Micromanagement Hell
Had a conversation with a freelancer yesterday in which he expressed his frustration with a current client situation. He’s in charge of one aspect of a project, yet he seems to be dealing with someone in charge of another aspect whose disorganization is costing him precious time and energy. Worse, she wants to manage the entire project, and there doesn’t appear to be anyone else in the work process who can halt her. So he sits each project deadline trying to get her to organize so he’s not bombarded with additional work, yet she resists.
What can you do about someone who clearly needs to be in charge, and someone who won’t hear your requests to organize workflow in a better way? In most cases, you drop that client, for there’s little you can do for someone who won’t wrest control over to you so you can do your part of the job effectively. But what if it’s a situation you can’t drop? What then?
In my experience, folks who micromanage do so to feel less insecure about the job going awry, their jobs disappearing, their reputation being marred, etc. Knowing that insecurity is possibly driving your micromanager, try this; offer your client a number of workable options and then ask for the client’s advice. It’s a way to give the micromanager a sense of balance and control, and you may even get a bit more guidance and/or freedom to produce out of the deal. Make sure your options are those which you can function under.
For example, if your micromanager sends you fourteen emails a day with little scraps of information, it’s too easy for you to miss that one note that was critical. It would not be insulting to let the client know the information was buried under numerous emails you receive daily, and that you want to work better with him or her. Suggest either a single email at the end of the day or the beginning of the day that bullets all the points this person wants to convey, or a single phone call in which you hit the tape recorder and grab a note pad. He or she may shoot the ideas down, but you’ve conveyed the message that things are getting lost due to some miscommunication and that you’re needing a better system.
There are times when no matter what you try to negotiate, there just isn’t going to be any changes. Those are the times you have to ask yourself how important it is to keep the client on. Still, micromanagers can be reasoned with. Keep trying. You might find a nice compromise that keeps you both content.