We’ve all had that one boss that leaves us page-long documents on our desk every morning of things that she wants us to complete. They’ll then constantly check up with our progress throughout the day to make sure that everything is being completed up to their standards. Micromanaging is not only an annoying trait of a boss or a co-worker, but it is also something that can make your everyday life incredibly difficult. Learning how to deal with micromanaging in the workplace is essential to save you from dreading going into work.

1. Eliminating the Need

Instead of trying to fight fire with fire, try to lay out an area where the fire cannot even start. Eliminate every possibility that could lead to someone in your job trying to micromanage your entire day. The first thing that you will want to do is look through the progress that you make on a daily basis to keep track of whether there is any lag in your performance that warrants nitpicking and nagging.

Are you intentionally or unintentionally letting work slip through the cracks? Are you frequently late for work or do you miss deadlines often? If this is the case, you can expect to be micromanaged for a while until these behaviors stop.

2. Know What They Want Before They Do

Another great way to reduce the amount of micromanaging in the workplace is to know what the person wants before they even know it and make sure that it’s done. If you know that there are tasks that they’re going to ask you to complete the next day, make sure that they are finished well before they even have the chance to ask you.

The more that you make sure that their needs are met before they can even ask you, they will be less likely to keep reminding you of things as the days go on. In fact, it will help to increase the amount of trust that your boss and employees have in you.

3. Be Proactive with Updates

The one trait that we all know micromanagers have is to ask for updates as soon as possible. When they know the amount of progress that is being completed on a project, they can feel comfortable that the project will be done. As an important part of their team it is your responsibility to make sure that you stay up-to-date with updates. You won’t want to leave your boss in the dark and force them to come to you often and escalate their micromanaging.

4. Talk to Your Boss

Make sure that you put forth the effort to make sure that your boss knows how you feel. You obviously won’t want to corner them or put them in a difficult situation, but you will obviously want to have them know that their micromanaging is affecting your productivity and happiness. If you do decide to talk to your boss about their habits, make sure that they understand that it’s better for the business if they let you give updates whenever you can, instead of being pushed for them.

It can be uncomfortable to approach this topic with certain bosses or even if you are working for a large corporation, ask your boss if they can let you complete a small project on your own from start to finish and then give a progress report at the end of the task. It’s a great learning opportunity for yourself and for your boss to take a look at your work methods and ethic. Also, if you are able to completely blow your boss away, it’ll look even better.

5. Talk about Projects Beforehand

If you know that there is a big project in the near future, make sure that you go through all of the minute details about it with your boss. Create a step by step plan that you can review with your superiors and get their approval before you start working. Make sure that you include the amount of times that you’ll send progress reports and when they can expect to get updated on the project.

The next step is to make sure that you actually stick to the plan that you developed so they can have that level of trust with you. As an example, if it’s going to take you 4 weeks to complete, make sure that all of the week for week 1 is complete and the progress report is sent on Friday. That way your boss will know when it’s appropriate to micromanage and nitpick every detail in the event that you don’t deliver on time.

Micromanaging is a habit that every boss has to some degree. As an employee it can deter your progress and make it difficult to their standards but by gaining the trust of your boss, you will be able to limit their micromanaging.

As a manager you will be faced with difficult situations and situations that you are generally uncomfortable with, including dealing with malicious gossip in your workplace. Dealing with gossiping employees in the swiftest way possible is the best thing that you can do for your employees. When you take the steps to encourage positive gossiping, it will help to eliminate the need for malicious gossip.

It is not only your responsibility to make sure that your employees are comfortable while at work, but you also need to make sure that your department is achieving its objectives and goals. This can be incredibly difficult if you enter a workplace where the gossiping is seen as more important as daily tasks at work. The good news is that as soon as you realize that the gossiping has begun, you’ll know exactly where to stop it before it runs rampant.

Is Negative Gossip Really Harmful?

The main concern with negative gossip is that it hurts productivity in the workplace. It also leads to issues with morale because your employees will start distrusting the people that they work with. You will begin to notice that the great employees that you have will start looking for jobs elsewhere and you may even have liability issues when your employees begin deeming the workplace unsafe and filled with harassment.

Addressing the Perpetrators

The first step to getting malicious gossip to stop is to address the person that is starting it. You will want to make sure that you create a one-on-one discussion in a confidential location where the perpetrator will feel comfortable. The main purpose of this discussion is to tell them about their behavior and how it’s negatively impacting the workplace environment. You will need to work with them to help them understand what the consequences are of such behavior and if it continues, the steps that will need to be taken. As an example, write-ups, demotions, or even loss of job.

