It’s a manager’s job to ensure that workers are being productive. But some managers can take it a bit too far, especially when they constantly check in on their employees. If you’ve suffered under a controlling manager, we want to hear your story.
Angry boss image from Shutterstock
Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently confessed that he used to memorise the number plates of his employees’ vehicles so he could keep tabs on when they are coming into work and and when they finish up. A famously diligent worker, Gates’ standards for his staff were high. But even he admitted that he was a “little more intense than most people” and had to scale back his micromanagement ways as the company grew.
Previously, we’ve talked about how when a manager micromanages, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but this type of control freak behaviour can easily get out of hand. Staff morale suffers and it leads to a generally miserable workplace.
This is particularly bad when an offending manager tracks your movements more diligent than a government spy agency.
We have written about how to deal with micromanagers in the past, but we want to hear from you guys. If you’ve had experience with a control freak boss who keeps tracks of everything you do in your workplace, tell us your story in the comments.
[Via Business Insider Australia]
Comments
4 responses to “Does Your Controlling Boss Keep Tabs On You?”
Had a boss who wanted to know exactly where I was if I wasn’t at my desk (even though I was mostly always at my desk) – to the point of I had to ask her if I wanted to go to the bathroom.
It started after I left my desk for 2 minutes to go to the bathroom, which was just outside of the small office’s front door. I told the receptionist, so all she’d need to do would be “hey, where’s ?” and the receptionist would have told her. Got back to the office, summoned to a closed door meeting and told that if EVER I leave my desk, for whatever reason, I need to clear it with her first.
Surprised she didn’t hand out toilet passes. She sounds like a strict school teacher.
I had a manager who thought it was a good idea to base our daily hours around simple maths – 38 hours a week, divided by 5. So 7 hours 36 minutes a day. To make that work, he insisted we only take 24 minute lunch breaks so that the start and end times of our days were neat.
It wasn’t well received.
and then you had that one guy who always took 25 mins geez