Micro-managed

[robaday]

Im having problems at work. For the last two years I have worked in the same role and have been successful in securing repeated funding and exceeding budget expectations. For the bulk of this I was without a manager and thrived independently.

 

My organisation (a charity) has recently recruited a new manager. Shes lovely as a person but so far has micromanaged me and I am struggling with motivation. This week I have had 8 hours worth of meetings with her discussing my progress on a report - progress which would have been far better if a quarter of the time I was not talking about it and was instead writing it. This has been continuous for four months now. I spend over a third of my time in meetings "consulting", "explaining", "discussing", filling in forms, spreadsheets and white boards detailing my work. Yet, I am not managing to accomplish this work due to this interference in it.

 

I am slowly internally losing my temper. So far I have not burst or shown much frustration but its starting to bubble over.

 

How can I improve my situation? I dont dislike her as a person she seems lovely, Im just struggling with her management style immensely and my productivity is declining

[GG3]

I have mastered working with micromanagers a few times now.

 

What kind of work do you do? Your 8 hours of meetings does sound severe. What are the spreadsheets of? I assume you are doing some work on computer?

[Emilia]

How can I improve my situation? I dont dislike her as a person she seems lovely, Im just struggling with her management style immensely and my productivity is declining

My sister works in the charity/NGO sector and from what I've seen, management style there is terrible. I think that's pretty prevalent in the public sector unfortunately.

 

Have you tried to ask her to allow you to be more independent?

[Grumpybutfun]

Time to make man appointment with her and discuss your working style. Let her know that you understand she needs to be filled in on what is going on but you are more productive if you can tackle the work without all the discussions about the work. Tell her that your productivity level is down and since you have only succeeded in this job in the past, you need to be trusted more to do the work without the extra meetings and conferences. Be sincere and honest and also firm. Productivity is what counts in the end. I hate meetings that last forever or comittees when the work would be better served to just be accomplished. Let her know that you think she is managing very well but you feel stifled by all the extraneous components of your work because of huge meetings and discussions ad nauseum for something you can do very well as is proven by your track record. As a Director, I know I would respect someone's word who has shown me she or he can do the job and would want working conditions to be something we can both work with. If she is a good manager she will see that you are concerned with overall productivity. If she needs to be in on your work decisions, ask if a quick progress email can be sent so you can concentrate on the actual work. This can be worked out to both of your advantages. She may be under the impression that this is working for you since you haven't said anything.

Good luck,

Grumps

[preraph]

I agree it's time you sat down and told her that while you empathize that she has a way she is most efficient, you feel her way has definitely made your productivity slip. Tell her she's a lovely person, etc., but that you need time to work automously in order to get the work done. Perhaps volunteer an end-of-the-day bullet-point summary of what you did that day to keep her in the loop.

 

Listen, I work next to a woman who is under another woman (a relative of the boss!) and I would not be able to stand it for one day. This woman will ask her if she's going to call someone and the lady under her will say, Yes, I have some other things to do first. A minute later, she'll say "What did she say?" "I have to finish this first. The boss told me to." Then once she actually gets on the phone to call the person, the other lady will come stand over her and telling her what to say the whole time to where she can't concentrate or hear. Once she did speak up and tell her, Do YOU just want to call? But she just never stops.

 

Also, for some reason she will start an inquiry in the middle without giving any context, like who it's about. Does this all the time. She'll say, "Hey, what happened to that deal...." and the lady under her will say "Wait a minute. Who are you talking about?" And she'll just ignore her. It's so annoying. I'd blow up the very first time it happened. She also finds reasons to bawl her out for a way she's doing something and then at the end the lady will speak up and tell her that's exactly how the boss told her to do it. And she'll be like, Oh, okay, well.... but it never stops her from just continuing to do it.