As for positive exchanges, he suggests going out of your way to keep your manager happy and even doing things that help him believe whatever he needs to believe, be it that he's always right or that every issue and decision is all about him. "You can view this as a tax on the work, sort of like filling out forms or other administrivia," Berkun says.

C.Y.A.

The hunker-down approach worked for Peter Baker, vice president of information systems and technology at Emcor Facilities Services Inc., a subsidiary of Emcor Group Inc. in Arlington, Va. Baker once worked as a project lead for a micromanager who interfered with the work of the programmers. Baker advised his team members to stay out of the manager's way, avoid the politics and focus on their jobs.

He also suggested that they take 10 minutes each afternoon to document everything they'd done that day. "I remember sitting them down and saying, 'This guy is always going to come in and ask you, "What about this, this and this?" And you can just pull out your piece of paper and say, "I did that, that and that.'" It was kind of a capitulation, but we turned it into a positive by being proactive."