Is your boss a micromanager? These tips can help.

By Liz Reyer | Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Chances are you’ve had a micromanaging boss at some point in your career. You know the type: obsessively detail-oriented, edits everything, expects her detailed questions to be anticipated and answered in all written materials.

This kind of boss can be hard to deal with, but use these pointers to work with him or her. This is likely to be an ongoing process; nevertheless, you may be able to train your boss out of some of his or her worst micromanagement traits. Establish a process where you can maintain some autonomy, but still give your boss the chance for input.

-- First, consider what might be driving your boss’s behavior. Many managers are put into their roles with little or no training and are only able to replicate how they would have used their skills in the roles they now supervise. This is a far cry from inspiring good performance, but it is a common, even understandable, response from them.

-- Assuming that your boss doesn’t know better may trigger less anger and may open new ways to wean him or her from this micromanaging behavior. Your boss may also have been burned in the past .

-- Then, to manage your frustration, try listing the positive aspects of working for your boss. What do you learn? What support do you get? What are your boss’s greatest contributions?

-- There’s also the chance that team members’ performance isn’t where it needs to be. If that’s the case, be willing to own up to that aspect, too, and make suggestions on how to remedy it.

-- Finally, develop your vision for how the working relationship could change. Be clear about how you’d like things to work, including ways to incorporate your boss’s need to be highly involved.

-- As with most challenging situations, direct commun-ication will be your best option. Be proactive by setting up a meeting to discuss ways you can more effective in working with your boss. Consider bringing an example of how the process has been less than optimal for you in the past. But don’t turn this into a complaint session. Instead, offer solutions by applying your vision to this example.

-- Try this: You might suggest a new three-step process. First, meet with your boss to understand what needs to be accomplished in a new document or project and what he or she thinks might be some key points to address. Second, provide a draft for feedback, and then have a final review step once the document is complete. This can be constructive, and it can be implemented without the frustration and judgment that comes from unanticipated critiques.

-- Realistically, your boss might be receptive to this, but might not. If not, it’s up to you to determine whether the benefits of your job outweigh the frustrations. And remember, you can control your reaction, so determine what inner skills you can employ to keep the negatives from getting the better of you.