Employer micromanagement during pandemic harming relationships - study

The pandemic had adverse effects on managerial relationships, micromanaging, and communication, according to new research from Blind.

Blind asked 2,300 professionals on 3.29-3.31 what their experiences with their managers were during the pandemic. It found some managers did not believe that working from home means doing real work, with 42% of employees being micromanaged as they worked from home.

When asked what effect the pandemic had on the relationship with their boss, more than half of professionals (54%) say the pandemic had a negative impact on their relationship.

Of those, 83% of IBM employees say the pandemic had a negative impact on their relationship with their boss, while 76% of Capital One employees say the pandemic had a negative impact. Sixty six percent of Microsoft employees say the pandemic had a negative impact on their relationship with their boss.

The report found 42% of professionals were micromanaged more during work from home, compared to when they worked in the office.

An employee at Cisco said they were "struggling with COVID-19 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 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 four 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".

An employee at PwC added, "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. But with remote work being mandatory, managerial relationships have suffered, Blind says.

"Ultimately, the problem is that far too many companies have no idea how to effectively manage remote employees," it says.

"Too many managers depend on the sense of control they get by seeing workers in front of them when everyones in the office. Perhaps a return to the in person office will resolve these issues."