How to Deal With a Micromanaging Boss in Finance

Abstract

This article is about how to deal with a micromanaging boss in finance, and what being checked on all day does to you. Three pieces of research bear on it. A 1979 model of job strain predicts high strain when demands are high and the say over how the work is done is low. A field study of 23 managers found that a manager's orientation, from supporting subordinates' self-determination to controlling their behaviour, was related to subordinates' perceptions, emotional reactions and satisfaction. A meta-analysis of 72 studies linked leader autonomy support with more autonomous motivation, more wellbeing and less distress. The three steps at the end are practical readings of this research, not tested methods, and they are not legal, HR or clinical advice.

The email that comes back at 4:58 p.m.

It is 4:50 p.m. on a Wednesday and you send the quarter-end reporting pack to your finance director. The cover note says the reconciliations are tied, two items are open and each has an owner. At 4:58 a reply arrives: "Quick question on the accrual in row 14." The answer is in the second line of the cover note.

By Friday you have been asked to copy your director on every email to the auditors and to send a status at noon and at four. The summary paragraph that was rewritten last month is rewritten again this month. Nobody has said the work is wrong. At 9 p.m. you open the file again, and you are not looking for an error. You are looking for the next question.

Why You Keep Checking Your Work Over and Over is about the checking that goes on in your own head. This article is about the checking that comes from above, and what you can do about it.

How do I deal with a micromanaging boss?

Research cannot tell you how to change another person, and nothing cited here tested a method for dealing with a boss who checks everything. It does show what high demands with little control are linked to, what a manager's style is linked to, and how far a manager's behaviour can be expected to change. The next two sections cover this. The three steps after them aim at what is in your hands: what you track, what your boss can see without asking, and which decisions are yours.

What high demands with little control do

Karasek (1979) developed a model of job strain and tested it with national survey data from Sweden and the United States. In the model, strain depends on two things together: how much is demanded of you, and how much say you have over how the work is done, which the paper calls job decision latitude. The model predicts high strain where demands are high and decision latitude is low.

Read the 4:58 p.m. email through this. Finance work often has high demands built in, such as the close calendar and the audit timetable. A boss who checks everything does not add a task. They take away say over how the task is done. This is an inference. The paper is from 1979, it worked from national surveys and not from studies of bosses, and it did not set out to measure micromanagement.

What a manager's style goes with

Deci, Connell and Ryan (1989) studied 23 managers and their subordinates at a major corporation. On three occasions they measured the managers' interpersonal orientation, which runs from supporting subordinates' self-determination to controlling their behaviour, and asked how it related to subordinates' perceptions, emotional reactions and satisfaction. The orientation was related to these, although the strength of the link varied, seemingly with factors in the corporate climate. The managers then took part in an organisational development programme on supporting subordinates' self-determination. The programme clearly changed the managers' orientation. Its effect on subordinates was less conclusive.

Slemp, Kern, Patrick and Ryan (2018) pooled 754 correlations from 72 studies, with 83 samples and 32,870 people, on employees' perceptions of leader autonomy support. Autonomy support was strongly and positively linked with autonomous work motivation. It was also positively linked with basic psychological needs, wellbeing and positive work behaviours, and negatively linked with distress. The effects pooled are correlations.

Read the 4:58 p.m. email through this. A boss who checks everything sits nearer the controlling end of the scale used in the 1989 study. This is an inference. Neither study measured micromanagement, and correlations do not show that a manager's style caused how people felt. The programme result carries a second message: even when the managers changed, the effect on their teams was less conclusive. Planning around a boss who will change is a gamble. Planning around what you can change is not.

How to deal with a micromanaging boss: three steps

None of these changes your boss. They aim at three things the research points to: how much say you have, what your boss can see without asking, and which decisions are yours.

1. Write down what gets checked, and when. For one week, note each time your boss asks, rechecks or rewrites something: what, when, and what had happened just before. Look for a pattern in the type of number, the deliverable or the moment. For instance: "Wed 4:58 p.m., accrual query already answered in the cover note. Thu 10:15 a.m., asked to be copied on auditor emails. Thu 5:40 p.m., summary paragraph rewritten." This turns a general feeling of being watched into a list. It is an inference from Karasek's model, where the question is how much say you have over which parts of the work, and no study cited here tested it.

2. Give the information before it is asked for. Offer a rhythm and a definition of done. For instance: "For the reporting pack I will send a three-line status at noon and 4 p.m. The draft comes by 5 p.m. tomorrow, with reconciliations tied, open items with owners, and changes since last month." Much checking may be a request for information, and a boss who knows what arrives when has less to chase. This is an inference, and no study cited here tested it. Some bosses will check anyway.

3. Ask which decisions are yours. Have one conversation, about the work and not about your boss's style. For instance: "On the month-end pack I would like to own the commentary and the reconciliations. Which decisions would you like to see before they are made?" The aim is a few explicit lines on who decides what. If the conversation feels bigger than that, Difficult Conversations: A Framework for Honest Communication goes further. It is an inference that this reduces checking, and no study cited here tested it.

Questions People Ask

Why is my boss micromanaging me?

The research cited here describes what a controlling style goes with, not why bosses adopt it. Possible reasons are guesses: pressure from above, an earlier error, a relationship where trust is still being built, or habit. The week of notes from step 1 can show whether the checking is aimed at everyone or only at you, and when it started. If it started after an error, How to Tell Your Boss You Made a Mistake in the Numbers may be relevant.

How do I talk to a micromanaging boss without sounding defensive?

Talk about the work and the next steps, not about your boss. Use the wording in step 3 and ask which decisions they want to see before they are made. "You never trust me" invites an argument about trust, while "which decisions would you like to see?" invites an answer. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested it. How to Respond When Your Numbers Are Questioned covers the moment when a specific figure is challenged.

Will a micromanaging boss ever change?

The research cited here does not say how often a controlling boss changes. In the 1989 field study, an organisational development programme clearly changed the managers' own orientation, but its effect on their subordinates was less conclusive. Plan around what you can change: the information your boss gets, the rhythm, and how you carry it. If nothing changes after a few months of this, that is information too, and it is yours to weigh.

Is it micromanagement, or is my boss just thorough?

A thorough boss checks what is high risk, tells you in advance and accepts the answer. A micromanager checks most things, asks again for what you have already given and revises what was agreed. This is a judgement, not a research finding, and the week of notes from step 1 is the evidence for it.

When it is more than micromanagement

Micromanagement is a style of control. It is more when it comes with humiliation, threats, being singled out, or demands that cannot be met however you work. Those are matters for HR, an employee representative or a legal adviser, depending on where you work. This article is not legal advice. If sleep, mood or health are suffering, talk to your doctor. Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It is not treatment and not a substitute for it.

If you have started to check yourself because you are being checked, Burnout in Finance: Why High Performers Hit the Wall describes what that can look like when it builds. If the deadlines behind it are part of the problem, How to Push Back on an Unrealistic Deadline in Finance is about the request before the work starts.

Sources

• Deci, E. L., Connell, J. P., & Ryan, R. M. (1989). Self-determination in a work organization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74(4), 580–590. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.74.4.580

• Karasek, R. A., Jr. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), 285–308. DOI: 10.2307/2392498

• Slemp, G. R., Kern, M. L., Patrick, K. J., & Ryan, R. M. (2018). Leader autonomy support in the workplace: A meta-analytic review. Motivation and Emotion, 42(5), 706–724. DOI: 10.1007/s11031-018-9698-y