Every team needs a leader. But the truth is when it comes to the workplace environment, this is not always the case. Very often the opposite happens as employees have to deal with manipulative and controlling bosses who view their staff as pawns, simply a “pair of hands” to get work done.
This is what happened to Redditor Sixuldv8, who said that his boss was pretty good until the point he became too micromanaging. In fact, “Where I used to be able to do my job I can no longer do it without constant interruptions of micromanagement,” he wrote. And that includes everything from business calls to various different interruptions of the staff’s workflow.
At one point the author of the post on the r/PettyRevenge subreddit realized he'd had enough and, with a simple trick, made the boss taste his own medicine.
“There’s a number of reasons why this style of management might occur and it’s worthy of understanding,” Dawn Moss, the founder of “Your Interview Coach” who has been helping both candidates and hiring managers through the recruitment and selection process since 2013, told Bored Panda in an interview. Scroll down to see her insights below.
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not an actual photo)
Image credits: David Hahn (not an actual photo)
According to Dawn, the founder of “Your Interview Coach,” there may be many reasons why the boss or/and the management micromanage their staff. “It happens frequently when someone is new to managing people and may not have been supported or trained to understand how to move from a member of the team to managing a team,” she said. Moreover, “It’s common for new managers to find it difficult to let go of the work completely. They may not feel confident or comfortable delegating the work they are used to doing themselves.”
Image credits: cottonbro (not an actual photo)
Dawn explained that “the typical path to management is working up from being a team member, for example, a hands-on role, to being the technical expert and then being promoted to managing a team. In this case, they are the technical expert in their field but not necessarily experienced in the people management.” This usually results in issues with delegating tasks and/or trusting others to do the tasks, she added.
“It may be that the person is controlling and wants to know every little detail. After all, they are ultimately responsible for productivity and results. They may feel under pressure and want to know what’s going on at all times.”
It turns out that micromanaging can be quite a common occurrence in large and small businesses and there are several disadvantages to this style, Dawn told us. They are as follows: Lack of trust within the team, which can lead to a demotivated team as they feel like they have no autonomy; Limited opportunities for development for the team members as tasks are not delegated adequately; The manager may find themselves overworked and potentially stressed with the volume of work; Increased absenteeism and staff turnover; A team that are either not equipped or trained or confident at making decisions; Employees constantly gaining approval and therefore, dependent on the manager, asking lots more questions, and needing more management time…” The last disadvantage is that it could prevent or stifle learning or creative thinking, Dawn said.
And this is what people had to say about this whole situation