Meeting with the Team

After you have spoken to the specific individuals that are responsible for the gossip, you will now want to discuss the situation with the rest of your team. Consider hosting a weekly meeting that discusses the negative impact that gossip has and helping the rest of your team clearly understand the difference between positive and negative gossip. You will then want to work with your team to help change the department into a positive environment.

Meeting with the Victim

This can be a sensitive part of gossip but it is important that you talk to the victim of the gossip to let them know that they are not alone and if they feel uncomfortable, they can talk to you whenever they need guidance. You will want to make sure that they know that gossip is unacceptable and you are working to make it known that it is not tolerated.

Encouraging Positive Gossip

There is such a thing as positive gossip and it can be great for employees and companies. Everyone will want to share positive stories with each other to give something for people to talk about. You can share stories about situations where employees helped a customer through proper communication or even if an employee comes up with an idea that changes the fate of the department in a positive way. The more that you encourage positive behavior, the better your workplace will be.

Be the Leader

As a manager you will be the prime example of what your employees should seek to follow and you must model the behavior that you want to see them emulate. Much like a parent and their children, your employees will watch you to see what is acceptable and unacceptable in the office. Changing your own habits isn’t easy but if you want your employees to be better, you have to be better first.

Stay Away from Gossip

As another aspect of making sure that you set a good example for your employees, stay away from gossip as often as possible while you’re in the office. If someone is likely to make up gossip about you, there is a high probability that they’re going to be able to do it to someone else as well. Instead of joining in on the conversation, tell the gossipers that what they’re saying is inappropriate and untrue.

Avoid Generalizations

When you are focusing on the difficulties that the office is experiencing you will want to avoid using generalizations at all costs. As an example, you will want to avoid sending out an email blast that simply states that office gossip isn’t going to be tolerated. It is an incredibly ineffective way to handle the situation and it doesn’t single out the offenders so they know that what they’re doing is wrong. Instead, you can give your supervisors training to learn how to effectively manage and address negative employees directly.

As much as you’d like to think that it’s something that you’re doing wrong, every workplace has employees with negative attitudes that completely ruin everyone’s morale. At times they may not be easy to pick out of the crowd but over time they can do a significant amount of damage in the workplace. In most cases they won’t be openly negative every day but their bad attitudes will eat away at your company’s goals every week throughout the year.

How to Identify the Bad Attitude Employees

You may be wondering, who are these people and how can I identify them? Look out for these key traits:

• Always find something to complain about and will exaggerate any mistakes that their coworkers make.
• Begin to spread gossip throughout the office and start rumors that may make one group of people angry at another group.
• Talk behind their coworkers’ backs or even your back.
• Undermine the authority of their supervisors and managers with criticism that is basically under the radar. This is the most difficult trait to be aware of as it is rarely corrected or even recognized.

Step 1: Diagnosing the Problem

Before you come up with an actionable plan, you will want to diagnose the problem by asking yourself a few questions about the behaviour of said employees.

• How does their behavior impact their work and their working environment?
• What are the differences between their behavior and the behavior of an ideal employee at your company?
• How does their behavior affect the people that they work directly with and are they influencing others to be negative as well?
• If they started working well based on your standards and ideals, would it make a difference in the workplace?

Depending on the answers from these questions, you will be able to decide whether it’s worth it to try to discuss what the employee is doing or if you should fire them for inappropriate conduct. It will also help you to move forward with the next steps.

Step 2: Build Your Case

Before you begin to talk to anyone about their behavior, you will want to make sure that you have a case built against the person. It is important that you have actual evidence to suggest that their attitude is negative affecting the way that the business operates. Whether you talk to other employees or if you talk to their superiors, you will want to make sure that you have proof of why you need to talk to them in the first place.

This can be useful for when you move onto step 4 and begin discussing repercussions that will occur if they don’t improve their attitude.

Step 3: Having the First Conversation

If you’ve decided that you want to keep the employee around because they’re valuable when they’re positive, it will be your responsibility to sit them down and have a conversation with them. Communication is the most important part of any relationship, particularly a workplace one. Keep the conversation revolving around getting better results from their behavior and make sure that you focus on the positives. You won’t want to dumb the employee down or make them feel worse than they already do. Focus on their positive traits and if they don’t seem to be improving, then move on to discuss the negative outcomes that they will experience if they don’t change.

Be specific about the results that you want to see, as an example, happier results from customers that call into the company. Also, make sure that you use the word “we” instead of “you” as it will prevent you from isolating the individual. There is a high probability that it will be a conversation filled with awkward silences but remember, it’s not your job to fill them. Let the silences happen and wait for the other party to say something first.

Step 4: Discuss the Repercussions

Depending on the maturity of the individual that you are talking to, it may be difficult to have them actually see the damage that they are bringing to the workplace. In the event that they don’t change their turn after your first conversation, you will want to tell them what will happen if their behavior continues.

