Micro managing boss

[Youally]

I’ve been in post 9 months. Manager was off on secondment elsewhere but is now back.

Her reputation proceeds her but I like to judge people on how I find them not how others find them.

She’s been back 3 weeks and it looks like the gossip mongers were correct. She is a horror.

In three weeks:

• I’ve been told repeatedly everything in the department is “shit”, chaotic and a mess. She then follows this up with a very nice sweet text about “don’t worry I’ll help you sort it all out, we’ll fix it together” . When I ask for examples of how everything is “shit” - she is very vague and it all just “feels chaotic” or she’ll pick an error made by a receptionist to demonstrate why the whole department is a mess.
• Meetings. She’s put in meetings for everything, everyday, multiple times a day. Everything is micromanaged to the nth degree. She directs how to do every little thing with bullet points and flow charts. Things I was doing with my eyes closed years ago.
• She sends me draft emails to send to my team, written by her but I’m to send from my account under my name.
• Reversed working from home and brought everyone back into the office because she doesn’t believe anyone is productive and they need managing.
• Actually pulls faces when you are talking to her, like screws her face up or grimaces and rolls her eyes
• She truly believes her way is the only way. Any detraction from her way is wrong. Full stop.

My question is, would you tackle or just move on? By all accounts she has been like this for years so I don’t think she’s going to stop anytime soon

* I’ve been told repeatedly everything in the department is “shit”, chaotic and a mess.*

This is not good management

My boss is a micro manager. Frustrating but I respect her enormously intellectually, so I suck it up and we have a good relationship

Do your colleagues share this perspective?
How long has she been there?
How is she regarded by senior management?

Leave. There’s no changing these people.

However, If you wanted to have a go, could you sit her down and explain that things ran successfully in her absence and perhaps you could review some potentials for streamlining (the writing of emails, the interminable meetings) which would give her more time to fix “the shit” (whatever that is)

However, she’s never going to change!

Agree she won't chance , micro managers see themselves as the only person who can do the tasks at hand. Every slight issue blown out of proportion. They are very negative people unsuited to management. I would think very few have the insight to see themselves this way, they just think everyone else is useless.

@Youally

If she's been like this for years, she's known to be negative and a micromanager and her manager(s) haven't challenged her in this I really wouldn't want to stay in that job. Especially if she does this: ⬇️

- She sends me draft emails to send to my team, written by her but I’m to send from my account under my name.

Have you spoken to the manager above her? If there's likely to be no long term improvement on this situation I'd just quietly make plans to move on. 🌹

Jeez she sounds appalling. I can't see her changing.

She won't change. By all means try, sit down with her, be professional, even go to her boss (who must know) but frankly, as for an internal transfer or look for other jobs. Good luck 🤞

Leave!

I had a boss like this, it got worse and worse. I loved my job before he joined, but within weeks my stress levels were off the scale. Most of the team left within a few months, and I still hear horror stories about the continuing micro management.

If the managers further up have no appetite to listen/change things, then there really is nothing you can do.

Eurgh absolute nightmare, I've had similar previously and unfortunately left as I just couldn't stand it anymore. Everyone in our team was capable and willing to learn and work hard to develop in their roles, but were treated like children. He would spend an inordinate amount of time watching people or 'helping' them with simple tasks and then moan they were so super busy- yeah as you've made loads of extra work for yourself. My first thought when wfh was announced was I feel sorry for the poor fuckers with him as their boss!

You could ask her if something is wrong and if she is feeling ok when she screws up her face.

I've had a couple of these and I used to just ignore them. Neither had particularly good memories and couldn't keep track of what they'd been asking people to do - probably because the tasks weren't important anyway.

Just smile and nod and then do what you need to do to avoid doing the pointless task.

It is tough working on with someone like that, plenty of good advice from pp.
Re Emails, I once had someone do this to me, I then realised sometimes it was just making me out to be the bad guy. I started sending the emails, either copied and pasted or forwarded with the message that 'Fred has asked me to send the following' then everyone, including Fred knew I wasn't prepared to do their dirty work for them. It did stop after a while.

I would leave. Its not going to change. She will no doubt be telling her boss how amazing she is sorting the mess of a department out and will make out her team aren't any good. There are loads of jobs out there so a good time to move.

Assess the chances of her moving on and if that's not likely I would leave. I've worked for a micromanager and it was awful. Made me doubt myself for a long time afterwards