If you’ve been out in the working world for a while, you’ve probably come across a micromanager. You know the type—when they hand out an assignment they go into excruciating detail about how it should be done and then constantly check in to see how you’re doing. They hate to delegate and then complain they have way too much work to do. Timekeeping is a top priority, and no matter how much overtime you put in, arriving late in the morning is a major crime.
If it’s any comfort, you are not alone if you’re unhappy in your current job. Nearly 6 in 10 workers are considering a search for a new job in 2025, according to a recent survey by Resume Templates. And 28% of respondents cited poor management as their reason for wanting to move on.
In a 2014 survey, 59% of employees interviewed reported working for a micromanager at some point in their careers. The survey also found the constant scrutiny negatively impacted most workers: 68% of those who felt they’d been micromanaged said it decreased their morale and 55% said it hurt their productivity.
Tales from the front lines
Beth Ezekiel has a computer science degree from an Ivy League university and was working for a software development company. She wrote code all day and made sure everything was running before she left for the evening. It wasn’t long before her manager started rewriting all her code every night.
“Each morning I would find him pacing outside my office so he could go over all the changes he made, none of which were necessary. As this was only my second job after graduation, I thought maybe this is how companies operate,” she says. “I lasted two years there but then decided to leave as the situation never improved.”
Don’t think micromanaging only happens to entry-level employees. John Stanton was a very experienced CFO of a manufacturing company in New York. After about three months, he realized the CEO was not only a micromanager but a bully as well. “I woke up at 5:45 a.m. one day and saw seven texts from him, starting at 4 a.m., wanting an update on something,” he says. “The texts got angrier and angrier because I hadn’t responded. Each day he had to know every detail of what I was working on and would tell me to send an email to someone, dictating every word of what I should say.”
At the office holiday party, Stanton says the manager even told his staff what great things to say to his wife about him so she would know how valuable he was to the company. “He would not tolerate any kind of conversation when I tried to improve the relationship and would just say that I was not performing up to par. I lasted six months before I decided I had to leave.”
Why managers micromanage
So, why are some bosses so controlling? Steve McClatchy, author of Leading Relationships: Build Meaningful Connections, Eliminate Conflict, and Radically Improve Engagement, says micromanagement is not always a bad thing. “Micromanagement is a tool in the toolbox of a manager that needs to be complemented with macromanagement,” he says. Macromanagement means giving employees a lot of autonomy.
He notes that micromanagement is often a trust issue. “If the manager was promoted because they mastered a certain skill and, as a result, became the best performer, then their tendency as a manager might be to teach everyone to do a task exactly the way they used to do it. The problem with this approach is it leaves out the ability for that task to be completed a different way.”
Strategies to manage the micromanager
If a micromanager is driving you crazy, you do have options beyond finding another job. First, I find complaining to HR is usually not a great strategy. While trying to be helpful, they may go to your boss and say, “Mary Smith was in my office today saying that she is unhappy with how you constantly micromanage.” It will upset your boss that you took the issue outside the group, and you might set yourself 10 steps back when trying to improve the situation.
McClatchy suggests meeting with your micromanager and saying something like, “‘I need your help. I could be off base with this, but I’m sensing that you’re worried about my ability to complete the task (or project) successfully. I often find myself spending a lot of time updating you on the completion of a task versus spending that time working on it. What do you think?’
“From here you would navigate the conversation towards what you are looking for, which is to receive more macromanagement,” he says. “Ask your boss what they would need to see, hear or experience to have trust and confidence that you can produce the end result.”
Gail Welch is a retired vice president of a large defense contractor, and over the years, she worked out great strategies to deal with a micromanager. “First you need to build a foundation of trust,” she advises. “Always meet your deadlines and if you can, turn in assignments a day or two early.”
When assigned a project, Welch would come up with at least two ideas on how to accomplish the work. The first would be a traditional, straightforward approach and the second would be more creative.
“I would always emphasize how this new idea is grounded in the company’s culture and how they work with a customer,” she says. “You also want to get buy-in from your internal stakeholders and even bring another person, such as [from] finance, to a planning session with your boss. Always keep in mind their tolerance level for creativity. When you are successful a couple of times, your boss is more assured that they can rely on you.”
Welch says she would then ask, “‘How often do you want me to brief you on my progress? How do you like to communicate—by email, phone or by swinging by your office?’ I would also frequently send out ‘Heads Up on XYZ Project’ emails so my boss always had sound bites if he was in a meeting with his management or a customer,” she adds. “You never want them to be caught not being in the know. Basically, you have to adjust your style to their style and be on the same page—and your page is his page.”
Give these tactics a try and you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment that you managed your micromanager.
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