Whether you are a manager yourself or not, chances are you have been in the presence of a controlling manager.
With the new reality of remote work, new management styles and new questions are emerging.
Do you know how to deal with this new era of remote management and the micromanagers that the pandemic seems to have created?
How to recognize micromanagement?
First, controlling managers usually don't have the bad intentions they are made out to have. They often have difficulty trusting their employees and this translates into excessive control and monitoring. Most of the time, this type of behaviour was there long before the pandemic, except that some aspects have changed. In the past, micromanagement was recognized by :
- Frequent meetings to check in on the progress of tasks
- Attention to small or unimportant details
- Unrealistic deadlines
- Little encouragement for initiative or independent decision making
- Very specific demands on how the work needs to be done
- Demand for detailed reports and documentation of all tasks performed
- Dissatisfaction with the work accomplished by employees
- Little flexibility in general
- And finally, high employee turnover!
While this type of management can still be observed in remote work, the following behaviors are now being added to the list:
- Frequent surprise calls to inquire about task progress
- Requirement to be carbon copied on all emails
- Monitoring of hours worked through technological tools or a timesheet
- Monitoring of employee behaviors through technological tools
Unfortunately, criticizing, monitoring and controlling your employees will definitely demotivate them. Indeed, humans need to feel autonomous. To have the freedom to accomplish their work and their goals without someone controlling every step. This is one of the three fundamental and innate needs that we find in everyone, regardless of age, origin, etc.
"Far from being anecdotal, destructive leadership (such as micromanagement) is believed to be responsible for an estimated $23.8 billion in increased health care costs and decreased productivity each year in the United States, and between 15 and 17 percent of organizations are affected by this type of leadership." (Revue Gestion)
How to address the problem?
If your first instinct is to tell yourself that your manager will never change, and that the only solution is to leave or endure, we are here to tell you that other solutions exist!
A good manager will adjust his or her management style to the employees. So, if your supervisor's approach is stressing you out and making you less productive, a conversation is in order.
As mentioned before, human beings need a minimum of autonomy to feel motivated. This need for autonomy is different for each person and it is therefore also your responsibility to communicate what helps you and what hinders you in your work. Remember that in order to feel autonomous, we need to feel that we have the possibility to make choices, in accordance with our own expertise.
Establish clear objectives
Management by objectives is a more flexible management style. When employees have clear objectives and know that achieving these objectives contributes to the company's success, they are more motivated. Management by objectives therefore creates engagement, and by the same token, better performance. Many articles and studies can be found on the Internet on this subject, if you wish to propose this practice to your supervisor.
With your manager, try to collaboratively set SMART goals, which are :
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Timely
Specific objectives will allow your manager to clearly communicate his or her expectations to you. However, you remain responsible for choosing the means to achieve these objectives and therefore have more autonomy and control over your work.
Be careful, however, to communicate the resources and tools you will need to achieve your goals. Communicating effectively, especially when working from home, is an important aspect of reassuring a supervisor who is inclined towards micromanagement.
Establish when and how to follow up
If surprise calls and follow-up emails every 5 minutes stress you out, it should be mentioned (in a polite and professional manner). This may be a given for many employees, but it is not always a given for a controlling manager. Simply because micromanagement is not necessarily voluntary!
Establishing a specific schedule, such as weekly meetings, will help your supervisor know when to follow up with you. In these meetings, you will be able to share your progress as well as your difficulties. Schedule these meetings at a frequency that works for both of you.
What if your supervisor continues to ask you about your progress every day? You can answer briefly, but gently mention that you can address these issues in more detail in the meeting scheduled for that purpose.
The excuse of remote work
"Out of sight out of mind" does not necessarily apply to remote work. In fact, employee productivity remained the same or even increased during the pandemic.
Controlling managers should not use this as an excuse to keep a close eye on their remote employees. Chances are, all employees in the company are responsible adults and should be treated as such.
Also, if employees were trustworthy in the office, there is no reason why they shouldn't be trustworthy while working from home. And if that's the case, the problem is probably that the manager or the company didn't hire the right candidate. In any case, it is primarily on the micromanager's side that efforts must be made to change the situation...
And if nothing changes?
In conclusion, a new era of management is beginning. An era where supervisors trust their employees enough to work from home... Hopefully in an autonomous way.
A good supervisor in 2022 will be someone ... :
- Who clearly communicates their (realistic!) expectations
- Who encourages employees to give their opinion
- Who gives the necessary resources to accomplish the tasks and work remotely
- Who encourages and appreciates initiative
- Who trusts their employees on the allocation of time and the means used to accomplish the objectives
This type of manager does exist. So, if communicating with your manager hasn't changed anything, or if you don't think that talking openly about the problem will improve the situation, it may be a sign that you should change jobs. We suggest you take a look at our job section or send us your resume.
