How would you go about working in an environment where micromanaging is a part of corporate culture?

	How would you go about working in an environment where micromanaging is a part of corporate culture? I am a "middle manager" for a family owned company. I have been working there for many, many years and have worked my way up from a regular employee to a middle manager. I am accomplished and very confident and competent in my skills. I even make very, very good money and I love my job. My company, however, will not allow me to make any decisions which should be a part of my "traditional" duties. That also goes for certain employees as well. Heck, the president of the company even walks around the company to check up on employees as if he does not trust the people that work for him. I understand that there are a lot of companies out there where micromanagement, favoritism, nepotism, and politics are rampant, but this takes the cake. Can a person such as myself, a college graduate, expect to grow in an environment where many members of upper management are either the president's family or close friends? A lot of the bosses do not even have the qualifications to manage or lead. Asked By: Not a Player - 6/10/2007

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I work for a company with a lot of similarities. Very micromanaged. When Hurricane Rita was coming to Houston and was only 36 hours from making landfall, the VP wouldn't let us go until he arrived back from his vacation (in France - where he's from). None of the other managers would make the decision to let us go until it was about 30 hours to landfall. By then the roads were all blocked up and there was no gas to be found! If you are seen in the halls, you aren't in your area and you better have a good reason for it. We are basically treated like children and it seems that you have the same issue. I don't think you can grow in this environment. You may grow, but not in the direction you may want to. Your work will make you grow in the direction it takes to appease your VP. So you'll make no major decisions until you ask him. You'll do whatever it takes to keep him off of you, just as you did with your parents when you were a child. The only thing I've seen happen is some managers work very hard to anticipate his needs to prove to him that they don't need constant supervision. And when they do that, their attitude becomes his (constantly checking on us, not trusting us, micromanaging). So the only way to truly adapt is to become the same person he is, which i don't think you want to do. I've looked for other positions myself because I get tired of the feeling that i'm still in High School (College was much looser than this). Stay in this job for now, but keep looking beyond. Just take your time and find the job that's right for you. And moving from a small, family operated company to a large corp won't be a quick fix. The company I work for is a large corporations with centers all over the world. The size of the company won't decide the mindset of the management. And management by "walking around" is not really a tried and true technique. It just makes your employees distrustful any time they see a manager. And after they leave? You go back to do whatever it was, whether it be reading a magazine or doing actual work. Management by walking around has worked so well at our company that our current rate of resigns is about 3 a month. And these are PhD's and engineers who get tired of this crap. It may work with employees of a certain level, but anyone with an education who is productive and intelligent doesn't want to have to deal with it. Answered By: Melissa Me - 6/10/2007

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You express contradictory feelings about this company, its culture, and your position there. Managing "by walking around" is a tried and true management technique and may not mean micro-management. Other aspects of what you describe are indeed micro-management. You've thrived in this environment and already grown considerably. Can you go higher? Maybe not if the family runs the business and non-family members are never given autonomy above that you presently experience. Yet, there is something here that you love, and maybe this culture suits your personality to a tee. Give it a lot of thought before you decide to leave, because many people have jobs which they dislike much more than you do yours. Answered By: Still reading - 6/10/2007

If you love your job and you're paid well, you're going to have to put up with the BS. Most family businesses are this way, They treat you well, like one of the family, but they drive you crazy. No,you will not get very far. Those roles are reserved for the family and friends. You have a hard choice to make,what means more, enjoying your job and the money, or being up against a stone wall, careerwise. In a way this sounds like the Army. There are 3 ways of doing something,the right way,the wrong way, and the Army way. The Army was is micromanagement carried to a degree you never thought possible. Answered By: Barry auh2o - 6/10/2007

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