The real reason your boss is micromanaging you

Do you have one of the bosses who is always up in your business??Asking you questions incessantly.?Sending you emails non-stop.?Demanding updates on the hour and never quite satisfied with the amount (or quality) of information you are providing.?Does it ever feel as if, no matter how thorough you are, or how “on top of it” you stay, it’s never enough?

It’s exhausting and relentless and demoralizing all at the same time.?I’ve been there.??And what I’ve learned it this—it’s not about you—it’s about them.?It’s like the classic breakup line, “it’s me, not you…” But this time it’s true.

Your boss is all over you for one reason—because she is afraid.??She’s afraid that you’re going to drop the ball.?Miss a deadline.?Screw up a client call.?Or mess up royally in one way or another.?Maybe you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do.?Or you’re doing it (whatever it is) wrong.?There’s a whole host of scenarios playing out in her mind, a never-ending loop of uh-ohs—something is going, or about to go, wrong.?Unless she steps in and saves the day.

Maybe you’ve given her reason to believe this.?Maybe you haven’t.?That’s not really the point.?The point is this—you’ve got to rewrite the narrative in her head.?The good news is that you can with one simple fix: overcommunicate.??

If you want to get someone off you’re a**, than you’ve got to overcorrect and swing far in the opposite direction. ?Start by giving them lots of (meaningful) information, so that they never have to wonder or guess what the heck is going on…

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I had this boss once.?Let’s call her Mabel.??Mabel was a powerhouse senior exec who was widely respected by colleagues but feared by her junior team.??She was on top of us all, riding us hard day in and day out, never letting us breathe.?At some point, I knew I’d break—I was losing my mind.?

My only way out was through—and I decided to try something new.??I realized I needed to play offense instead of waiting to play defense.?I decided to go in the same direction as Mabel—I was going to give her a lot more information on a regular basis to keep her from reaching out to me first…

I created the EOD Update.?Every single day (night, in my case) before I left the office, I crafted an email with everything, and I mean everything, that was on my plate.?In bullet format, I layed out the status of every project, deliverable, transaction, deal-team to-do.?The point was not to overwhelm her with information—but to keep up-to-date in an easy to digest snapshot of where everything stood.??So that she didn’t have to ask.?She didn’t have time to wonder.?She didn’t feel the need to ping, or pester or hover.

The underlying message was this: I’m on top of it. I’ve got it all under control.?Nothing is slipping through the cracks or going unfinished.

I made her life easier.?I made her life better.?After a short time, she began to relax and anticipate my EOD Update, knowing that I would fill her in on anything and everything that was going on.

My daily Update gave her the comfort she needed so that she could rest assured that things weren’t about to spiral downward.?Balls weren’t going to drop, deadlines weren’t going to be missed, clients weren’t going to feel neglected.

I even included what I call the “no news update.”?If and when there was something outstanding and there was still no new information, I’d tell her that simple fact—again, so that she didn’t have to wonder.

So, if you find yourself with your own version of Mabel—ask yourself the question—what’s driving the behavior??Good chance your boss is afraid, just like Mabel was.?The great news is that you too can shift the dynamic.?Take back control by overcommunicating.?Give your manager a well thought out update, or download, on where everything stands.?Reach out proactively instead of waiting for the barrage of questions.?And see where that takes you…

?Thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.