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Post by workingclassdog on Aug 23, 2023 14:41:38 GMT
I'm asking because to me it is different from what my co-worker thinks. She is younger than me so not sure if that plays into it.
But for me it means your supervisor/manager/boss is over your shoulder all the time and not leaving you alone.
My co-worker came to me and said why is "she" micromanaging me all the time. Her example was she was at home working and not logged into one of the programs and the boss noticed it. She called her on her cell and asked her if she was doing okay and told her she noticed she wasn't on a program (the program is one that you take phone calls through your computer, so it should be active all the time basically).
For me that is just the boss doing her job. Not micromanaging. I think my co-worker wanted me to be all upset with her. I explained to her that the boss has called me for the same thing and I appreciated it because I didn't realize that I accidently closed it down when I opened another tab. (Instead of a new tab opening another program opened on top of it and just closed the program down.)
Co-worker gets mad kinda quickly and I try to keep out of the drama. When I am working from home I guess I expect my boss to check on me periodically to be sure that I am online and working. She doesn't call me much other than if she has a specific question on a file. Just like if I was across the hall at work.
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Post by Linda on Aug 23, 2023 15:10:41 GMT
I'm no longer in the work force but I think micromanaging is when the boss doesn't leave you to just get the work done but instead is constantly checking in and making sure you're doing it the right way etc...as opposed to giving you an assignment and trusting that you're capable of either completing on time or reaching out if there's a problem.
To me - it doesn't sound like your boss was micro-managing given that one example
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iowgirl
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Post by iowgirl on Aug 23, 2023 15:29:15 GMT
I would look at that situation as no different than not showing up for work, and the boss checking in.
I wouldn't call that micromanaging. I would call it Managing!
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Post by gar on Aug 23, 2023 15:34:57 GMT
Micromanaging is not leaving you alone to do your job essentially. Checking in, calling sometimes is a normal part of the work relationship.
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Post by workingclassdog on Aug 23, 2023 15:46:31 GMT
Exactly the lines I was thinking along. I didn't think her reaction of being pissed off was warranted. I tried to calm her down and saying that our boss is very paranoid about our headquarters 'seeing' us online or not online and she is just making sure. It's not that big of a deal. That is managing.
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Post by workingclassdog on Aug 23, 2023 15:48:30 GMT
Just adding I think our boss is great. She is very flighty at times and is not very verse in technology sometimes and that makes me roll my eyes at times. But all in all, I work on my stuff and she never bothers me. I have had WAY WAY worse... lol
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SweetieBsMom
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Aug 23, 2023 15:59:11 GMT
I would look at that situation as no different than not showing up for work, and the boss checking in. I wouldn't call that micromanaging. I would call it Managing! I agree with this. Micromanaging, to me, is when the boss is all over you for EVERYTHING and not leaving you alone. I am a Manager and if I saw that one of my employees wasn't on Teams and didn't have a scheduled day off I'd be sending them a text asking them if everything was ok. I don't see that as micromanaging, that would be me being genuinely being concerned for their welfare. |
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scrapngranny
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Post by scrapngranny on Aug 23, 2023 17:49:56 GMT
My husband. How his secretary stayed with him so long and still sends him Christmas cards is a miracle.
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Post by workingclassdog on Aug 23, 2023 18:21:22 GMT
My husband. How his secretary stayed with him so long and still sends him Christmas cards is a miracle.  |
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craftymom101
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Post by craftymom101 on Aug 23, 2023 19:00:41 GMT
workingclassdog I view micromanaging as my boss assigning work then reminding me repeatedly before the deadline that it needs to be done, constantly asking me if I am working on my assignments and/or projects (again, all before they are due), giving me directions for how to complete a project then questioning me every step of the way, etc. I am so thankful my current boss (and his boss, my director), are not micromanagers. I have projects assigned to me, I know my deadlines, and I do not require direct supervision. If I have questions, I send an email or put a meeting on his calendar for 15-45 minutes to discuss my question. I also work from home and there are certain meetings I must attend virtually and programs I must run during working hours. If I "forget" to run a program or attend a meeting, I will absolutely receive a call from my manager with a reminder! I wouldn't call that micromanaging. I view my work from home days as a privilege and I haven't needed to be reminded to do my job because I don't want to lose my work from home days.
