Draining The Swamp Of Toxic Micro-Bully

Few believes micromanaging is a form of bullying, unfortunately it undoubtedly has a negative impact on one’s mental health, work performance, and confidence. While operating as an agent in a French multinational insurer - I observed and believed micromanaging is a form of bullying because it’s about seeking control. Employees and agents feel disenfranchised, humiliated, belittled and their mental health deteriorates.

Micromanaging Victims Suffer - Both bullying and micromanaging take a mental toll on the target. Here are some of the ways victims suffer:

• Health issues such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems and fatigue
• Increased stress that affects all areas of their lives
• Deteriorating self-esteem and confidence
• Lack of motivation
• Fear of losing their job, being demoted or retaliated against

Regardless if micromanaging is intentional or not, it’s defeating, disempowering and frustrating. Unfortunately, micromanaging is common in our workplace as a result of poor leadership and it wreaks havoc on everyone involved. We had a senior manager that micromanager which often resort to bullying tactics with the belief that it makes employees and agents more productive. The key reason is - he don’t know how to manage his team effectively. 

Micromanaging Negative Impact - Here are three impacts of micromanaging your employees & agents.

Humiliation, Low Confidence & Demotivating -  Micromanagers focus on mistakes and weaknesses rather than highlighting achievements and efforts. No matter how hard victims work, they will never feel like their work is good enough. This makes victims feel humiliated, destroys their confidence and motivation, and leads them to become disconnected. Micromanagers are abusive because it negatively impacts the mental health of those on the receiving end. Micromanagement resulted in victims being stripped of their duties and indirectly told that they’re not good enough and can’t be trusted. A consequence of micromanaging is that victims believe they’re not competent and their skills aren’t valuable. 

Unhealthy And Toxic Environment - Micromanaging is justified as perfectionism when really it’s a form of manipulation to control others. It creates a codependent relationship where the victim is fearful to do anything without their boss’s approval. Intentional or not, it produces an intimidating environment within the workplace causing victims to become incompetent.”

Micromanagement is a form of dictatorship where you don’t get to question ways and methods, but instead have to comply with everything the senior manager wants without question. Similar to bullying, micromanagement is due to an imbalance of power. Micromanagers believe over-controlling is an effective way to produce a desired result when really it’s a form of intimidation. 

This is undoubtedly a symptom of a toxic workplace.

• Dictates, controls and manipulates others’ time. While he guards his own time, he is notorious for disrespecting others by perpetuating crises, mismanaging meetings and trying to manage others calendars. 
• Controls the process of how work gets done by dismissing others’ knowledge, experiences and ideas. 
• Exercise his power of authority to control others and requires frequent and unnecessary status updates and reports. 
• Bottlenecks processes due to making everyone seek his approval before moving forward
• Unable to delegate; when he does, he hovers or pulls it back at the first sign of trouble

Devalues Employees Skills, Abilities And Expertise - The key to hiring is to hire people you trust and giving them the freedom to utilize their skills and abilities to carry out tasks and make decisions. The worst thing this senior manager had done is waste time peering over the shoulder of others, telling them what to do or waiting for something to go wrong. Not only does this jeopardize growth, but it prevents people from taking risks, asking questions and thinking creatively which decreases innovation and leads to burnout. It’s only a matter of time before even the most talented and driven victims begin looking elsewhere.