Am I being micromanaged?
Question by junerune: Am I being micromanaged?
I have been in my organization less than a year. My boss is obssessive-compulsive and he already admitted that to me. I am the only one he is supervising right now and I work in IT (Information Technology). My boss and I have cubicles right next to each other, so I see him and hear him ALL the time. BEFORE he comes in to work, he calls me on my office phone to tell me: 1) his job-related worries, 2) things he would like me to do, 3) some new technology news, 4) other IT related crap, just ANYTHING job related. The calls are not everyday, more like 3 or 4 times a week on mornings… He calls me while he is on the freeway to work, or even in the parking structure 5 minutes before he comes in. I get into the office 2 hours before he does and that means he stays 2 hours after I leave. Sometimes he calls my office phone in the evening while he is alone at work (6, 7 or 8 pm) and leaves me a message saying, “Hey I know you are going to get this in the morning, but I have been thinking and you should do blah blah blah…” He calls me the next morning BEFORE coming in to work asking if I heard the voice message that he left the night before and if I am working on whatever he talked about. I was soo angry recently when he called me on my day off to talk about work. He has minimized the amount of calls to me on my personal cell phone on the weekends and evenings, but I just don’t answer anymore. He also called me while he was on vacation, as if things will collapse in his absence… On days he doesn’t call the night before or morning off, he walks into my cubicle, stands behind me and asks, “Hey, what are you working on today?? Maybe you could do this and this…”
It was just yesterday that he humiliated me in front of senior staff when I showcased a tool (I work with computer software) that would automate some of their work. BTW, I spent a great deal of time on those tools… So while I showed the demo, he walks by and said, “What, that is what you are showing them?? My gosh, you should make it easier for them by doing this and this… Oh my God, Jennifer… See this is what happens when you are going “Gung ho again” and trying to do things on yor own…” He turns to the Senior staff and says, “Yeah, I haven’t reviewed all of Jenn’s tools yet, and yeah I should have reviewed them…” I respond and say, “Okay fine, do you want me to stop this whole thing and wait until you teach me the right way of doing these things?? He says, “No, that is okay, just continue it…” And then he taps me on the shoulder saying, “Oh man, there are so many things I have to teach you little grasshopper…” Grasshopper is a name from a martial arts movie where “grasshopper” was the apprentice of the grand master or something… That name didn’t bother me before, but now I am offended a great deal. It was difficult for me to continue, because my confidence was shot to hell. After the demo, I felt horrible because I was slammed in front of people, and I was so close to losing my cool. The tools work fine, it was just not deg=signed the way HE wanted them to be.
The very next day (Friday, which was today) was his day off and I was at work, and his calls started again. Since I had caller ID, I knew it was him and I did not answer the phone. Screw it. I was angry and humiliated, and if he doesn’t want me to be “Gung ho” and take initiative, then I will not put my neck out on the line ever again nor be innovative, until he tells me to do it, fine, I will be a freaking, lazy worker, because apparently if I go out of my shell to do something before he tells me, I get slammed and humiliated. He actually called me twice today, but I didn’t answer, because I wanted to enjoy a peaceful Friday. If it was THAT important, he should leave me a voice message. If he asked why I didn’t pick up, I will be clueless (since I usually visit clients and I am usually away from my desk anyways). So I will be clueless, “What you called? Sorry, I was away helping clients… Why didn’t you just leave a voice mail?” All I am thinking is… Man, doesn’t he have anything better to do? Out of all the people in the world that ne knows, why the hell is he calling me, all the freaking time??? So yeah, is he micromanaging me or what?? Thanks for listening.
Best answer:
Answer by justmemimi
Yes, he is. My husband used to have a boss like that. My husband finally changed to a different unit (military) after not even being able to fall asleep at night anymore, because his boss’ ways bothered him so much. Start looking for a different place to work. That kind of boss is not healthy for you. Make sure you will never be like that when you are a boss one day.
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