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Post by monklady123 on Aug 23, 2023 19:02:17 GMT
Lol. I agree that this was not micromanaging, it was just the boss keeping an eye on things. Here's one of my favorite -- for lack of a better word...ugh -- examples of actual micromanaging. When I was doing my training at a local hospital the head chaplain was well-known for micromanaging. There were about eight of us, two or three on duty at any one time. So one day I was up on a higher floor waiting for the elevator and my pager beeped. I looked at it, saw it was the head chaplain and I saw that the phone number was his office. This was the days before everyone had cell phones, so in order to return his page I would have had to go into one of the units on that floor, go to the desk, and use their phone. In the few seconds while I was processing that thought my colleague's pager beeped. The head chaplain.  Just then the elevator arrived. It was only a few floors down so we got on and headed down, figuring we'd find out what he wanted when we got there. The elevator doors opened on the main level and there he was right there, immediately saying "why didn't you answer my page? I paged you! You need to answer your pager!" Keep in mind that any general emergency would have been broadcast over the PA system as a Code Whatever. And any specific emergency that someone needed a chaplain for would have come to our pager directly from that unit. Anything that would be relayed through the head chaplain was something that could wait for the 60 seconds it took us to get down in that elevator. This was his way of doing everything. He'd be walking around the hospital and see one of us walking down a hallway. "What are you doing now? Why aren't you visiting patients?" um... Right this minute I'm visiting patients...just came from so-and-so's room and now I'm heading to this next room. omg. And none of us were brand new. Some were already ordained, others had already done several training units, etc. We were all professionals and could be trusted not to run out to our cars and take a nap. hahaha Two of us actually would go out to one of our cars and eat lunch together from time to time, because otherwise the chaplain was likely to find us in the cafeteria. When we'd get back to the office he'd usually say "oh where have you been? I was looking for you." omg. That was the longest 6 months of my entire chaplaincy training. |
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craftymom101
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Post by craftymom101 on Aug 23, 2023 19:06:53 GMT
monklady123 that sounds absolutely awful and the definition of micromanaging!
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Post by workingclassdog on Aug 23, 2023 21:02:41 GMT
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Post by monklady123 on Aug 23, 2023 21:11:27 GMT
Tried to quote workingclassdog and craftymom101 but it really messed up. hahaha It was. ugh. But funny thing is, we all learned a lot from him. And not just how NOT to manage anyone who we might be supervising in the future.  lol. He knew all the ins and outs of hospital life, knew who was the go-to person in every single unit, knew which doctors hated chaplains (usually the doctors, rarely the nurses), knew procedures, knew everything about the Joint Commission visits...Plus, he was a good chaplain and really pushed us to be aware of why we were doing what we were doing. He taught me how to write an excellent "verbatim" (write-up of an interaction with a patient, with all sorts of required parts to it) so that when I started formal CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) training I already knew what to do. It was just his management style that sucked. -- Also, he once told me that he knew the reason why I like to work nights.... it was because I was mostly alone (i.e., maybe only one other chaplain on duty). And why I wanted to be a chaplain and not a church pastor..that was because I was more autonomous and could work alone more often. He said this as if it was a kind of accusation. hahahaha However, he was absolutely right! I LOVE nights. And there is no way in heck I could ever be a church pastor. He said it as if there was something wrong with not wanting to work in a church. I bit my tongue and did not ask him why HE wasn't in a church then.  |
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Post by 950nancy on Aug 23, 2023 21:13:35 GMT
I feel like micromanaging is when a superior is watching me/commenting on something I do well. It isn't mm if I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing. That is just managing.
Your coworker didn't like be called on not doing what she should be doing.
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Post by wordyphotogbabe on Aug 23, 2023 21:30:00 GMT
One of my grandbosses is a micromanager. No matter what type of report or project crosses his desk, he has to edit it in some way even if it's simply removing a couple of periods and replacing them with semicolons. He also loves to change our SOPs but in the most minute ways; last month, he changed where the date appears on one of the reports we regularly produce. That's all --- just the date.
I wouldn't say that your boss was micromanaging your colleague.
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Post by librarylady on Aug 24, 2023 2:34:11 GMT
Micromanaging is reminding me to do the thing I have already done.
It is asking if I know how to do what I have been doing for years with no one telling me it is time to do it
It is "man splaining" what I already know how to do.
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Post by chaosisapony on Aug 24, 2023 3:46:04 GMT
To me, micromanaging is in on my workload too often and nitpicking how I do my tasks. For example, at my job, I used the abbreviation "trans" for transfer. My manager did not like this and makes me write "trn" for transfer. Part of my job is listing a date of death with someone's name. I put the name first, then the date of death. My manager was spot checking my work without my knowledge (to me it's much more respectful to let people know their work is being inspected) and insisted I put the date of death first and then the name. I have numerous examples of small things like this that absolutely drive me insane because there is no specific reason why I am to do things a certain way, it's just because "that's how we've always done it".
