Latest / DevQuestions with Tim Corey / 228. Defeating Micromanagement & Succeeding Despite Leadership

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228. Defeating Micromanagement & Succeeding Despite Leadership · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: How do you deal with a micromanaging boss that drives you nuts?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Micromanagement and constant supervision can be detrimental to actually getting work done.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: You spend more time reporting on what you're doing or justifying your actions than you actually do doing the work.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do you handle a situation like this?
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we're going to cover in today's episode of DevQutions.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: Software development is more than just writing code.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about the rest of it.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Specifically, let's talk about how to respond to a potentially overbearing boss that micromanages you.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now, let's start with the extreme case.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: The person who asks this has a boss that required them to install trekking software on their personal laptop.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's unacceptable.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: First, your job should provide you with a work computer to do work on.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: If they do not, they should not be able to control how you use the machine in your personal time.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's difficult.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: I worked in IT.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I know the difficulty of bringing your own personal device into a secure network.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really difficult thing to do well.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, there are things you can do to lock down a personal machine so that it protects the network.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: But usually that happens when an employee says, I want to bring a personal machine.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: If you require as a boss that your user or your employees use their own personal machines to do work on, you cannot control them.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: You just can't.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: However, most situations aren't that extreme.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Most aren't bad enough that you should leave your job.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: They just make your life a little miserable sometimes.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about how to turn these situations around.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number one, have a conversation with your boss.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's a difficult, I know this is not the thing you want to hear first.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: You want to have some cool way of like getting past these monitoring situations.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Have a conversation with your boss.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is going to help for a couple of reasons.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: One, it's always good to have open communication lines with your boss.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Allowing them to tell you why it's important is important.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Allowing you the opportunity to say what's difficult about it or what's causing a problem is important.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: But here is the important, the really important part of all of this.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: You need to come with valid reasons for your frustrations.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you might say, well, of course I have valid reasons.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're micromanaging me.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's not good enough.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: And here's why.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because why?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Are they concerned you're not working enough hours?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what are you doing to show them you are?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Are you maybe not working enough hours?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And you might say, well, Tim, are are you on my side or the boss's side?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not about sides, it's about being honest.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I really, really want to stress this.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: You need to be honest with yourself first.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Now, in a lot of situations, yes, micromanaging is a problem.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, the way management does it is not right or is causing problems.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: I fully agree.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: However, even in those situations, if you're not honest with yourself, you're not going to turn us around.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: You're making those.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: So let's be honest with yourself first.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Have valid reasons for your frustrations.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: If you say, well, I can't get any work done on my boss always knowing what my comp what's on my computer, why not?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Your boss pays you to do a job.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: If your boss sat right behind you and watched, or goodness, I hate this idea, but had a camera that's pointed at your desk while you worked, how does that affect what you do really?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you should be able to still do your job.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now, is it comfortable?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: Is it frustrating?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Is it irritating?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Probably.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Could it cause you to have some stress issues?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Could that cause you to be less performant and have more issues?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: But have the conversation about what the real issue is.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: It can't just be you shouldn't be watching what I do.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: They're paying you to do a job.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay for them to know what you're doing.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: But valid reasons might be, you know what?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're always having conversations about this.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not helpful.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know what?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I have earned the trust that I have not been given.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Or I am working even overtime hours.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't understand why I am being constantly monitored.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Or this monitoring is slowing down what I do.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Having a conversation about, you know what?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: If we have a conversation about my productivity every week, that's taking away from my productivity.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: And if I have demonstrated that I have been productive despite this, then maybe it's not valuable to keep up with.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Have valid reasons for your frustrations.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Don't just say, I don't like it, it's intrusive, it's, you know, you can't do that.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: These are not valid reasons.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Have valid reasons.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Understand why you're frustrated.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number two, this is a hard one, but evaluate if you are actually the problem.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, again, you need to be honest.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: If your boss is paying you for 40 hours per week, but you're only working 30 hours, that's a problem.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Your boss at first might not know that you're not putting 40 hours in, but might have a feeling.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: And your boss might think, well, you know what, I'm just not getting the production I'm saying, I'm expecting.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna start monitoring.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna start figuring out why and see if this feeling has some real um reasons behind it.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, during the pandemic, this was a pretty popular thing where you know, everyone's working from home, and sometimes that work from home, not everyone, but most people, a lot of people are.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, a lot of people were work from home for the very first time.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: And what I realized was, hey, my boss isn't walking past my cubicle all the time.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not having a person look over my shoulder all the time.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so I can do other things.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: I can get laundry done, I can play with a cat, I can, you know, vacuum my house, I can learn to paint, whatever the case may be, on company time.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we should know that's probably a problem, right?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: You might say, well, I'm still getting the work done, I was doing it for.