“Manage Your Micromanager”

Is Your Boss Constantly Looking Over Your Shoulder? 1. -one feels competent and comfortable with one’s job responsibilities, the last thing one wants is to deal with a boss who is constantly checking in to size up work progress and being hypercritical of small mistakes. After all, being a supportive, accessible boss who gives constructive feedback when needed is one thing; being perceived as a control freak micromanager is quite another. 2. strategies to combat and ideally overcome a problematic work relationship with an overbearing boss a. self-assessment (e.g. are you giving your boss any reason for her to lack faith in the quality of your work?) b. trying to understand why the boss might act as she does c. tips on how to diplomatically broach the subject with the boss d. sure-fire way to prove that you work well independently 3. how to take advantages of workplace support systems when the boss simply won’t change her behavior and you feel like your self-esteem has taken quite a beating 4. No matter how organized, proactive, conscientious or effective you are as a worker, there's a chance you'll run into a supervisor who hovers like a bird of prey, waiting for you to fail before swooping in to wipe out what's left of your self-esteem.

5. Keeping a micromanager at bay is seldom easy. And while it's tough to get a boss to change her behavior or convert to a more inspired management style, you can employ some strategies that may help you and your micromanager get back on the path to a productive and cooperative professional relationship -- or at the very least help you fend her off until you can find a new job.

6. Critique Yourself

7. According to Jennifer Star, copresident of The Jennifer Group, a New York City-based recruitment firm specializing in placing administrative personnel, the first step in dealing with a micromanager is to ask yourself some tough questions to