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Micromanager
*So I’ve been working at this digital marketing agency concentrating on PPC/SEM for 4 months now and granted it’s my first job but I feel like I’m not being taken seriously. My boss insists on having 2 meetings per day adding up to an average of 1 hr of meetings per day…the thing is I’m a contract worker and only working 6 hours a day… is this normal for contract workers. ⅙ of the day committed to meetings. Sure I’ve made some mistakes.. tiny little details I miss from time to time but I feel like he’s always on my ass…WTH?*
*The campaigns I’ve worked on have been turning out really well and have improved on KPI across the board. I know what I’m doing. I know how to structure these campaigns and perform audits. Even when I suggest some ideas he insists on having a certain way. Gosh, he even wants work emails to be written a certain way and rams me for it in a passive-aggressive way. It F*cking pisses me off especially when we’re on a zoom call and he takes over my screen just because I don’t know how to do something…where does this guy get off? He says the second meetings are so that he can look over my work and teach me. Teach me what!? Do your “lessons” need to take 40 minutes? 80% of the time he tells me something that’s completely subjective but even when I disagree he says that I should do it his way. Part of me is thinking that he’s micromanaging me because he doesn’t have anything other tasks to do.*
*Am I just being sensitive or do I need to talk to my boss? He’s a good guy and all but when it comes to business his expectations are so high that things never get done or at the very least not as much as we could get done in the same time. How do you guys deal with micromanagers?*
Thanks, Guys!
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7 Replies
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If he wants things done a certain way, there should be a process doc laying out step by step what he wants done and how. If there is no doc then he’s not doing his job as a boss/manager. That is on him.
An hour / day is excessive and maybe this guy has trust issues. With that said, mistakes are bad and if it’s something a client would be annoyed or pissed about. Then no one should be making them….both you or him. If there is a lack of process docs, then I would bring that up and how you think it can help you both free up time to take on more work and grow the business. If he refuses to make them, then run as the situation won’t improve.
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Yeah, I remember my first job.
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I had a boss like this and I will tell you, it doesn’t get better. Even if you work faster/harder, they will always want more from you because you can never do it good enough. Multiple people left this job because of her (and even told her she was a micromanager!) and still, nothing changed. At one point, when I was the only employee left under her, she would spend her days in my online workflow (task management system) and just make comments. I didn’t know what else she did!
Similar to you, hours and hours were spent on her explaining things to me in meetings that I already knew. The kicker was that I taught her that stuff and I think she was explaining those things to me so she could actually wrap her head around these concepts.
Here’s the thing – you are a contract employee and you don’t have to keep them as a client. Work on getting new contracts and in the meantime, just push through. Sure, your boss may be a good guy (mine wasn’t a horrible person either) but as a manager, they aren’t working for you. I don’t think explaining this to him will make it better or help. You risk offending someone who basically has the authority to hire or fire and by going to them, you could inadvertently be putting a target on your back. When people went to my boss and told her she was bad, she made their job even harder passive-aggressively.
And no, I don’t think you’re being sensitive. There are a lot of bad managers out there but there is also a lot of good ones. Keep looking, and in the meantime, just do the best you can because and make mental notes on things you’ll never do if you become a manager. I’m sure you’ll have a big list in no-time!
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> Am I just being sensitive or do I need to talk to my boss?
Do you want to stay there long-term? If he doesn’t change do you see yourself sticking it out?
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Lol. I would KILL to have only 2 30 minute meetings a day.
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Does he micromanage everyone or just yourself?
If it’s just you, then there is hope. If he does this with everyone then eventually he will kill all your enthusiasm – run. -
“Sure I’ve made some mistakes.. tiny little details I miss from time to time”
I’m team lead and once we’ve got junior co-worker who also was making “tiny mistakes”. I mean they really were not that bad – incorrect Geo set up, wrong match type for certain keywords, controversial negative keywords… It cost us $20k in 1 month. Anyway if it even cost us 20 bucks ppc-specialist must not make mistakes. You work with someone else’s money. There are no such a thing like “tiny mistakes” if you spend money on them.
Maybe that’s not your case but I partly can understand your boss’ over-controlling you. He might have had similar experience and don’t want thing to repeat
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