Appraisal - telling boss to stop micromanaging me

[WipsGlitter]

How can I politely tell my boss to back off a bit and let me get on with things?

He mentioned something he wanted me to do on Friday - today two emails with plans. I should be writing the plans not him! He needs to focus on what he's supposed to be doing and stop interfering with me!!!

[CrystalSkull]

Could you couch it along the lines that you're settling into the role well and feel confident to work more independently? That perhaps your boss could give you some instructions at the beginning and then you'll be able to get on with it and 'free him up' to work on other things? Good luck.

[Kerberos]

I'm having same issue. Marking place for ideas. It's driving me potty.

[SilverBirchWithout]

Talk about management style and what makes you more effective, builds confidence, respect and trust.

Ask him whether there is anything you could doing differently to engender a more hands off approach; would he like more feedback or you to communicate in a different way to reassure him that you have things under control.

Veil your critisim of his style by asking for him to support you in helping you to work more effectively if he used a different approach.

[NeatandTidyTidyandNeat]

Yes, agree with Silverbirch - can you ask something like "What else can I be doing, to make sure you feel informed and confident that pieces of work are in hand?" Re the example you've given, I would also ask Every Single Time "and what is your timeline for when you need this in draft or final version?"

Your manager might be someone who can't let go (which can be tough to live with) or might just have a different communication style to you, and currently not feel certain that you have "heard" the priority or deadlines of the projects you've been given. Or they might be awful not great at giving clear direction about priorities and urgency.

So if you can find a different way of managing the information and providing that assurance, it might make for an easier life for both of you. Some options might be: agreeing review dates for work well ahead of deadlines, sending a quick email summary after a new piece of work is given to you to make sure you both agree its priority level, occasionally coming to your manager with a query that actually shows you're already on top of things - "this has come up, I've identified a or b as suitable options; before I devote more time to it, what are your thoughts?" - or a five-minute verbal update each morning if you're in a particularly fast-moving context...

Basically, I would over-inform for a while, giving regular structured updates (but not scattergun emails all the time) and see if that brings down the anxiety levels.