#micromanagement #constantcheckins #managingboss #workplacetips
Feeling like your boss is constantly breathing down your neck can be frustrating and demotivating. 🙄 It’s understandable that you want to maintain a positive relationship with your boss while also retaining your sanity. Here are some tips to help you manage the situation and hopefully ease some of the stress.
## Understand the motivation behind the constant check-ins
It’s important to try and understand why your boss feels the need to constantly check in with you. Is it a lack of trust, a need for control, or simply a way for them to feel connected to the team? Once you understand the underlying motivation, it can help you address the issue more effectively.
### Have a conversation
It may be uncomfortable, but having an open and honest conversation with your boss about how their constant check-ins are affecting your work can be beneficial. Try to approach the conversation with a solution-focused mindset and be prepared to offer suggestions on how the situation can be improved.
### Set boundaries
If your boss is constantly interrupting your workflow with unnecessary check-ins, it’s important to set some boundaries. Let your boss know when you are most productive and request that they respect your focused work time.
### Offer regular updates
One way to appease a micromanaging boss is to provide them with regular updates on your progress. This could be a daily email summarizing your achievements or a quick weekly meeting to discuss your goals and outcomes.
## Manage your own reactions
It’s easy to feel frustrated and resentful when dealing with a micromanaging boss, but it’s important to manage your own reactions. Try not to take the constant check-ins personally and instead focus on maintaining a professional demeanor.
### Practice self-care
Dealing with a micromanaging boss can be emotionally draining, so it’s important to prioritize self-care. Find ways to decompress outside of work, whether it’s through exercise, hobbies, or spending time with loved ones.
### Seek support
If the constant check-ins are taking a toll on your mental well-being, don’t hesitate to seek support from a trusted colleague, friend, or mentor. Sometimes just having a listening ear can make a world of difference.
## Look for new opportunities
If you’ve exhausted all options and the constant check-ins continue to negatively impact your work experience, it may be time to start looking for a new role. Remember that your mental health and job satisfaction are important, and it’s okay to explore other opportunities.
In conclusion, dealing with a boss who constantly checks in can be challenging, but by understanding their motivation, setting boundaries, managing your reactions, and seeking support, you can navigate the situation more effectively. Above all, remember to prioritize your well-being and don’t be afraid to explore new opportunities if the situation becomes untenable. You deserve a work environment where you feel valued and respected. Good luck! 🌟
Set your status to busy and stop picking up. Instead send a message that says “sorry, I’m completing a task – is this urgent. I can call you back? Otherwise feel free to send me a message.
Rinse and repeat.
Do you think she’d be open to you being honest with her? You could make it sound like you enjoy the “chats” (she probably thinks you do anyway!!) and come out looking good still.
Maybe say something along the lines of:
“Sometimes our calls can last quite a long time because we get off topic and end up chatting for ages, but I’m really busy with XYZ task, so I don’t always have the chance to talk for as long as I’d like.
Maybe we could set some time up for regular catch-ups?”
Tell her you have 5 mins to talk about a specific topic. No time for small talk.
Managers like this are the fucking problem. Tell her you don’t appreciate the micro management.
I’m gonna give you some soul sucking advice. This is how 80% of bosses are. They’ve been promoted to their level of incompetence. Now they just want a buddy because their spouses and children at home can’t stand them or that they’re always putting work first.
Suck her dick until chit chat comes out of your nose. This is how you get ahead where you’re at now… so you can leave as soon as possible with multiple titles and salary bumps behind you to leverage at a new place that hopefully sucks significantly less. Leave a paper trail, but stare lovingly into this monsters eyes even at the cost of your work. Shoveling her shit is part of the job if that’s what she’s asking for while you’re being paid.
Start calling her via teams, ALL of the time.
Annoy the piss out of her, but just inform her that you are simply checking in, to let her know that you are at your desk.
Just keep completing your goals and tasks.
Ask her to provide an agenda for the talk and expected duration, say that once you receive it you will schedule a time that fits in with your workload.
Me: I can talk to you on the phone or I can do my work. I cannot do both. I can meet with you on Teams or I can do my work. I cannot do both.
Provide no explanation. I can do A or I can do B. I cannot do both.
I advise you answer all her calls. However, when she gets off-topic, shut it down immediately. Tell her you’re really busy doing XYZ, and you need to get back to work. Seriously, do not let her go on and on about personal things.
What you could also do is set a timer on your phone when she calls, if she just drones on and on about personal things, you can say, boss, we’ve been chatting for 10 minutes, and I really need to get back to work. Always tell her that you’re prioritizing work. This will take some practice, but keep at it, and your 45 minute calls should decrease dramatically. Hopefully you will regain her trust and she will stop pestering you.
I have a co worker like this. Always barging in with the latest drama in her life.
Like… its plainly obvious I am working on a project. I have the folder open, our computer program up and running. I dont have time for this!!! I hate leaving work on my desk over the weekends and I like checking out early on Fridays- meaning I have to stay on task the rest of the week.
I havent said anything yet. I work in a very small office, so it would be rather uncouth to say, “sorry I dgasff about the drama with your neighbor”.
SO FRUSTRATING!!!
“Hi, Boss, I’d like to have a brief chat about something that’s on my mind, can we schedule a quick meeting?”
After she agrees
“Thanks so much for your time. I wanted to address an issue that has concerned me, and find a solution that best balances our needs.
