Managing the Micromanager
By Julie Adamen

Yes, you all know this one, don’t you? You all have, or have had, at least one micromanager in your professional life. It can be your boss, someone who’d like to think they are your boss, a board member, committee member, you name it.  For professional managers micromanagement is pretty common, and can be very infuriating.  Micromanagement is an attack on our competency as a manager: How we are organized, how we work, how well we know our stuff. Here’s some food for thought on dealing with the next micromanager who enters your life.

The agenda of the micromanager is control.  Micromanagers want control for various reasons. Maybe they have serious feelings of being inadequate for the position in which they have been thrust. Maybe they want credit for the work you are doing. Maybe they feel they are vastly superior in their ability to get the job done. Maybe they want to mentor you.  Maybe none or all of the above. Regardless, they want control of the final outcome of your work product. (The funny thing about micro-managers is that they end up spending all their time on details while the big picture could be spinning out of control for all they know).

It’s not personal. The micromanager is a professional at what he or she does. They micromanaged (or tried to) the person before you, and will attempt to do so to the person who follows you. It’s not personal; it’s their way of dealing with their world. It’s not about you, it’s about them.

Fighting the micromanagement will backfire on YOU. The faster you realize this truth, the better your life will become. Stop fighting it. The harder you resist the input of the micromanager, especially if they are in some sort position over you (like a Board member, or a supervisor), the more they will demand. Pretty soon they are looking reasonable to everyone and you are the one who looks uncooperative.  Swallow your indignation, do what they ask or need, and then begin to out micro-manage them.

Managing the Micromanager

Start by cooperating. The starting point to manage your micromanager is cooperation. Whatever they want, attempt cooperation.  Do they want to see all your correspondence? You set the time it’s emailed or faxed to them. Do they want to approve all invoices for sprinkler heads? Have your landscaper provide one invoice every month (in the case of a big association, every week – or every-other-day) specifically for sprinkler heads. Set the time and day it goes to your micromanager. Set the time and day it must return. Don’t confuse cooperation with giving in to what you perceive are ridiculous demands – what you are doing is beginning to re-take the control by managing how you cooperate.

Paper them to death. Memos, emails, memos, phone calls, memos, faxes.  What you did, what the staff is doing, when you will be where. What’s upcoming.  What’s behind. What correspondence went out. Who came in to your office. Include the micromanager in every loop there is – and them some. It just takes a few minutes, especially if you use email. For portfolio managers, this method can work very well. Try this: Keep a running list of all the things going on throughout the day – when are getting ready to leave (and I mean out the door with your cell phone OFF), hit the send button.

Meet with them on a daily basis. If you are an on site manager, and the micromanager is a Board member, or the micromanager is your immediate office supervisor, this works really, really well. Ask for a face-to-face every day at 4pm. Go over all the details of whatever you are working on - and then some. Make sure the meeting lasts at least an hour. I know this seems absurd and time consuming – but believe me it will save you time in the long run. 

Ask them for suggestions. Micromanagers love it when you go to them and ask for advice.  Whenever you are with your micromanager, take notes, and memorialize your meetings or calls in memos back to them. Because you are now “cooperating,” the micromanager will have a hard time keeping up with everything. Memos CYA.

Give them projects. Here’s a another good way to keep them busy  - but you must manage this very well as there can be serious pitfalls. Giving micromanagers tasks is so you can manage them – Completion of the task is not the point: Managing them by keeping them busy and feeling involved, is. 

When you meet with your micromanager, make sure you have your list of projects that need implementing, or follow up. This list should be your entire action list for the week, month, and year (if you keep one that far). A big list not only shows what you do, but makes the micromanager feel they are needed to “help” you do your job.  Go over the list with your micromanager, and ask them to take on one, two or three projects. Make sure they know the deadlines for the projects - BUT - Don’t make the mistake of giving projects out without following up. See below.

Don’t mistake micromanagement for competency, or wanting to be truly involved. Many micromanagers appear to want to be truly involved in what you are doing, or appear to be competent in what they are trying to micromanage. Most micromanagers think they want to be involved in a lot of things – until you involve them in a lot of things.

If you give a micromanager tasks – remember – you are still responsible for those tasks.  Don’t make what could be a fatal mistake by either missing a crucial deadline or, worse yet, making the micromanager look foolish in front of the staff, homeowners or board members. It may be momentarily satisfying, but eventually (if not immediately) you will pay the price, possibly with your job.

The end result

Now that you have included the micromanager in every loop there is, you are papering them to death with memos and emails and have graduated to assigning projects – well!  They may stick around for a while, but chances are pretty soon the luster and glamour (?!) of the job fades away and watching paint dry seems more interesting (now, there’s a project!).  They still may pay some attention to certain issues, just to remind themselves of their own importance, but most likely their micromanagement will be very manageable to you.

The good news

The good news is that micromanagers can actually make you a better manager. I can tell you, from my own experience, that my micromanagers pushed me to a level of excellence that I don’t think I would have achieved, at least in that amount of time, without them. I learned to think creatively, became more analytical and learned to implement ideas, their and mine, far more effectively. See if it works for you.