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's not really the point.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Your boss is paying you for time, usually.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, that's what your boss should be able to expect.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so I saw things like we can buy a mouse jiggler on Amazon that's gonna jigg your mouse so that it tricks the software into thinking you're still moving your mouse.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, think of that through for a minute.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Why are you doing that?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: If it's because you're leaving a computer for half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour at a time, and you don't want your boss to know, again, be honest with yourself.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're not doing the work you're getting paid for.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: You might say, well, I'm getting back at them for okay, take a step back.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: If you're doing more than the 40 hours you're being paid for, then you have a legitimate thing to talk to your boss about.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Again, number one.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: So have that conversation.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: But if you aren't, well, then you're just skipping out of work because I know work's frustrating, it works, works boring, work's irritating.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: You want to just check out, you'd love to get paid to not do work.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, be honest about it.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you can bring these things onto yourself by just not being honest with what you're doing in that 40 hours.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Your boss has a right to expect you to do the work they're paying you to do.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now, okay, enough of the self-evaluation because yes, you need to start there and you make sure that you are understanding what you're doing and making sure that you're putting in the work you are.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: But let's assume you are.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, number three, ask for a full report.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so let's say your boss calls you into their office and says, Hey, I noticed you stepped away for 20 minutes during the day.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, yep, I did that.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I might say, Well, that's a problem.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: You need to be at your desk from this time to this time.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And say, I don't want to, I don't want to take away from that.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: However, can I have a full report of all of my work, not just the times I missed?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And your boss might say, Well, you what do you mean?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I'm telling you the times you missed.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'd like to know all the hours I worked.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because then you pull it up and you say, okay, I've worked 53 hours this week of my 40 hours.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, I stepped away for 20 minutes, but let's look at this from a different perspective.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you really want me to be at my desk available continuously from 8 to 5, which by the way, at least in the US, is not legal.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you need to have breaks and all the rest.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: But let's just say outside of the normal breaks, well, I can do that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm also going to then clock out at 5 p.m.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: or whatever the quitting time is.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's going to take away, it's actually going to reduce the number of hours I'm working.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because I can do the I clock in at 8, I clock out at 5.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Not a problem.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I can do that.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: I worked for a company for a while that was, I was stocking shelves.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And they were really big on the time clock.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: They really want to make sure that time clock was precise.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, not a problem.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: I used to clock in a few minutes early, you know, I'd get there 10 minutes early, not a problem.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: I was jump on the clock and start work right away.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, love that, but no, you can't do that.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Not a problem.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd clock in within two minutes, usually right on the dot of when I was starting my shift.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Which means that if I walk past the problem, sorry, can't work on that yet.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not on the clock.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then what I'd do is when my shift is getting ready to get over, I'd make sure I keep track of that.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, within you know, five minutes, I'd pack everything up.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: I would be back at that clock in time to clock out right on the minute.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that wasn't a punishment to that company, but that's what they wanted.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: They wanted exact time.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: They wanted me to clock in what I had said, and they wanted just the time I paid for.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Not a problem.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you can do the same thing with your boss.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, you know what?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you would like for me to do that punch in, punch out, always on, you know, during these hours, I can do that.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: But that's gonna be that I'm going to not do extra because you're asking me to be precise in my timing.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, I'll be precise.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that's gonna cost you X.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: This way you can have a reasonable conversation.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes your boss isn't any reasonable.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Your boss might say, Well, no, no, no, no.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about being at your desk.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: You still need to work those extra hours.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying you can't work extra hours.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm asking you to work those extra hours, but I need you to be there and say, you know what?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I understand what you're saying, but you've asked me to do this and you're gonna pay me to be precise, then I'm gonna be precise.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And if you would like me to be not so precise on leaving, well, I would like to not have to be quite so precise on during the day.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna abuse it.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna do less than my 40, but I am going to, you know, use the restroom during the middle of the day and take 10 minutes to do the wordle.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like maybe that that works for you, okay?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: But make sure that you have that conversation on both sides by asking for a full reporting, not just the negative side of the reporting.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Number four, document the other direction.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: What I mean by that is because sometimes I've had companies where they say, okay, I want you to write down every 15 minutes what you did the past 15 minutes.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you know what?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: That can be useful.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: It can be a great tool.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: It can be a way to help you re-evaluate where you're spending your time.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I really encourage you to do that sometimes.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Do a self-inventory by recording every 15 minutes.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: What did I do the past 15 minutes?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: What you'll find is you'll go, I don't know, for a number of blocks during the day.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: And that can help you refocus and re-engage and figure out how to be more, you know, more intentional about what you're doing.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: But that's not a forever thing.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes bosses just like you do things forever.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: And they want you to do these monitoring tasks that just take a lot of your time.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, document the other direction.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Meaning, record each meeting you have, each phone call you have about your productivity.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Record each meeting, record each phone call, the time it takes to read each email about your productivity, the time it takes to document the time you spend on tasks.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then turn all that in your boss.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: But you might say, you know what?