At this point they already know what you expect of them and they could purposely be ignoring your previous talk due to their lack of respect for authority. This is when you will want to be assertive and essentially “show them who’s boss”. Tell them that if they do not begin to abide by the standards of every other employee in the workplace, their future at the company could be in jeopardy.

You can look at this step as their second warning and their third warning will be a walk out of the building with their belongings in hand.

Employees are the pillars of a business, people who contribute significantly in building a company’s reputation. And although finding the right members of the team can be a process that needs to be done painstakingly, the end result can be rewarding. However, there will be inevitable circumstances that call for a much challenging and harder task, the job of terminating an employee.

Deciding to end the employment of a team member, either for poor performance or the need of the company to downsize, informing someone that his or her services are no longer needed can be both as stressful for a manager as well as to the employee being fired. Doing the process correctly and handing it as professionally as possible can make a whole lot of difference on how the terminated employee takes the news. This can also lessen, if not totally erase the guilt most managers feel for letting go of a staff member, especially one who has contributed much to the team and have worked for the company for a long time.

Albeit the outcome will still be the same, doing the termination process the right way will prevent miscommunication or worse, impending lawsuit. It is important to remember that for most people, losing a job does not only mean having to look for another one. It can affect an individual’s self-esteem, personal life and finances. Breaking the news in a smooth and objective manner will definitely help.

Have Ample Time to Plan Ahead

Even before the inception of company operations, it is crucial to research on the federal and state laws that protect the rights of the employers and employees such as discriminatory firing related to sex, age and religion, among others. It is safe to say that planning on terminating an employee should start on the day he or she was hired.

Important points such as term of contract, company policies with regard to attendance and absenteeism and grounds for termination as well the company’s right to terminate employment for project-based employees once the project is finished. Documenting employee issues which should include performance reviews and warnings are crucial in justifying the reason for performance-related terminations. The key here is to document and file all the interactions between the management and employees including dates to prevent future litigation from unjust dismissal.

Set up the Meeting

The day of informing an employee about the termination is crucial as much as it is difficult, probably the hardest part of the process. Keep in mind this decision can be a major blow to any individual, considering the emotional and financial impact on the part of the person having to suffer unemployment. It is important to be on to have the following aspects covered:

1. Choose the Proper Venue and Time
Terminating an employee in a restaurant or at the manager’s office should not even come to mind at this time. It is proper to talk to the person involved in a conference room, together with the HR personnel as a witness and to expound on some issues, if necessary. Also, see to it that the meeting takes place in the morning or at a time when most of the staff are busy attending to their responsibilities. This will prevent the terminated employee from embarrassment

2. Be Brief and Firm but with Compassion
The meeting should not last more than 30 minutes to avoid arguments that might ensue, given the decision is irrevocable and final. Moreover, letting the employee stay in the room longer might even add to the hurt and disappointment. Tell the employee the real reason for the dismissal, whether it is for poor performance or structural changes in the company. Keep the explanation short but also show compassion by being accurate pointing out the strengths of the employee, especially if the company had to let go for financial reasons. Should questions or sentiments arise, listen. This will help the employee in coping with and coming to terms with reality.

3. Offer Severance Package and Compensation
On the day of the meeting, ensure that the employee gets his or her final paycheck as well as the other benefits that are yet to be received. These include unused vacation leaves converted to cash and bonuses. If termination is in the middle of the month, giving a whole month’s salary is fair to lessen the financial burden on the employee. If a severance package is offered, it will help to hand it to the employee at this time. This will lessen the weight of getting fired on the person concerned and shift the attention on how he or she can start anew.

4. Ensure a Smooth Transition
Toward the end of the meeting, it is equally important to see to it that the exit is smooth sailing. Give the employee ample time to clean his or her desk, return company-issued property, i.e., keys, phones and laptops. This also includes revoking access and use of passwords and software permissions. Files and documents owned by the company should be surrendered following the termination.

5. Go the Extra Mile to Provide Assistance
Before the meeting ends, it helps to extend some help to the employee by giving information on the developments and trends in the industry. This can lead the employee to potential opportunities available elsewhere. Recommendation letters, referrals and job placements are also a big help to start with a clean slate.

6. Conclude the Termination Meeting Professionally
After the termination process is over and all documents have been handed and signed, do not forget to wish the employee the best of luck and seal it with a firm handshake. Although letting go of any employee is tough, it can still end positively without both parties losing respect and dignity.

Conclusion

Telling someone he or she is being dismissed from the company can definitely put a manager under fire and is never an easy task. However, with proper planning and the right skills, both the company and the terminated employee can handle the situation gracefully and with less tension.

