Feel like I need to post this in the parent’s cafe in order to get some wisdom and advice.
I graduated a year and a half ago and started working at a company as an engineer. My manager has been micromanaging me and its annoying and irritating me. I feel like quitting sometimes just because I can’t stand being micromanaged. Yes, I lack as much experience as she does, and my opinions or recommendations seem to not matter to her. I’ve started to back off and let her have control of my entire job role , which I am not comfortable with at all. Any recommendations from parents out there? Should I talk to an upper level manager?
Thanks
I’ve worked for 45 years and Yes, there are some managers who micromanage. It’s their way, and you can’t change them.
Consider first whether you are doing what you’re supposed to at work, and make sure you’re not being micromanaged because your work has been poor. Assuming that’s not the case, you will, unfortunately, just need to accept that this is her style. You can’t get a leopard to change his/her stripes. I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.
However, you’ve apparently been at your company about a year and a half. That’s long enough for a first job and time for you to consider making a move. At this point in your career, there’s nothing wrong with moving on after two or so years. You now know some additional things to ask a new prospective manager when you interview.
Good luck.
I’ve known of two cases where someone in a similar situation went over their boss’s head to discuss a problem with the higher level manager. Both ended badly. Think very carefully before considering that as an option. Hope you can accept your manager’s style or find a job better suited to your style.
I wouldn’t say that my work has been “poor”- I’ve spent the past year trying to understand the lingo and I’ve been put into extremely difficult situations that has made me adjusted. Plus, going from college to the real world forced me to change some of my style in emailing,etc.
I agree that it’s awful to be micromanaged, but at the same time you won’t be able to change this person, and they’re in a management position because the higher ups trust them to be in that position and put them there. Just stick it out as long as you can, learn as much as you can, and start looking for another job. I suspect that part of what is most disappointing to you is the lack of respect your ideas and input are given just because you are fresh out of college. I’ve been there. When I was starting out in my career, I gave some of my first employers fabulous advice, but they wouldn’t listen to me at all because of my youth and inexperience, and then later on they would regret it and it would cause them problems, but they never apologized or started listening to me. I was happiest when I finally found an employer who took me seriously, and I wound up staying there nearly 10 years – not because it was the best job or the highest paying or the most prestigious, but because I was given the most respect for my input.
Perhaps you could try and see her behavior as mentoring instead of micromanaging. I’ve had promising young employees working under me whom I’ve spent a lot of time explaining best practices and providing detailed feedback. Rarely is it appreciated, but when it is, those employees who are open to correction and feedback tend to improve their skills and develop their professional competence much more quickly than their colleagues.
Why don’t you try thanking her for her feedback and if you don’t understand the reasons for the correction, ask her in a positive upbeat manner to explain why she prefers things to be done in that way. You may learn some valuable lessons.
In any professional job, the first two years are definitely part of an apprentice stage. Being micromanaged in those years may well have saved you from developing bad habits that could be hard to break.
I look for another job. Upper manager sometimes will back up the lower managers.
are other employees on your team being micromanaged? or just you?
if it’s everyone, the issue is the manager, and I would look for a new job (could be in your same company)
it it’s you, then your performance is probably not satisfactory as far as your manager is concerned, and she is trying to make improvements. The performance of an employee reflects on the manager. You admitted here in the thread that you have some things you need to fix. If you aren’t fixing them, then someone else has to fix them, which can lead to micromanaging.
What is the size of the company? How long has your manager been there? Do you feel that you are generally respected?
I would take a two pronged approach:
- Try and determine if there are opportunities to change your situation. For example, perhaps a higher up is willing to give you an assignment where you will take the lead. Since the micro manager most likely wants to impress the higher up, or at least wouldn't challenge such a person, you will have more leeway to prove yourself as an independent agent.
- Look for a new job. (You are in a great position to do so, since there is no particular pressure to leave.)
Is the micro manager’s bark worse than her bite?
If you can be cool and professional about it, it may be possible to address a particular situation. (“Jane, you’ve sent me this email with explicit instructions about how to pursue the XYZ project. I will be much more effective, not to mention enjoy my job more, if I take the ABC approach. Don’t you think it is better to take a collaborative approach to these projects?”)
Of course, if you are in a large corporation, your micro manager is entrenched and there is no hope of leverage by making a good impression outside the manager’s sphere, you are probably better off looking for a different position. Make sure to be fussy, so that you don’t jump out of the frying pan into the fire.
Do u work in a large corporation? In large corporations, staff & managers get rotated into different projects. Is it in the cards for either u or your boss to switch to another project soon?
I had a similar situation in my first job. In my presentations to senior management, my well meaning mentor would answer questions for me before I even got a chance to reply. It was really getting me down.
I finally took him aside and gently told him that I really appreciated how supportive he had been, but at 2 years, I needed more opportunity to spread my wings, that his answering questions to mgrs on my behalf was well-meaning, but wasn’t helping me build professional credibility.
He was very surprised and not aware of his behaviors. He began to give me more independence. The working dynamics between us improved.
More than 20 years later, we’re still in touch (both of us left that original company), and still feel a warm bond.
Before u just quit, try having a talk w your mgr first. Be diplomatic. Compliment her things she’s doing right, then gently and constructively describe what cd be better.
I would suggest you spend some time observing before you decide to make your next move. Good suggestions already stated, like checking out other employees that are under your same manager. How are others treated? How about new hires that came on around your same time, whether they have your same manager or not? Have some of them promoted into better positions already?
It is hard to critique yourself in your office environment. You might consider approaching a co-worker, someone on your same job level that you are friendly with, and asking for some honest feedback about your professional demeanor on the job. It might be that you are showing an air of arrogance, or you don’t follow the detailed steps of a project and your manager has to come along behind you to clean up. Are you volunteering for the grunt work, staying late when needed on a time sensitive project, going above and beyond the call of duty in your assignments?
College students fresh out of their academic bubble may not be as work ready for the real world as their bosses would like. It could be that your confidence in your book knowledge overrides your need to humble yourself and accept instruction.
Or you could just have a bad boss.
By observing, asking for input from coworkers, maybe discussing with some friends outside of work, you might get a sense of whether it is you that needs to make some adjustments or whether it is indeed your boss that is causing all the issues.
If you come to a confident realization that it is your boss, you can choose to stick it out, find another position in your company, or look for another job. Consider your financial situation, if you are paying back student loans you want to make sure you can make those loan payments if you are without a job for a short time.
Only you can know if you really like the company you work for enough to stick it out til you can get a new position, or if you need to update your resume. A word of caution, don’t work on your resume at work! That’s the quickest way to get fired!
Good luck to you. Welcome to the real world.