Micromanaging or micromanagement is a term that refers to a management style that is marked by excessive supervision and control of employees’ work and processes, as well as a limited delegation of tasks or decisions to staff. Micromanagers become overly involved in the work of their employees. Standing over someone’s shoulder watching their every move and checking in on things constantly is not effective – and let’s face it, it’s annoying. Many people feel a lot of discomforts when they are being constantly watched which results in stress and even errors.

Micromanagers Ask For Frequent Updates and Status Reports

Weekly check-ins and status reports on a reasonable cadence are standard. But, when updates are being asked on a daily basis, you can be sure that either you’re being micromanaged. This obsession with constant updates results in wasted time that people spend creating detailed reports than focusing on what were they actually employed to do. The first step in dealing with micromanaging is understanding the reason behind a micromanager’s behavior. Here’s what else to do:

Maybe your manager is under a lot of stress too, maybe he’s had trust issues with previous employees.

Build Trust

Trust is key to any healthy relationship. If you want your boss to stop micromanaging you, you need to win his trust and show him that he can calmly delegate your tasks and give you the freedom of decision-making.

Share Your Feelings and Start a Discussion

That idea might be frightening at first, but one of the most direct approaches to dealing with a micromanaging boss is to simply share your feelings and start a discussion about the situation

Set Healthy Boundaries and Realistic Expectations

It is a good idea to discuss and set healthy boundaries and realistic expectations. Establish clarity on the roles and responsibilities and expectations of you and your manager so there is no misunderstanding in the work process.

Practice Delegation

As a manager, you should know the strengths of your team members so you can delegate tasks accordingly. If you are not able to delegate tasks effectively, then this is another reason for you to avoid doing it and micromanage everything that your team does.

 Focus on Your Role and Responsibilities

Your job as a manager comes with its responsibilities. Rather than micromanaging every step of your employee’s workflow because you think that the only one that can complete a specific task successfully is you, give them a chance to prove their management skills. Your job is to set clear objectives and benchmarks and measure performance, and that is what you should do.

Seek Feedback and Talk to Your Team

If you want to have a strong relationship with your team, don’t be afraid to bring up the topic of your management style. Ask each individual on your team about feedback and ask them how they would like to be managed