Why is working for a micromanager, when working from home, good for your career? Working from home has brought a sudden increase in micromanagement. Micromanagement is a style of management whereby your manager closely observes or controls your work. They likely continuously remind you about your tasks and ask for continuous updates. Micromanagement eliminates your freedom in the workplace. It signals a lack of trust, and as a result, creates a workforce of disengaged and discouraged employees. Micromanagement lowers morale and causes negative attrition, which is a hidden cost to the business due to increased hiring and training. Control freak, stuck in the weeds, distrusting people, and never being satisfied are words commonly used to describe a micromanager.

There are several reasons managers adopt a micromanagement leadership style. Their desire to be successful is so strong they can’t trust other people to produce good results. They feel more comfortable doing their old job, rather than overseeing employees who now do that job. Sometimes they want to feel more connected with lower-level employees. Some leaders micromanage because they have nothing better to do but to garden your weeds.

If you already worked for a micromanager, chances are things have gotten harder for you, and for that, I apologize. But, if your manager didn’t micromanage before working from home, you may be experiencing a sudden uptick in requests for status updates and check-point calls. Maybe you’ve been asked for daily updates. But is this micromanagement creep a terrible thing? Can you leverage the newfound micromanagement style your manager is using to your advantage?

Why You Should Embrace Sudden Micromanagement in a Work From Home Environment

Now that most of the world has moved to work from home, there could be disruption to your career path. A lot of the typical methods for advancing in your career happen in the office. Networking, face time, building relationships, and access to leaders across the organization are easier to manage in person. Working in the office also gives you opportunities for random conversations with co-workers, such as walking down the hallway and in the break room. Everyone visits the coffee maker and water cooler at work, but none of these things can happen when working from home.

1. They know their team and the work they do.

When done right, micromanagers have their finger on the pulse of what’s happening with everyone on their team. As a result, they know their people and are hyper-engaged. Highly skilled micromanagers have exceptional communication and follow-up/through skills. They provide guidance and ultimately ensure the results you deliver are outstanding. Micromanagers help make sure you look good, which makes them look good, and when working from home, that helps maintain your career path.

2. They want to get the best out of their team.

So long as your micromanager isn’t waiting for you to fail, and instead wants to make sure you are addressing every detail, you should embrace them. When the focus is on controlling the outcome, not the people involved, you get to learn. Micromanagement offers mentoring and stretches you to your full potential in the moment rather than after the fact. When working from home for a micromanager, you continuously improve your skills, and that helps with your career development.

3. Micromanagers see what’s ahead and pivot more quickly.

Because they get into the details, micromanagers are able to identify potential issues and pivot quickly. They connect the dots between what different teams and individuals are working on, which helps keep projects moving forward, especially with interdependencies. When working from home, this is critical to prevent or mitigate adverse outcomes. Delivering positive results keeps your career path intact and helps you shine.

4. They are more accurate when delegating work because they know what, who, and when to do so.

When working from home, it helps to have a micromanager who has a deep understanding of the job their team is doing rather than one who has no clue what it takes to get a job done. I’m sure you’ve experienced a manager who forwards something on to you that left you feeling blindsided and ill-equipped to complete the task. You either worked late into the night or failed miserably in those situations. Having a sudden micromanager now that you are working from home gets the right tasks delegated to the right people, and that is good for maintaining your career path.

5. Micromanagers dig into the details to get to the root of problems.

Because our work has gotten complex the possibility for error has increased. Having a sudden micromanager helps you win when troubleshooting and resolving issues. They dig deep into the details and investigate every avenue. Micromanagers get to the root of the problem rather than staying on the surface. Their goal is simple, to resolve the situation timely and in the best way possible. Having a manager who does deep dives into issues when working from home helps your career path because they search for the truth, resolve issues more quickly, and that makes everyone look good.

Micromanagement isn’t something I would typically promote. Being a control-freak, having an inability to trust, being nitpicky, or thinking they are the only ones who can do a job well is very much toxic management and will destroy your career. These are not the micromanagers you should embrace.

A manager who is present in your activities, exceptional at follow-up/through, provides detailed guidance, and offers corrective feedback are often easily confused with micromanagement. However, if your manager has suddenly started to micromanage because you work from home, these things are necessary for your career path. A good micromanager helps you stay visible, produce positive outcomes, and develop into a high-potential employee. They help surface the value you bring and the contributions you are making, and that moves you closer to achieving your career goals.

Last updated on June 14th, 2022 at 06:46 am