How do you deal with a micromanager?

[Username3000]

I’ve been in my current role about 18 months now. I’ve not had any major issues until my manager recently got a new manager himself. Since he has been under this new boss he’s suddenly, pretty much overnight, turned into a micromanager.

I am getting emails checking up on me constantly, criticism about my work over minor details (I forgot to put a capital letter in an email once and he sent me an entire paragraph critiquing this for example!!) and I feel he just harasses me on a constant basis. I’m working my arse off so it’s so frustrating to feel like he’s checking up on me constantly. I now dread any 1-2-1 as I know he’ll just list off all the errors I’ve made and it makes me feel like shit truth be told.

I’ve just had an email at 9.40 this morning already asking how much work I’ve done so far, I started at 9!

Another of our colleagues has gone on annual leave for an extended period of time so he’s panicking about the workload and has become even more stressful the last couple of weeks.

Does anyone have any advice to deal with this? It’s starting to really affect me and I’ve started to dread work sadly!

Shit like this normally starts at the top
challenge it constructively at your 1/2/1 with examples

There are a couple of things you can do such as move to a different position in the company or find another job. If you want to stay, I would approach it in a couple of ways.

First you could arrange a meeting with your manager and cite some of his behaviour, give clear examples and let him know how it makes you feel. Second you could collate all examples of his behaviour, emails, take a note of calls and messages and take it to your union or HR.

Your employee handbook should tell you company policy for how to deal with harassment at work. You could also phone ACAS for advice.

Itemise everything
Keep records

Arrange a line management meeting
Voice your concerns

And resist what i probably wpuld do and say in the time it took you to write an entire paragraph identifying i had missed a capital letter. You could have just rectified it rather than seeking to humiliate me ...

I feel your pain, I've just been promoted, but have a new manager and she micromanages and criticises constantly as well. It's very stressful and for the first time in years I dread going to work. She's on holiday at the moment and I feel so much better but am dreading her return. Everytime something goes wrong (not my doing just things out of my hands) I know she will be annoyed and blame me for it.

I think I am going to try and turn off my notifications on emails so I only check them at specific times in the day so I am not constantly on edge. Hopefully this will help me get on with the work as well as sometimes I find I am in an anxious state which actually means I get less done.

I have spoken to my old manager about it and HR but not sure if I actually want to take it further yet. I's rather not leave as I love everything else about it.

I am sorry to hear you’re going through the same!

yes I feel the same, I don’t want to leave my role as I do enjoy it, but my boss is becoming an issue and it’s affecting me now. I dread getting a teams message or email from him now, as the majority of the time it’s him critiquing something I’ve done. It’s never constructive criticism either, just minor issues that I think he enjoys having a moan about.

He’s definitely trying to impress his new boss I think.

Document everything then launch a grievance on his ass for persistent harassment.

Because thats exactly what it is.

Very few grievance processes will have an outcome for one side or the other as lots of evidence is required. Where there is ample evidence your employer would fire those persons anyway.
The best thing to do in such a situation is to leave and take your skills elsewhere. Yes you like the job otherwise but you can find that elsewhere too.

I like this account on Instagram for this sort of thing

www.instagram.com/reel/C5qVEEVNhny/?igsh=MWx6ZDMwY3cwd20yOQ==

Yes take a photo on your personal phone of the harassing messages and emails. Save them in folder on your own device then they can't mysteriously go missing....

Sorry you are going through this, it's so stressful and upsetting. It also takes you twice as long to deal with any work as you will be over checking any communications.

Same boat here but manager put me on a PIP and is even worse! Trying to get a new job but it’s not coming quick enough!