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: I've documented my time for the past month.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I have learned these things about myself, my schedule.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I've also learned that this takes about five hours a week to do.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And your boss may go, wait, what?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, documenting this time takes about five hours a week to do.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's not just the, oh, it took me 30 seconds to read an email.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, but that also took me a minute to disconnect from what I was doing and kind of uh save the spot in my code and then go read the email and think about it and then get back up to speed in my code.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's 10 minutes.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: So multiply that out by 10 emails, and all of a sudden you've got an hour and a half plus of time just spent on reading those emails.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: So document that and take it to your boss.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: So again, be logical about this.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Don't just be emotional, be logical about this is what it really costs.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Number five, preemptively use your own tracking system.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: There are systems that work for different people.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Different people are different.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's a shocker.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: So figure out what works for you.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: You need to think about how do I make sure I am as efficient as possible in my work.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: And that's personal work as well as work at your job.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: So figure out things like does the Pomodoro method work for me?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a task tracker?
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Is it my calendar and blocking off time for different tasks?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a daily journal?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've tried all of these and more and figure out what works.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's different systems during different times or for different types of tasks.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: But then figure out what works for you and demonstrate how you're working to be responsible with your time and how you found what works best for you to your boss.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Say, hey, you know what?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're doing this time tracking thing.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is what I do to kind of block out my time in my calendar.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Could I do this?
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe we document my time for a while while I use my system and then maybe I just use my system from going forward.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: So have a system so you're not just wasting time.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: I know work is hard.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know that sometimes the best thing to do is feel like you're just wasting time by talking to people and hanging out the water cooler and all these other things that can look like work but aren't really work.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Figure out how to optimize your time.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that includes breaks, but optimize your time to get the most done while at the same time not burning yourself out.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: The Pomodoro technique, by the way, I love it because it has built-in rest.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that may feel weird and that may sound like, well, my boss would never approve that.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: You'll get more stuff done.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can demonstrate, hey, I get more stuff done when I follow this technique, your bosses might be in favor of this more, and they more likely be in favor of this if you can document and prove I get more stuff done when I do this.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: So preemptively use your own tracking system.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number six, and this is at the end for a reason.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to go through and evaluate yourself and how you work, and then see if you can turn these situations around with your boss first.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you don't, what's gonna happen is these problems are gonna follow you to the next job and the next job and the next job.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: So do the first five first, but then evaluate if this is the right situation for you.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes there's just no saving it.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes bosses are just frustrating.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they just don't work with how you work.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that can be okay.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Not every boss is going to work well with every employee.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: So evaluate is a situation right for me?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: But again, I've done what I can first.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm being the employee I need to be, I'm doing what's right, and I am trying to work with my boss first.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: But then if I've done all those things, well, then evaluate maybe I should move on.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the six steps I'd go through to really understand how to deal with a micromanaging boss and how to hopefully turn that situation around and improve your situation at work.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that answers your question.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And as always, I am Tim Corey.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of Dev Questions.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: When you're ready to learn to think and code like a professional developer, head over to IamtimCorey.com and enroll in a course.