Why is my new manager micromanaging everything I do?
New managers often bottleneck progress due to limited bandwidth and constant oversight, leaving new employees feeling like their hands are tied. This leaves workers unable to act autonomously, leading to frustration, boundary violations during personal time, and a lack of useful guidance for the role.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Being patient and waiting through the initial onboarding periodDid this help you?
- 2Expressing willingness to contribute more and asking for role empowermentDid this help you?
- 3Setting boundaries by telling the boss to give them a minute to settle in before starting workDid this help you?
- 4Putting the ball in the boss's court by asking for explicit clarifications on reports and expectationsDid this help you?
- 5Going to therapy to deal with the stressDid this help you?
- 6Asking coworkers if they are feeling the same pressureDid this help you?
- 7Optimizing work for short-term productivity by choosing easy tasks over complicated ones to show daily progress.Did this help you?
- 8avoid going to the manager for administrative questionsDid this help you?
- 9keeping quiet to avoid confrontationDid this help you?
- 10Swallowing pride and complying with demands while searching for a new jobDid this help you?
- 11Setting expectations and trying to understand the manager's expectations to reduce oversightDid this help you?
- 12Connecting with higher-level management as a check-inDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My new manager is awful. He micromanages EVERYTHING.”source ↗
“I have been working 12 hour days since he started and I’m burnt out.”source ↗
“This is the reason why I left my previous role as HRBP. I’ve never had a good experience with a new manager when the manager who hired me left.”source ↗
“I can't even get into the office and sit down without him asking me to do something right away. I haven't even set my bag down.”source ↗
“His constant checking on my screen or needing to insert himself into problems.”source ↗
“I have to answer emails at 9pm or respond to teams after hours despite being on PTO”source ↗
“My partner had a seizure and at 7am I got a call for him asking if he knew where I was on a specific project”source ↗
“It’s frustrating dealing with someone who does not remember anything or can provide any sort of guidance on how to better myself for the job”source ↗
“Been at this new job for two weeks now.”source ↗
“He makes me share my screen to show me how to put things on my calendar or to block PTO and telework days on my and other peoples calendar.”source ↗
“I had to share my screen and my last 4 digits of my SS. I was very uncomfortable but didn’t say anything.”source ↗
“I always feel on eggshells around him.”source ↗
“Teams are expected to report to the manager twice a day (start of day and EOD) to state what they will do for the day and what they got done at the end.”source ↗
“And the thing is an entire hour is wasted doing these meetings (30 min each x2).”source ↗
“And often times this makes people complete work in a suboptimal way and adds stress because you need to optimize for short term productivity”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 43Why do I feel so overwhelmed after starting a new job?
- 16Why do I feel like a fake in my new management role?
- 4My manager passes all their stress down to our team
- 3Does keeping to yourself at work hurt your career?
- 5Why am I stuck doing basic help desk tasks instead of growing?
- 15How to deal with a manager who is confidently wrong