Boss Smothering You During Remote Work?

Some managers just don’t believe that “working from home” means doing real work. On Blind, the largest anonymous professional network, we learned that the pandemic had adverse effects on managerial relationships, micromanaging, and communication issues.

Blind asked 2,300 professionals on 3.29-3.31 what their experiences with their managers were during the pandemic. Here are some key learnings: 

1. The pandemic had what effect on your relationship with your boss:
   • More than half of professionals (54%) say the pandemic had a negative impact on their relationship with their boss
   • 83% of IBM employees say the pandemic had a negative impact on their relationship with their boss
   • 76% of Capital One employees say the pandemic had a negative impact on their relationship with their boss
   • 66% of Microsoft employees say the pandemic had a negative impact on their relationship with their boss
2. During the pandemic, you were:
   • 42% of professionals were micromanaged more during work from home
3. Do you feel like your employer is actively communicating with you about reopening plans?
   • 58% of professionals say their employer is actively communicating about reopening plans 

See the raw data here. 

An employee at Cisco shared “Struggling with COVID and dealing with a micromanager. I recently moved to a new team within the same company and now have a micromanager. He wants me to document every hour of every day. I’ve never been in this situation (especially since we are all remote) and am afraid I’m going to get fired if I’m not at my desk documenting what I do every day from 8-5.”

A user at Blind shared their micromanaging experience on the platform, “I just left my last company I was at for nearly 4 years for a new company and to say my new boss is a control freak would be an understatement. He attacks everyone (his peers, other colleagues, customers) he has trust issues, but he’s so high up and senior he ain’t going anywhere since he’s boys with the CEO/founder. He literally has (only for me) a one on one EVERYDAY”

A Blind user at PwC shared, “Currently, dealing with a manager who is always micromanaging. Constantly been asked to be available on weekends /nights, which is impacting my personal life.”

These are the managers who, before the pandemic, would flat-out deny requests to work from home or only begrudgingly approve them for the occasional “good reason,” like waiting at home for the cable guy. There are a number of reasons that leaders might resort to micromanagement. According to the Harvard Business Review, one of the key factors driving this behaviour is a feeling of isolation or disconnect from the rest of the team. Other explanations include:

• Managers feeling the need to maintain their control.
• A lack of trust in employees.
• The fear of being held accountable for the mistakes of others.

But with remote work being mandatory, managerial relationships have suffered. Ultimately, the problem is that far too many companies have no idea how to effectively manage remote employees. Too many managers depend on the sense of control they get by seeing workers in front of them when everyone’s in the office. Perhaps a return to the in-person office will resolve these issues.