Effects of Micromanagement and the Hostile Workplace

Since I started working with my current employer I have had 6 team leaders/managers. There have only been a couple that I had issues with. Both were for the same reason. As an agent I never had any type of disciplinary action. I knew the job requirements and what was expected of me. I was consistently doing fine on my monthly scorecards. So I wanted to be left alone. The last thing I want is micromanagement. I don't need to be monitored or policed in any way. Now if you have a disciplinary action for me that's another story altogether and that needs to be dealt with. But otherwise leave me the fuck alone and let me do my job.

Micromanagement tells me that you do not trust me and are not confident in my abilities. Why else would you need to monitor what I am doing on a daily basis? It also reminds of what life was like at home... and I got out of that a decade ago. I doubt myself enough... I don't need someone else doing it for me. As anyone that knows me will attest to... I monitor myself. I know where I stand and what I need to improve on. For the most part I don't need someone else to tell me.

I am a good agent. I can say that without having an ego.... Back when I was still new all my stats were good and I did not have any disciplinary action. My only real issue was attendance. In the first year I had pneumonia and I had bronchitis four times. Then just after I made it past the one year mark I had the flu. Lost 20 pounds and I'm not sure I ever completely recovered. After that I made a decision. I dropped out of school and chose this as my career. There are still times when I reflect on the last 2 years there when I wonder about that decision.... All because of a few people.

I spent the first two years on Joan's team... Well okay there was a team before that, briefly, but I don't even remember it. I was the golden child. I was appreciated and told what a good job I was doing. Then I moved to Mike's team. I immediately felt like I was under a microscope. Suddenly, I felt like I wasn't good enough. Joan had emphasized what I did well... Mike was more focused on what I wasn't doing so well. He was big on sales which was my weakest point. Some people are probably about to say this story is too much information.... Anyone that knows me knows that I drink LOT of caffeine. I was working permanent nights so I was always there until close. My last break was usually around 6:45 and my bladder was not going to hold out from 7 until I got home. Now I would wait... and wait... and usually at about 9:15 the calls would be gone. So then I would go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the calls weren't always gone. So Mike hauled me over to his desk to have a little "chat" about it. He seemed to think I was avoiding taking calls. I can understand his point of view but that was definitely not what I was trying to do. Having said that it would be one thing if he stopped there but the next day he was asking me about it. It was embarrassing. Then right after that he was monitoring all my stats. Tried to tell me my call time was too low. Too low? At that time we had 15 people taking portable calls... I was taking about 40 calls a day and bringing in business for the center. To this day there are very few people that can match my handle time. My confidence level took a BIG hit.

After that I was applying for performance coach and was told that I was "negative and unapproachable and [he] did not want to give [me] an interview." To this day whenever I see that person it's all I can think of.

So I transferred to the legacy queue just to get off Mike's team. With Stan I was back to being respected and was left alone. I was in the middle of a separation so he would check in with me and see how things were going. I really appreciated the time he took and the effort he made. Shortly after I did get performance coach and was on the move again. But he would still ask about me.

And then came Chris. She was a new team leader and had something to prove. A lot of that came at my expense. I was a new performance coach and she was a new team leader. 7 months of hell. I was berated in front of team members. I was constantly getting in shit for something. Nothing I did was going to be good enough. She even admits that she was monitoring everything I did. It was a very hostile environment. Any confidence I had was completely destroyed. I wanted to quit and almost didn't come back from the LOA. The best part of the LOA was coming back and being moved to another team. Unfortunately not everyone is so lucky.

Micromanagement creates a hostile work environment and one that no one enjoys. Now micro-managers do provide results and on paper can look quite good. But they rule with an iron fist and people are too afraid to speak up. They fear reprimand or for their job. I was scared to death that I would be fired. It also leads to high burnout or high turnover. In a nutshell micromanagement does not work!!!