Rantings of a Black Polemicist

Managing a Micro-Manager

Thursday, August 25th, 2005 | General

When I first started this gig back in May, I immediately became aware that Junior Manager, the guy I report to, is of the micro-managing type. He’s been known to call my cell phone if I haven’t arrived at the office by 9:30 and likes to break up large tasks into itty bitty pieces so he can feed them to me one at a time.

This is same person that I interviewed with for the job and told me that everything here was “based on output” and that this would be a “flexible working environment”. Yet, it appears that showing up and parking my butt at my desk is valued more than how much work I actually do.

I still come in as late as 10am. But Junior Manager confronted me about leaving at 4pm and billing for 8 hours. “Are you billing by the day or the hour? You’ve got to bill by the hour.” Hey, Is it my fault I can do 8 hours of work in 6 or less? It doesn’t help that my back faces my cubicle opening, so I can’t even pay bills online, balance the checkbook or just read the news without someone sneaking up on me. I bought a rear view mirror, but it only makes me aware that I’m being watched as it’s happening. I need to fit him with a cowbell or something.

All of the other consultants clear out at 4pm, leaving me to play “the waiting game” with Junior Manager. I’ve been trying to guess when it’s safe to make a dash for the parking lot. It’s imperitive that I leave after Junior Manager. He knows my car, so if it’s gone, he knows I’m gone too. I can’t see his office from where I sit, so I have to try to guess when he’ll leave. A few times I’ve waited it out 45 minutes or more, just to find that Junior Manager had left much earlier.

No more guessing games for me. I made use of some of my idle time and wrote a simple application that checks the company’s network for my boss’ laptop every minute from 4pm to 6pm. As soon as he disconnects from the network, I get an email with the subject “Elvis has left the building”. I give him 5 minutes to get to his car and drive off before I make my exit. Now he always sees my car when he leaves and I get out of there as soon as I can.

I love writing useful software

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