I have noticed you reaching out to me frequently via teams, and I am of the understanding that this is to confirm my presence at my workstation throughout the day.
I am confused as to why this has been occurring. Is there a concern about my performance or work product? If there is, I would love the opportunity to address this directly with you so that I can meet your expectations, and provide peace of mind so that you can focus on the most pressing matters that come across your desk.
If there is not a concern in this area, I’d be relieved to hear that! I pride myself on my performance and my output.
If there isn’t a concern with my performance, I’d like to see if we can agree on a more structured check-in system, perhaps on a monthly or weekly basis, as would best suit our operations?
I often find myself with my head down and a need to focus on my tasks, and I am finding that the frequent outreach has made it challenging to really get in the zone I need to function at my best.
Is this an action plan that sounds reasonable?”
Then leave it in her court.
You give her the opportunity to address a performance issue (which if I had to bet, there isn’t one, but you never know sometimes with some people) and to tactfully note that all the interruptions are not ideal for getting work done, without addressing the long-winded conversations.
Keep this about the nuts and bolts of “the work” and you should get a reasonable answer.
Of course, if you don’t get a reasonable answer…that provides you lots more context to how you are viewed by your boss, and you can decide your next steps from there.
Good luck!
Managing your boss is 80% of your job. Depends on the work you do and whether or not you work in a matrix environment, but your solution is very clear. Doesn’t pick up phone = not at desk and not working. Therefore, picks up phone = at desk and working.
Perception is reality. Manage your perception by making your boss happy. On top of that she WANTS to chat with you about random stuff! You’re basically getting a pass to not work.
Pick up every last one of her calls and have a chat. This is perception 101.
Mail them a glitter bomb.
Put yourself in a video call with yourself for a few hours – can’t pick up if you’re in a call
Pull up a picture of your boss and then stare at it while licking your lips the next time they walk in. Respond with, “Oh! hey!”
Start calling her multiple times a day, and narrate your work tasks for 45 minutes at a time.
My new lead did this one night. He called me for something, which was fine, then after that was taken care of he kept me on the phone for over an hour BSing, I texted one of my coworkers who said he does that all the time and just tell him you have to go shit. I did and it worked.
Answer the call and just leave her to it while doing your work. Wait till she comes by your desk and then tell her that you do have to do important work and to please summarise the last hour of the call.
Or just leave the call when you like to:
“Thanks for the talk, i really need to get back to working.”
“I need to go to the toilet now. If there is anything else you can call back later.”
This red button to end a call is there for a reason.
I rarely answers any calls at work. I absolutly hate talking on the phone. So people (boss and co-workers) learned to message or mail me as they get the task done faster this way. I always send them a mail right away when I “missed” their call – “Im too busy, send me an email”,and I reward them with a quicker solution to their request. If somebody gets through on the phone and goes on and on I say somebody else is trying to get a call through. That does the trick.
I had something similar a long time ago. My advice probably isn’t best but might be useful. I humored them until work started backing up. I got a write-up (oh i could tell that was the goal from the beginning) and requested her manager and HR in the meeting.
When she was done giving me her say/the riot act (included blatant lies but that’s another story), I showed screenshots and emails of all the messages (some ranged from nosy to flat invasive) and i asked how was i suppose to get anything done with CONSTANT interruptions? I pointed out 2 things: Is the goal productivity or chitchat? And if I’m hourly, shouldn’t we be smart with how I use my time?
I even offered witnesses (HR, of course, told me it wasn’t necessary). Her manager and HR begrudgingly agreed to my points but i could tell they weren’t thrilled with me. After a few weeks of quiet, it started up again but i had a new job in a few months
Is there a way to split screen? You could have her nattering in the background while you get your work done.
next time she says she’s just “testing,” ask if you passed the micromanagement test today
Automate your replies. Outlook rules are very useful.
autist problems lol
Had a boss like that once so I quit.
Are you employed to be her Emotional Support Human? I’m asking because she seems to think that’s part of your job. Are you her therapist or her cousin?
Better question, is her boss aware that she keeps pulling employees away from actual work to play personal problems pattycake with her whenever she’s bored?
Are you in office or WFH? Do you have visible statuses that indicate you are doing something that shouldn’t be disturbed. One in office job I told people I wasn’t available the first hour of the morning unless they needed something urgent and kept my desk phone on do not disturb. I work from home now and everyone communicates via Slack. You can mute notifications if you need to focus or go offline and put up a notification that says what you are doing like “in a meeting” “focus time” etc.
Does your boss do other things that are hard to handle? My boss called constantly via teams and if I couldn’t answer immediately there were insinuations I wasn’t working etc. God forbid I completely ignored. I think it was a part of bullying which included micromanagement, transferring others work to me, etc.
My spouse recently went back to work full time after being away for 18 years (kids). She observed that the culture of the office is so saturated with constant messaging from different sources that it’s difficult to focus or get anything done.
I’ve been working in IT for 30 years and the transformation I’ve seen from nascent internet with GOPHER and WAIS to seemingly every device connecting 24/7. There’s just too many demands on our attention.
When she starts rambling about her personal life, is it possible for you to say something like “Oh, sorry, Bob in the next cubicle has just asked me for help with the spreadsheet widget [or whatever excuse you want to insert here] so I’ll have to go, but it was great chatting. Bye!” and then hang up/disconnect?