I work in a professional, experienced, team of 8. We work across a number of departments and the company has a matrix management system. I’m doing a lot of work for one department under the manager of that department, but she is not my line manager. My line manager is also her line manager. I hope this makes sense!
The departmental manager cannot stop herself interfering in absolutely everything, asking for changes to things outside her remit, and focusing on tiny ‘errors’ that have no impact on the delivery of the service because she doesn’t like them, rather than because they’re wrong, and always trying to get us to do extra, either beyond what were required to do, or do something that’s really her job. It’s not just me she’s doing this to, it’s all of us when we work for her, but it’s relentless. Sometimes upwards of 20 emails a day - even on her days off. As a contrast, the manager of another department for which I do the same role has sent me one email to check everything is going well in 2 months. And it always it, I’ve done my job for a long time, am committed to CPD so I’m up to date, chartered member of a professional body, etc., I’m fairly senior, my outcomes are excellent, I’ve won awards, and I usually get ‘exceeds expectations’ in my PDR. My own line manager absolutely trusts me to deliver the goods, but I’ve never come across anything where I had to work for someone like this and it’s frustrating and a little humiliating to feel so untrusted.
Have you ever worked for a micromanager? Do you have any tips on how to handle them?