Three Types of Micromanagers

They're shifty, they're sh!tty, they don't seem to have enough going on for themselves at work. They are micromanagers. Bosses would seem to tally exactly when you arrive, and how many bathrooms breaks you take. It's almost as if they are preparing for you parole hearing (for keeping you in the clink, of course).

Here's are three versions of micromanagers (feel free to chime in with others)...

The Checker

With a minimal idea of the distance between the time a request is made and the time it takes to complete, The Checker is there with a smile, asking, "Hey, did you call Boise to get the latest sales info?" Two problems with this request. First, it's eight in the morning Central Time, and the Boise office hasn't opened yet. Second, you just left the damn meeting with your boss where they asked you the call freaking Boise.

But they're smiling as if it is an easy and reasonable request. Heaven help you if you called Boise and left a message. Now the game is out of your hands, and The Checker will ask every 37 seconds if Boise's called back yet.

You have to wonder what else they are working on if the have the time to check every 37 seconds to see if you heard back from the folks in Boise.

The Watcher

This person just heard from somebody that they are waiting on a critical report/project/program/phone call from you. And instead of treating the situation with human decency and respect, your boss came to you and said that not only did somebody ask them. But as a bonus, after they finish telling you, they decide to now watch you for 10 to 90 minutes do the work that they requested of you.

How dare they make you work at work! But still... if you ever wanted to feel like an animal at the zoo, find a boss that doubles as The Watcher.

The Counter

This person might be your boss, might not. But they love to count. They love to count how many minutes late you are to work. They love to count how many bathroom/smoke/vending machine/blinking breaks that you take in a day. They love to see if you took an hour for lunch or if it was really one hour and two minutes.

The Counter as a boss uses the average amount of breaks, lunches, and lates to work against your raise during a performance review. The Counter as a co-worker uses the counting just to make themselves feel superior for little reasons such as the ability to track frivolity.