email, I keep the customer waiting. 
• I have a strong history of high performance. Waiting on layers of approval before acting prevents me from achieving at a high level.
• When I represent my projects and team at meetings, I come in a position of power with respect. The client doesn’t see me as the decision-maker when someone else is there. It makes it tough to close deals.

While that sounds a little stilted, that’s on purpose. What you don’t want to do is start throwing accusatory “yous.” “You take forever to approve my emails, and the customers don’t like it” will not melt Rudolph’s heart.

If Rudolph insists that he has to review your emails, attend your meetings and manage your schedule, ask my magical question:

“Rudolph, we both want the same thing here — high levels of productivity. What problem are you trying to solve by checking my emails?”

If there is a real problem that takes you up to the first scenario, you need to change something. If there isn’t, you can ask for more independence. State your case clearly and ask for him to back off.

Like this:

“You rarely make changes to my emails before sending them, and the changes you make are minor. Let me try doing this independently for the next week, and then we can reevaluate.”

“I’ve been working hard building client relationships. I’m ready to run a meeting on my own. Let me do the next meeting by myself, and I’ll report back to you on how it went.”

Asking to reevaluate and volunteering to report will help ease Rudolph into the idea that you can be left alone.

If none of this works

Some control freaks cannot see a better way to do things than micromanaging. Some have always had micromanaging bosses and literally don’t know another way. In this case, you can escalate to Rudolph’s boss. Hopefully, the big boss won’t want Rudolph to waste all his time following his employees around. If that doesn’t work, you have to decide if this job is worth the hassle. If it is, great! If not, time to move on. 

Send questions to evilhrlady@gmail.com.

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