According to Greg Walker at the Department of Speech Communication in the Oregon State University, “Criticism or the generation of ‘evaluative judgments’, is often painful or difficult to ‘give’ or ‘receive'”. For some people, this would be like going to the dentist or walking towards their own execution. Even the knowledge that your work will be critiqued would have butterflies flying in your stomach like crazy.

But Walker added, “If handled appropriately by both the person criticized and the person being criticized, critical feedback can promote constructive growth in individuals and relationships.”

This makes constructive criticism vital in the workplace. The purpose of this type of critique is to help the recipient improve and ensure that the same mistake will not happen again. Think of it as imparting a lesson, rather than making someone feel down. If a negative approach is taken, the one being criticized would not only feel down, but would always associate a similar situation to something unpleasant. Here are some examples of constructive criticism in the workplace commonly experienced.

1. Provide Feedback Like a Coach.

The primary role of the coach is to assess or evaluate an individual’s performance, and then help them discover ways to make improvements. He does this by asking the right questions. The same approach can be used when giving constructive feedback in the workplace. What is great about using the coaching approach is that it helps foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust, which will lead to a productive and healthy relationship.

2. Give Feedback On Even The Slightest Improvements

A struggling employee will do something well at some point. You should take this as an opportunity to give praise and encourage an employee to continue doing an excellent performance. To turn praise into constructive criticism, feedback should be focused on one specific work only. One of the guidelines for giving constructive feedback is that criticism or praise should be focused on a particular situation and not a general behavior.

3. Use Encouragement Even When Dealing With Mistakes.

Consider this scenario: an employee hands in a report with some typos. Rather than handing it back, criticizing the errors and demanding to have them fixed, work on finding something positive about the situation. Recall a time when an employee was able to make corrections quickly and praise them for it. You should also mention that you are confident of their ability to fix the problem. Starting in a positive way, even under dire circumstances, almost always leads to a positive outcome.

4. Ask For Solutions

If all you do is to point out problems and errors, then you are giving an out-and-out criticism, which is unlikely to help the situation in any way. Not only will you make employees feel bad about themselves and their work, they would be de-motivated as well. So, for your feedback to be constructive, you can point out the problem, but ask for reasons why such issues arose. Then, ask employees if they have ideas for a better approach or effective solutions. It is important that you avoid imposing a solution. Instead, draw out great ideas but asking the right questions.

5. Seek Permission Before Offering a Feedback

Can I offer a feedback? Will that be OK? By asking this question, you help prepare an employee to hear and receive a constructed advice. This is also one way to soften the blow, so to speak. Knowing beforehand that they are receiving feedback rather than pure criticism will put an employee’s mind at ease, especially because they know that they’re not being reprimanded. Seeking permission also opens opportunities to receive input from the criticized.

Best Ways to Handle Constructive Criticism

So, for a feedback to be remotely constructive, it has to be a two way street. That is, the ‘critic’ and the ‘criticized’ must interact. The critic must also invite criticism of his own behavior, as this will create a situation where giving and receiving criticism is considered appropriate. It has to be delivered properly as well.

1. When criticizing over a particular situation, give concrete examples so that people would really grasp what you want to convey.

2. Give recipients an opportunity to tell their side of the story. Remember that it has to be a two-way conversation.

3. Tell them what you expect to happen in the future and why. Doing so will help the other person understand your perspective and see the bigger picture.

4. When discussing the situation, get input from the other party. Finding solutions are easier when ideas are being bounced off against one another.

Now, what is the difference between praise and constructive criticism? The former is what it is, but the latter is designed to encourage improvement of various aspects.

Praise: You are very well trained in managing a team.
Constructive Criticism: How about getting some training in team management?

Impact of Workplace Criticism

Even if your intentions are good, criticizing could still leave a negative impact, which is why you should do it right, as much as possible.

When criticizing a colleague, put yourself in their shoes or engage in role reversal. Whatever it is he doesn’t want to hear, would probably be the same thing with you.

When criticizing an employee, avoid bashing them, and then help them find a way to avoid further mistakes. If he has been rude to a client, for example, send guidelines about correct behavior that an employee can follow.

When criticizing the boss, always stay calm and objective. This is probably one of the most difficult situations any employee has to face. However, if the problem is caused by your boss, he has a right to know. To avoid being fired, explain the situation a matter-of-factly and offer a suggestion.

For a criticism to be constructive or helpful in any way, the one being criticized also has a role to play. He has to keep an open mind and see the value of such feedbacks. If he only views criticism in a negative light, no amount of constructive advice would be perceived in a positive way. He must also learn to listen effectively and work hard not to consider critiques as an attack on his character, causing him to become defensive.