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Micro managing boss

12 replies

ilovebrie8 · 10/05/2022 20:00

I’ve posted before and don’t know what to do. It’s not just me that has this experience but it’s relentless. I receive an email and then within a few minutes I get a message on Teams did I see the email? Literally instantly no time to stop what I’m doing and read the blooming email and I get a message on Teams it’s too much...! Am exasperated! Said email was v complex not an area I’m familiar with and lots of attachments/email chain to read which alone would take time! Am at the point of saying stuff it...help! It’s not a perm role it’s a contract ...work never used to be like this...😞

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LostForWords2021 · 10/05/2022 20:14

Stick a rule on it/add an out of office on for the email address

Thank you for your email, I'll let you know once I've completed blah blah blah

Qwill · 10/05/2022 20:17

Just turn Teams off when you’re not using it for a meeting. I also mute emails so I don’t see any notifications. It’s a complete waste of precious time, it’s more important to have time to do the work than read about doing the work. Or, if you’re not sat with your boss, create a teams meeting with you as the only invite, present one of your documents to your own meeting and you won’t be disturbed. Or just set to ‘do not disturb’!

ilovebrie8 · 10/05/2022 20:28

I was already busy doing something, we’d already had a OTO that morning about work tasks. I am literally ready to say back the F off 🤣..i found it others are having similar but that doesn’t help me...if ignore him he keeps pinging teams messages ...

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User220422 · 11/05/2022 23:08

Lol are you my colleague? We have a micromanager but my colleague deals with it worse than I do. Colleague will get an email from the big bosses asking him to sort something, with us all copied in. A minute later, manager will reply all, directed to my colleague "Can you make sure this is sorted?".

Micromanagers are the death of businesses, and a huge cause of staff turnover.

I'd finish your contracted period and get yourself out of there. I'd only ever put up with that if I'd been with a company long term and the benefits outweigh the one toxic person (e.g having great colleagues, expert knowledge of the company/role etc). If you're fairly new, no love lost if you call it quits after your contract is up.

Crazylazydayz · 12/05/2022 10:40

Not ideal, but as soon as you get an email reply, email received actioning. That way they have no where to go. Replying means you have received the email and Actioning implies you are doing something I.e you will read it once you have finished current task.

I agree also turn off teams.

Iamnotamermaid · 12/05/2022 10:46

So I had a similar issue. An email rule sent all messages from micro manager into their own folder so 1) I did not miss them and 2) they did not instantly wind me up. Any chasing on teams was met with a thumbs up reaction- no reply. Teams also set to busy 'focus time'.

ilovebrie8 · 13/05/2022 18:59

Please help/advise it’s reached a whole new level. Got a teams message saying hi, I saw it come in but didn’t open as I was going to lunch, got back and several messages on teams, can I call you are you available!! It was clearly lunch time and I’d shown as away. Find out boss has asked colleague have I taken the afternoon off! It’s madness ...it was clear I was at lunch and not even off line an hour! It’s akin to be long stalked ...help 😔. Even if I’m offline he’s expecting a response...not sure how much more I can take !

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ilovebrie8 · 13/05/2022 19:01

I copy my boss into email so it’s clear what I’m doing yet he’s asking what are you doing/working on...I’ve worked many years and never come across this...😕

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User220422 · 13/05/2022 21:53

@ilovebrie8 Honestly, just look for another job. Managers like that won't change. The most you can do is escalate it upwards to his boss or to anyone more senior but, depending on the size/type of company you work for, it may do more harm than good.

Sounds like that's ingrained in him and that's how he operates. Even if he gets spoken to about his behaviour, how long until he slips back into his old ways again?

Is it easy enough for you to find a similar role with similar pay? If so, get out of there!

tribpot · 13/05/2022 22:16

Are you WFH? This sounds like someone (not unlike our dear PM) who believes that if you're working from home you are clearly skiving. No doubt any time you don't respond within a microsecond to his email or Teams message, he feels vindicated.

On the lunchtime issue, make sure you set your Teams status message to 'I've popped out to grab lunch' and tick the box that means it will display right above the message box for anyone who tries to contact you. Definitely set your status to 'Do Not Disturb' when you need to focus on work.

I definitely would be tempted to have a stock response to his email as @Crazylazydayz suggests - 'received, thank you'.

Another good technique, assuming you're using the Outlook desktop client rather than Outlook in a browser, is actually to click 'work offline'. This means you won't receive or send any emails. You can then deal with a batch of them and reconnect at the end of a session, whizz them all off and download the next lot, disconnect again until you're ready. If he challenges you on this say you've seen it as a great productivity tip on YouTube (that's where I got it from!).

In these one-to-ones, I'd maybe also be explicit 'I'm going to be offline for 2 hours this afternoon whilst I complete task <a> and I will check email after that'. Force him to object to your face. But fundamentally yes, I would look for another role pronto.

ilovebrie8 · 13/05/2022 22:45

@User220422 and @tribpot ygsbjs for your replies. It’s wearing me down and I’ll lose my confidence if I carry on there...it’s not good for my mental health makes me on edge. Already have anxiety due to menopause so don’t need this. Yes I am WFH. I think I can find something else relatively easily I need to get out of this situation...😕

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ilovebrie8 · 13/05/2022 22:45

Thanks

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