When I do a task I have been doing for years, always on time, and I get an email asking if I have completed the task.... that is micromanaging. I also despise my manager coming around and asking me where I am at with my work. She does it to everyone and I understand the need to check in, but I often feel like she is hovering and just watching every move the employees make.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 24, 2023 5:31:44 GMT
To me it’s not trusting people to do the tasks that they have already proven they can do and are doing. Hovering over someone, incessantly checking and rechecking to make sure things were done right without having a logical reason for doing so.
Checking in on someone who’s working remotely when you can literally SEE that they are not logged in at a time when they otherwise should be is just normal managing, IMO. It’s like the time my DH stopped into his store on his day off and noticed that a particular employee physically wasn’t there even though their time card was already filled in for the day. Turned out coming in 2-3 hours late was that dude’s SOP when he knew DH had the day off. Yeah, that guy got fired.
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Post by Merge on Aug 24, 2023 11:48:28 GMT
In the education world - scripted lesson plans that must be followed day to day and hour to hour, classroom doors open all day and cameras in classrooms with frequent checks by admin to be sure you’re following the script, people who have no background in education dictating what can be taught and how it should be taught, strict rules about what employees can say on social media in their own time - basically what’s happening in a big chunk of my district since the state takeover. It’s no way for an adult to live and work.
But what your co-worker experienced was, to my way of thinking, just basic management. Like my principal calling me up if I don’t show up on time one morning. I would expect that.
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Post by mikklynn on Aug 24, 2023 13:18:08 GMT
I agree with the others who do not think that is micromanaging.
I had a boss who never did my job, project management of major contracts and subcontractors for a heavy industrial contractor. He told his boss, within my hearing, that my $10 million dollar piping fabrication order was behind schedule, badgered me daily about the number of fabricated pieces and the dates they'd be delivered. He didn't have a clue. It was all on schedule. I talked to the head of the fab shop multiple times per day. That manager seriously damaged my career. BTW - it was all on time. THAT is micromanaging.
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RosieKat
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Post by RosieKat on Aug 24, 2023 21:47:14 GMT
I had a similar experience to that of monklady123. And yet a different boss micromanaged to the extent that we had to tell everyone when we were going to the bathroom. This was a professional office, not an hourly factory job or something, and we weren't expected to be available at a moment's notice for the public or anything. There wasn't even a problem with people going too often or for too long or something. He just got mad if he wanted to talk to someone and they weren't available in that exact instant. (He'd get mad if they were in a meeting, too, but realized he couldn't do much about that - so he controlled what he could.) |
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Post by monklady123 on Aug 24, 2023 22:47:33 GMT
I had a similar experience to that of monklady123 . And yet a different boss micromanaged to the extent that we had to tell everyone when we were going to the bathroom. This was a professional office, not an hourly factory job or something, and we weren't expected to be available at a moment's notice for the public or anything. There wasn't even a problem with people going too often or for too long or something. He just got mad if he wanted to talk to someone and they weren't available in that exact instant. (He'd get mad if they were in a meeting, too, but realized he couldn't do much about that - so he controlled what he could.) Yes, that's it exactly! My micromanager wanted us *right that second* when he wanted us. Not 60 seconds later, but that minute. |
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ComplicatedLady
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Post by ComplicatedLady on Aug 24, 2023 23:01:23 GMT
I guess I could see it as micromanaging if your coworker had been logged in all day and the manager called 2 secs after disconnecting for a bathroom break or something.
If she was supposed to be online or logged in and wasn’t for hours, then I think it’s reasonable for the manager to check in.
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Just then the elevator arrived. It was only a few floors down so we got on and headed down, figuring we'd find out what he wanted when we got there. The elevator doors opened on the main level and there he was right there, immediately saying "why didn't you answer my page? I paged you! You need to answer your pager!" 
lol. He knew all the ins and outs of hospital life, knew who was the go-to person in every single unit, knew which doctors hated chaplains (usually the doctors, rarely the nurses), knew procedures, knew everything about the Joint Commission visits...Plus, he was a good chaplain and really pushed us to be aware of why we were doing what we were doing. He taught me how to write an excellent "verbatim" (write-up of an interaction with a patient, with all sorts of required parts to it) so that when I started formal CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) training I already knew what to do. It was just his management style that sucked. -- Also, he once told me that he knew the reason why I like to work nights.... it was because I was mostly alone (i.e., maybe only one other chaplain on duty). And why I wanted to be a chaplain and not a church pastor..that was because I was more autonomous and could work alone more often. He said this as if it was a kind of accusation. hahahaha However, he was absolutely right! I LOVE nights. And there is no way in heck I could ever be a church pastor. He said it as if there was something wrong with not wanting to work in a church. I bit my tongue and did not ask him why HE wasn't in a church then. 
