Micro-managing boss- not micro-ing all

[mashley]

My boss can be a micro-manager, but he's also the typical absent-minded professor type, so he forgets he's micro-managing some projects and not others.

Case in point- Dir. of Education just staged our Holiday Open House last Saturday- music, decorated rooms in the museum, hot cider..same as she's done for 15 years.  It went off without a hitch.  Today she's depressed instead of excited because Boss sent her a terse e-mail asking why he wasn't included in the planning and logistics for the event Saturday. I never heard him say or indicate he wanted to be involved with the planning for this, it's an annual event, and this is his third year here so it's not a surprise. This event has been on the calendar for one full year, and we covered it in a meeting 3 months ago. Another department under him is in charge of St. Nick day, and he's not involved in that either, don't even know if he's aware that it's happening.

How can I point out that these events are going on, and if he would read his e-mails, he would know?  The Dir. of Education sent an e-mail to ALL STAFF on Wed. with a schedule of events for Saturday and the Boss never responded, waited until after the event to protest not being involved.  

Any suggestions for how to handle this?  

[gee4]

Interesting topic.  I have had this problem too over the years but I believe if you and your boss have an agreement whereby you are allowed access to his inbox, even whilst he is in the office, then you should be able to monitor his emails during the day to pick up on anything he has missed for you to bring it to his attention.  Most manager love it when you are pro-active.

In my current role my boss will say, there's an email just in from X, would you confirm my attendance and book all necessary travel.  Today for example he has a meeting at 4pm and the location was changed from an off site meeting to an internal one.  I've just had to grab him to make sure he wasn't about to leave the building.

If you ask for some direction it will enable you to point out these things as and when they arise.  I agree it's difficult but if you are clear in your role, you will be able to assist.  Hopefully your boss will be a little more understanding on your part.

I would put his name at the top of the list for next year's party!

[mashley]

Part of the problem is that he doesn't make it clear what he wants to be involved in, or what projects he wants to just " handled".  The other part is that he reads the e-mails, but they don't register until later, and by then he's deleted them. My role with him is quite defined, it's his interaction with others that's the problem, they don't realize he has to be updated frequently because he's involved in so many different projects that sometimes he forgets about ones where the discussion was months ago.

I just realized he was at a meeting of everyone involved in this event at the beginning of the month so he had input on planning, and when he's reminded he was there, he'll be apologetic, but it won't erase the fact that he blasted his Ed. Dir and her assistant over something he "forgot".  This is what I need to address, to keep him up to date, and prevent this from happening in the future.

[mashley]

Small update- Boss had a meeting with Dir of Ed. and her assistant about making sure he was in the loop. When Boss asked why he didn't know about event- instead of letting Dir. field the answer, assistant replied "it was discussed in the meeting in September, you needed to remember it". Not the best response to the Boss, any boss.

[gee4]

Yes maybe not the right answer, but it does seem strange that your boss didn't remember.  Did someone not minute the meeting or circulate notes/actions points?  Sounds like he just plain forgot to me.

[mlm668]

Let me get this straight - they had the planning meeting in September for an event the first weekend of December and he was expected to remember?  Was there no follow-up meeting after the September meeting that he would have been at least invited to?  No meeting notes or action items that needed to be discussed?  

A manager cannot be expected to "remember" something like this for months when they have a full schedule to concentrate on.

A better response from the Dir. of Ed's assistant would have been to probably state they had the meeting in September and a follow up on X (that maybe he missed) and ask what could be done different to keep him better informed (along with suggestions such as having you involved or at least copied on e-mails so you could help with follow up on his participation).

I have a boss that readily admits that he "forgets" and it is part of my job to nag at him to remember certain things.  I am able to get after him about not reading e-mails or paying attention to their content (its a pet peeve of mine and an ongoing issue I have with most of his direct reports when I send out info on his behalf).........BUT it is done in a light hearted way and he knows I take into consideration why they might not be read.  And knowing that they don't always get read is why I will go and ask him if he did read it as part of my follow up.  

Michelle

[mashley]

The meeting was an overview of what where and when, and most of the planning was done by a different department, under a different Boss. This was the first year he's ever indicated he wanted to be involved, and then after the fact. Had I known he wanted to be in on the planning, I could have reminded him, but I wasn't included on these planning meetings.

The previous Boss led by, well, by doing nothing. Most of the staff has been here decades, and New Boss only 3 years. I need help in making staff keep Boss in the loop, and training Boss to let me know what he wants to change. I am going to borrow your "better response" when I meet with him on this.

Thanks!