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Transcript

4 Ways To Quickly Win Over Your Micromanaging Boss (Be Trusted Fast) · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Who likes micromanagement?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Next to no one.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yet nearly everyone has experienced some form of micromanagement.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sharing four tried and tested ways to quickly win over your micromanaging boss.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Each of these techniques is very useful in quickly building trust and gaining greater autonomy with any boss.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Early in my career I had a crash course in how to manage and impress bosses a lot more senior and experienced than me.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: For two jobs in a row at Peer Consulting and Williams Lee, I had to look after over 20 partners or senior managers.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I was in my mid-20s and they were all 40 plus.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I kept getting promoted during this time, so I knew I was doing a lot right.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Since then I've had very good relationships with a whole range of bosses and successfully dealt with all of their leadership and communication styles, including those that wanted to keep a very close eye on what I was doing.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Before we dive into the four ways to quickly win over your micromanaging boss, it's quite important to understand why bosses micromanage their staff, so I'll cover that, and then I'll share six clear signs that you're being micromanaged.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So bosses micromanaging you or asking a lot of questions about your work happens because of three main reasons.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, your boss has trust and self-confidence issues personally.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: For example, this might translate into the perceived need for high levels of control of the staff they manage to maintain their self-confidence.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Do remember, managers' personal assessment and appraisal grade is directly linked to how well their team members perform.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is a very scary situation for many bosses, and they may respond with trying to control everything in the team.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, your boss simply doesn't know how to manage others yet.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Most managers are experts that are promoted into management without being taught how to manage.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is like being given a load of financial data and told to produce management accounts without being taught anything about accounting rules.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Help these managers with positive feedback and suggestions, more on this in a bit later.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, you might have missed deadlines, submitted work not up to expectations, or taken or not taken specific actions.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: These slips have caused your boss to lose confidence in you and your ability to deliver the results that they and the team need.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: They respond by getting much closer to what you are doing, which can include micromanaging you.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: It is not nice to feel your boss doesn't trust you.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can be proactive and you can take very effective actions to change that quickly.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'll cover four highly effective ways to quickly win over your micromanaging boss shortly.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: First, here are six signs of a boss micromanaging you.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing when a boss is micromanaging you or keeping a very close eye on you is useful so you can increase your efforts to win back or gain their trust quickly.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Six signs you're being micromanaged.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: First, your boss has to know everything about what you are doing and plan to do.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, micromanagers only delegate carefully explained tasks.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: They very rarely delegate problems where you have to work out the solutions for yourself.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Third, bosses that micromanage ask for frequent and detailed updates.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, they discourage you from making decisions independently of them.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, micromanagers will dictate how they want tasks to be done.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then sixth, because of their constant checking up, you'll feel that they really don't trust you.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: When you experience several of these signs, take each of the four actions to win over your micromanaging boss that we'll go through shortly.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, Enhance.training provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've included links to additional resources in the podcast description for how to quickly improve the relationship you have with your boss.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Do take a look at these.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: The first way to quickly win over your micromanaging boss is to carefully negotiate sensible and achievable expectations and goals.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Having clear, defined and measurable goals and expectations agreed with your boss is critical to enable you to build trust and demonstrate you deliver what is asked of you.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know what your boss wants, it'll be incredibly hard to deliver great work in their eyes.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Agreeing clear goals and understanding what your boss wants is one of the most important steps that you can take to winning over a micromanaging boss.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: If your boss gives you general goals, go back to them with specific, smart goals and ask for their approval of these goals.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: The more goals that you can make specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound, the easier it will be for you to deliver exactly what your boss wants.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Always remember to ensure that you can deliver what is being asked of you in the context of your skills and experience, the resources that you have available, and what you can realistically have control or influence over.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: If your boss asks for unrealistic goals, negotiate based on each of these factors.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Always negotiate smart goals with your boss that you can confidently be able to deliver.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: The second way to quickly win over your micromanaging boss is to over-communicate to build trust.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Proactively make sure your boss knows what you are working on and how you are progressing against the realistic goals that you've agreed to.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: With a micromanaging boss, it is better to over-communicate or communicate too much rather than communicate too little.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Making sure they know what you are doing alleviates their fears and concerns.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: They also have a chance to input.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Find out how your boss likes to receive updates.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know a few examples of things you could do.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, sending an email at the beginning and the end of each day summarising what you have completed and where you are with progress against your remaining goals.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, you could pop round to your boss's desk to give them a quick update on the same things.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: I always like to do this before 9am or after 5pm when they were less busy or didn't have meetings.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Third, you could call them on your way into work and when you're heading home from work to provide them an update.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Experiment and find out what works best for your boss that you have.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Keep asking them if they're getting what they need from you.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Overcommunicate rather than undercommunicate.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you're doing both of these steps, then you can move into the third way to quickly win over your micromanaging boss is to educate them on how they will get the best from you.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: You need to build trust before you start educating your boss.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Doing a good job and delivering what they are asking for from you is a great start.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding your boss's pain points and pressures and working to reduce them is another very useful step.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Do what you can to make them feel and look good.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then you can start suggesting ways of working and approaches that will help you do a better job.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: This might be giving you more autonomy, or it might be providing more context for their requests, or it might be giving you smaller problems to solve, rather than them giving you detailed instructions of how to solve the problem.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Work out what you're going to ask for and then ask for one change.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Demonstrate that this helps you deliver what they need.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Then ask for the next small change, etc.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Keep repeating until you have a reasonable balance of what they want and what you want.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: You must keep your boss happy and give them what they need to stop them micromanaging you.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth way to quickly win over your micromanaging boss is to consistently over-deliver the results they need.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: The most important results that you can deliver are the results that help your boss hit their targets or make them look good to peers or their boss.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: When you deliver consistently, in a way that they want, while taking up as little of their time and energy as practical, you will gain a lot of their trust.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: The more trust they have of you, the less they will micromanage you.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Find out what their most important goals are.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ask your boss.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Work out how you can move the team closer to the team goals through what you do in your day job.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: What pressures is your boss under and how can you reduce those pressures?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: What projects or additional work might you do to help your boss out or solve a problem that hinders the team?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Start small and then work up in terms of size and impact.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Doing a good job is half of impressing your boss.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: The other half is making sure they know what you're doing and how it is helping them.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Make this link as clear as possible in your updates to your boss.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Tell them and follow up with an email summary.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Consistently over-deliver the results that your boss needs to reduce their micromanaging behaviour quickly.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, having a micromanaging boss is not fun.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Use the four ways to quickly win over your micromanaging boss where we have been through today.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: It will take a bit of work on your part to win their trust and demonstrate that they don't need to spend time and energy giving you detailed instructions to get the results that they need.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Putting in this work will make your job a lot more enjoyable.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: You'll gain a lot more experience and you'll build your skills a lot faster than if you don't put this work in.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: The four ways to quickly win over your micromanaging boss are firstly, carefully negotiate sensible and achievable expectations and goals.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, overcommunicate to build trust.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Third, educate them on how they will get the best from you.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, consistently over-deliver the results they need.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to take a look in the podcast description for more resources to help you win over any micromanaging boss quickly so you have a much more enjoyable job to do.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on four ways to quickly win over your micromanaging boss, please email me at support at enhance.