Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

misc-stuff.terraaeon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 110 posts

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#11

Post by barbazoo »

logicslave wrote: post #6

The way I deal with it is by leaving the team immediately. My life is too short to put up with being treated like a slave. I am too good at programming.

> My life is too short to put up with being treated like a slave.

> logicslave 2 minutes ago

That made me chuckle. On a serious note though, why not start by talking about it first? Why not say what you're experiencing, how it makes you feel, and see how your manager responds? Unless you work in total isolation, which few of us do, we have to get along with other people. And talking about things usually is the way to go.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#12

Post by narag »

I was going to comment without reading TFA. I'm happy I read it because it says the same I was going to write :)

Just one nuance from experience: sometimes the micromanager tries hard not to seem like one, even to himself. I had a very humble, very caring micromanager that praised my technical competence and beat the bush for a long time but eventually second guessed everything I did.

I have my real name in my profile here so I'm not going to comment on the last straw.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#13

Post by dfsegoat »

shoto_io wrote: post #2

Ok, I am going to be brutally honest here. Some may not like it. Micromanaging is complicated. When I was in a leadership position I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results and we'd be all happy. And that's how I loved working with my bosses before as well. But then again, I had some employees I had to micromanage. I really, really abhorred it. But there was…

> I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results

This is decentralized command, and really the best place to be. That's why I believe being a leader in software dev. is really about serving the ppl under you - not the opposite.

I think it's about balance:

I will micromanage new hires initially, so that I can ensure they are sticking to SOPs, code standards etc. and developing the habits we need to be successful.

After awhile, the training wheels can come off and you can give them ownership of larger and larger stakes in projects. They'll stumble once in awhile, but chances are that goes back to something you (leader) left as ambiguous - or that they genuinely didn't know.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#14

Post by castlecrasher2 »

antonzabirko wrote: post #5
shoto_io wrote: post #2

Ok, I am going to be brutally honest here. Some may not like it. Micromanaging is complicated. When I was in a leadership position I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results and we'd be all happy. And that's how I loved working with my bosses before as well. But then again, I had some employees I had to micromanage. I really, really abhorred it. But there was…

Why did you have to micromanage those employees?

Some people don't have their own drive and rely entirely on expectations set by leaders. Specifically, they will say they're working on something and might even get it done but they could have gotten it done faster and possibly better with at worst micromanagement and at best genuine coaching.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#15

Post by logicslave »

barbazoo wrote: post #11
logicslave wrote: post #6

The way I deal with it is by leaving the team immediately. My life is too short to put up with being treated like a slave. I am too good at programming.

> My life is too short to put up with being treated like a slave. > logicslave 2 minutes ago That made me chuckle. On a serious note though, why not start by talking about it first? Why not say what you're experiencing, how it makes you feel, and see how your manager responds? Unless you work in total isolation, which few of us do, we have to get along with other people. And talking about things usually is the way to…

It almost never resolves. Ive been doing this for ten years now. People accept too much abuse from their employers, and if more just simply walked out on this behavior then we would all be better off.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#18

Post by greatpatton »

antonzabirko wrote: post #5
shoto_io wrote: post #2

Ok, I am going to be brutally honest here. Some may not like it. Micromanaging is complicated. When I was in a leadership position I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results and we'd be all happy. And that's how I loved working with my bosses before as well. But then again, I had some employees I had to micromanage. I really, really abhorred it. But there was…

Why did you have to micromanage those employees?

Not the OP, but the one time I had to micromanage someone was because the engineer was unable to focus on the important tasks and would deliver nice things but totally unrelated to the end goal...

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#19

Post by zentiggr »

majormajor wrote: post #10
ljm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The truth is probably that I should have gotten into more serious talks with those employees instead. Did you take the micromanaging approach because you didn't open a channel for feedback between you and the team? Micromanagement is one thing: a lack of trust. You micromanage because you don't trust, or maybe they don't trust either. So, what do you do to build up trust? You talk. Note that this is different to ac…

> So, what do you do to build up trust? You talk. What do you do when talking leads to them saying "I understand, next time I'll either get it done faster, or let you know when I realize it's gonna slip" but then what actually happens is that it slips without them giving you any updates again after all? Repeatedly? Talking doesn't build trust when the actions don't match the talk.

That's why there are usually progressive disciplinary steps. I've been on the receiving end of that in a couple of situations (which I'll admit after the faact, were due to my own issues). It's not pleasant but it was necessary, because I wasn't going to give up trying, but I was in no shape to actually succeed. Better to cut the cord - I wound up in better situations after each occasion, mostly because I wasn't bailing water anymore and had energy to do well.

Re: Way to Deal with a Micromanaging Boss

#20

Post by JustSomeNobody »

shoto_io wrote: post #2

Ok, I am going to be brutally honest here. Some may not like it. Micromanaging is complicated. When I was in a leadership position I was the happiest boss when I could let people just do their thing and come back with great results and we'd be all happy. And that's how I loved working with my bosses before as well. But then again, I had some employees I had to micromanage. I really, really abhorred it. But there was…

> The truth is probably that I should have gotten into more serious talks with those employees instead.

Absolutely. A manager should regularly have conversations with everyone on their team. During reviews, absolutely nobody should be surprised by their review. If a manager has to fire someone, that person should not be surprised by this. Constant communication is not micromanagement, it is an absolute requirement of management. It is not one way, either; it is an open conversation.

> As an employee, try to be as a reflective person as you ask your boss to be one.

Yes and no. A manager cannot push their responsibility of open communication onto the employee by expecting them to just know what their performance is. That being said, upon proper feedback, yes, an employee should ingest that and reflect upon that feedback.

Post reply on HN