According to recent survey conducted by Atlassian.com, 78% of people they surveyed say “they’re expected to attend so many meetings, it’s hard to get their work done. 51% have to work overtime at least a few days a week due to meeting overload, and for those at the director level and up, that number rises to 67%.” Majority of the respondees agree they feel drained on days when they have a lot of meetings. Nobody is having fun here.

Year after year, I keep hearing my colleagues say that they’d be more productive if they spent less time in meetings. Still, for many of us, meetings dictate the structure of each day, leaving us practically no time for “real work”. In most cases, we have no control of the situation because the meetings are organized by our micromanaging bosses.

To overcome being micromanaged and try to relieve the burden of endless chain of meetings, try to do the following:

• Establish trust with your boss by understanding their concerns and motivations;
• Communicate often to demonstrate your competence and reliability;
• Try not to be demanding or unreasonable;
• Identify what specific behaviors trigger his/her micromanagement, and
• Find opportunities to prove your abilities in small, manageable ways;
• Do your best to create a trusting environment and encourage your boss to let go of the need for control.

Is this going to help? Well, I am not sure. But giving it a try is better than doing nothing, right?