September 2014

open thread – September 12, 2014

It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet, but this is a chance to talk to other readers.

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how do I tell my boss that our new hire needs to be fired?

A reader writes: I have a coworker who was hired about a month and a half ago. She works very closely with me and I’m unofficially her supervisor – I have done almost 100% of her training, I’m responsible for reviewing her work, and it is expected that she comes to me with questions before […]

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how to make performance evaluations useful to your team

There’s a reason so many people have come to dread performance evaluations: They’re often handled as an obligatory bureaucratic exercise that takes up far more time than they’re worth – if they have any value at all. But done right, performance evaluations can be truly useful for you and your team. Here’s how. 1. Make […]

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my coworker refused to help with a request I sent her

A reader writes: I’m about three months into my job and am handling a project (company retreat) where I work with 6 other group members, not including anyone from HR. As we are constantly hiring, I asked HR if she could send me an updated name list once every month or every three months so […]

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how can we solve our office’s thermostat war?

A reader writes: I work in a small office with about 10 people in our room. It’s on average about 80 degrees in the summer and gets incredibly stuffy in our ground floor office. Our one window is about 10 feet from the busiest street in the city, so there’s constant traffic and tourists gathering […]

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