Effective management is crucial for team success and employee satisfaction in today’s fast-paced work environment. However, when your manager crosses the line, it can stifle productivity and quickly turn into them becoming a micromanager.
Micromanagement is often a sign of a lack of trust and can lead to high employee turnover, diminished creativity, and decreased morale. Here are 15 signs that suggest your boss might be a micromanager, helping you to identify this behavior and consider strategies for handling such situations.
1. Overly Focused on Minor Details
If your boss spends a disproportionate amount of time on trivial details rather than focusing on the bigger picture, it might be because they’re a micromanager. They may obsess over the formatting of documents, the exact wording of emails, or other minutiae that have minimal impact on overall outcomes.
Do your best to follow the guidelines, but speak up about suggestions for improvement. Your manager may not listen to your advice but at least you tried!
2. Difficulty Delegating Tasks
A micromanager struggles to delegate tasks fully. They may give you something to do and then take over, showing little confidence in your ability to do the work.
It can be frustrating to do your work in this situation, slowing you down and making you second guess every choice. Speak with HR or another trusted manager if you are comfortable.
3. Constant Check-Ins
Frequent and unnecessary check-ins are a hallmark of micromanagement. When your boss asks for frequent updates and can’t wait for scheduled meetings, it indicates a deep need for control.
An estimated 50% of employees feel undervalued at work according to a recent survey. Part of the reason for that feeling is because their manager is constantly over their shoulder.
4. Excessive Reporting Requirements
Do you find yourself always doing busy work at the office? Micromanagers often require excessive and detailed reports on routine tasks, causing you to do extra work that isn’t always necessary.
The majority of your work day shouldn’t be spent documenting every step of your work rather than actually doing the work itself. Analyze your daily tasks to see if you notice this work because it could be a red flag that your boss is micromanaging.
5. Every Decision Requires Approval
You can’t even go to the bathroom in the middle of the day without asking for permission! While this is an extreme example, some micromanager do ask their employees to run even small decisions through them first.
Employees want to feel autonomy and confidence in their careers. When even small decisions cannot be made without the approval of your boss, it limits your ability to work efficiently.
6. Resistance to Innovation
Change can be hard. However, it’s a necessary part of every industry to progress and improve.
Micromanagers tend to resist new ideas or innovative approaches that deviate from their established methods. If your boss dismisses new suggestions without considering their potential, it could stifle the overall creativity and growth within your team.
7. Temporary Tasks
Occasionally, a micromanager might give you a special task for you to complete, only to quickly take it back at the slightest issue or deviation from their expected path. This pattern discourages independence and can leave employees feeling frustrated and confused.
Ask for more work if you want it, but come prepared with examples and figures on what you’re doing. Your boss may not outright trust you right away, but sometimes the results speak for themselves.
8. Focus on Procedure Over Outcome
Your boss may like everything to be done by the book. They’re more concerned with how tasks are done rather than what is achieved. This approach can be particularly problematic when it leads to inefficiencies. Some procedures could be hindering positive results.
9. Lack of Trust in Team Expertise
A micromanager often underutilizes the skills and expertise of their team. They might insist on being the primary decision-maker or the only source of knowledge.
When your boss has this type of personality, it can be hard to feel excited about coming to work. Their lack of trust demoralizes skilled professionals and often wastes valuable resources.
10. Information Hoarding
Whether they’re in charge of a small team or a large Fortune 500 company, micromanagers like to be in control.
Micromanagers tend to hoard information as a way to maintain control. If your boss often keeps critical information to themselves, making it difficult for you to do your job effectively, it could be a sign of micromanaging behavior.
11. Negative Impact on Morale
Are you concerned about the state of your workplace? Regularly observe the general morale of your team. If there is a noticeable decline in enthusiasm and job satisfaction, or an increase in stress levels, it might be due to the oppressive nature of a micromanaging boss. This behavior affects your overall productivity.
12. High Turnover in the Team
We spend the majority of our time and energy at work. With that in mind, we don’t want to be employed by a company where we constantly have someone looking over our shoulders.
According to HR Dive, nearly 75% of workers say micromanagement is one of the biggest red flags about a workplace. High turnover can be a sign of this toxic work environment.
13. Feedback Focuses on the Negatives
Some managers give their employees a “compliment sandwich” during evaluations. They start with a positive, squeeze in an area for improvement, and end with an optimistic look toward the future.
If the “sandwich” during a meeting is all negative, then you could be dealing with a micromanager. Even your smallest mistakes come back to haunt you, and you’re left with no constructive feedback for moving forward.
14. Discourage Employees from Making Decisions
In a micromanaged environment, employees might feel that they lack the authority to make decisions, even in their areas of expertise. Their manager wants to be consulted for every minor issue, which in turn, hampers growth and efficiency.
Be wary of bosses who come across as know-it-alls. You’re going to always be under their thumb, waiting for them to make a move before anything can get done.
15. Lack of Personal Connection
Not that you need to be best friends with your boss, but you should at least know a little something about their personal lives. Micromanagers are often so focused on control and productivity that they fail to build personal connections with their employees.
Every interaction is purely transactional and lacks any personal warmth. Ultimately, this affects job satisfaction and loyalty since employees don’t really know who they are working for.
Move Away from Micromanaging
Workplaces need to do an honest assessment of their management team. It’s beneficial since micromanagers hurt productivity, lower employee morale, and hinder your ability to grow and thrive as a business.
For employees, working under a micromanager can be challenging and stressful. If you’re comfortable, address these issues directly with your boss through honest communication. You can also seek support from HR.
Read More:
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Overworked and Undervalued: 10 Signs You’re More Qualified Than Your Current Job
Alyssa Serio has been a writer and editor since graduating from Aurora University in 2014. In her free time, she loves reading, playing volleyball, and watching any horror movie (even the bad ones) with her husband.