Just hearing the term “micromanager” makes my skin crawl. I have flashbacks to late nights in the office, constant revisions of pointless e-mails, and lovely reminders of why I left the corporate life. In fact, while working on this week’s post and podcast, my two year old daughter happened to drop her first “F” bomb. I believe they may be related. 

We hate micromanagement - no secret there. It’s ubiquitous with the frustration of corporate life; and when we think of all the reasons we dislike a job or look to move, having a micromanager is typically at the top of the list. 

It’s become so ubiquitous, in fact, that many of us just accept the fact that it’s there, and we don’t go beyond and try to understand it. But through understanding, and a different perspective, we might be able to deal with that boss that drives us up a wall - or change the way that we are managing our own people. 

Why We Hate It

There aren’t many surprises in the research on micromanagement - it shows we don’t like it. The challenge with it is that we are pairing “process” and “emotion;” two fundamentally very different aspects to work life. 

Processes have no emotion - they are steps in getting something done. Yet we internalize them, and when we are corrected, we take it personally; we feel belittled, and our emotions affect our ability to respond appropriately. Often times, what we consider micromanagement has nothing to do with us at all. 

A Macro View of MicroManagement

So let’s take a “macro” view of micromanagement. Each individual situation is different, so preaching how to handle your particular micromanager is a pointless exercise. But as I like to ask questions, I’ll pose a few to you in order to help you think through what it is you are actually dealing with. 

When I think of micromanagement, I think of four buckets that could be causing the issue: 

Neuroticism or insecurity on the part of the manager - We don’t always know what a manager is dealing with. The pressure to perform, especially when in a new role, could be the driver behind this style of management. In some instances, a manager can grow out of it as they get more comfortable in their role - it just takes time. 

High performers like things their own way - In many organizations, the high performers are the first promoted. The problem is, high performance in the field doesn’t translate to successful people managing. Many high performers either know what it took for them to be successful and want to instill it in others, or they have difficulty giving up control as they evolve from a “me” person to a “team” person in management. 

Our brains work differently - I mentioned above that micromanagement covers emotions and process. Well, each of us has a brain preference for one or the other. Some individuals are “process” people, where they are big on how things get done, while others are “people” people, who are big on who gets that thing done. These people clash ALL of the time, simply because they communicate and prioritize differently. Fortunately for many - this is easily coached (so call me.) 

Lessons of Machiavelli - What I hear the most when coaching someone through dealing with a micromanager is something along these lines: “They just feel threatened by me because I’m so talented and amazing.” (not always in those exact words). Look - it may be possible, but often times it’s not. Most people are so busy with their own agendas that they aren’t paying that much attention to the people behind them (not a good thing, by the way).

As an FYI, and a counter argument - in some instances micromanagement is a good thing.