should I email my whole team to air my grievances when I resign? by Alison Green on May 18, 2015 A reader writes: Would it be career suicide to send an email to everyone at my current job explaining why I’m leaving it? My boss turned out to be a two-faced liar who viciously targeted and drove out several coworkers (while quite a few who weren’t targeted left because they couldn’t stomach how others were […] Read the full article →
your manager sucks and isn’t going to change by Alison Green on May 18, 2015 Three letters, one answer. One answer that’s awfully similar to this one. 1. How can I improve morale when our president is so difficult? I work for a very small nonprofit with fewer than 15 employees. We have had a difficult history with a lot of turnover. Due to that turnover, I am now second in command […] Read the full article →
weekend free-for-all – May 16-17, 2015 by Alison Green on May 16, 2015 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. (This one is truly non-work and non-school only; if you have a work question, you can email it to me or post it in the work-related open thread on Fridays.) Book Recommendation of the Week: How to […] Read the full article →
new manager getting pushback from staff, employer keeps tweeting about a job opening, and more by Alison Green on May 16, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I’m a new manager and getting pushback from some staff on job requirements I’ve been promoted to the managerial position for a college program where I was formerly the program assistant and an instructor. I am also much younger than most of the other instructors […] Read the full article →
3 reader updates by Alison Green on May 15, 2015 We’ve got three updates from people who had their letters answered here earlier this year! 1. Update: my boss keeps sending me urgent work to do even when I’m out sick Unfortunately, the situation is still kind of complicated. I did try talking to my boss, and we determined that making my messages clearer, i.e. […] Read the full article →
a hiring committee accidentally included me when discussing my qualifications with each other by Alison Green on May 15, 2015 A reader writes: I’m currently looking to make a career switch (not completely new, just different focus), and I recently applied for a great job. One person from the hiring committee emailed me back, while cc’ing what I am assuming is the rest of the committee. All of this is fine, but then today I […] Read the full article →
open thread – May 15, 2015 by Alison Green on May 15, 2015 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. * If you submitted […] Read the full article →
colleague is dressing down on charity dress-down day but refusing to pay, is this hiring process fair, and more by Alison Green on May 15, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Colleague is dressing down on charity dress-down day but refusing to pay I have a bit of an unusual situation. In my office, we’ve started having a “charity dress down day” at the end of every month. Each employee can donate £1 in order to […] Read the full article →
can I speak up about how our meetings always run way past the allotted time? by Alison Green on May 14, 2015 A reader writes: Meetings that end on time make my heart sing. I’m the manager of a department with about a dozen people, and my staff knows that I am uncompromising about ending meetings on time. Alas, our entire division (about 50 people) has a monthly meeting that invariably runs over the allotted hour. Even […] Read the full article →
how to get rid of drama on your team by Alison Green on May 14, 2015 In an ideal world, any team we worked on or led would be a model of professionalism and never get sidetracked by emotions or interpersonal conflict. But in reality, drama and unproductive conflict can creep into teams if you don’t purposely create a culture that’s inhospitable to it. Here’s how to do it. 1. Model a no-drama […] Read the full article →