update: I was hired to run a department — but the old boss is still there, 10 months later by Alison Green on December 31, 2015 Remember the letter-writer who was hired to take over as a department director, but 10 months later, the old director still hadn’t left? The first update is here, and here’s the latest update. After my letter was published last year, the situation resolved itself fairly quickly, with Old Boss finally finding another job and me […] Read the full article →
most popular posts of 2015 by Alison Green on December 31, 2015 Ask a Manager’s traffic continued to increase this year, with 12.5 million unique visitors, nearly 22 million visits, and more than 39 million page views. Thanks for your part in that! Looking at the site’s growth over time is fun: Here are the posts that interested people the most this year, via two lists: the most commented on […] Read the full article →
coworker is forwarding requests to my boss, do I have any shot at this job, and more by Alison Green on December 31, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworker is forwarding her requests to me over to my boss I started my new job a few months ago, and everybody has been great compared to my old toxic workplace. However, there is one coworker who seems to think I can’t do my job […] Read the full article →
5 more updates from letter-writers by Alison Green on December 30, 2015 Here are five updates from letter-writers who had their questions answered here this year. 1. My assistant won’t tell me when she’s going to be out sick I ended up having to fire her four months later. After you answered my question, I spoke with her and made it clear what my expectations were. As previously, […] Read the full article →
8 new year’s resolutions for employers by Alison Green on December 30, 2015 Employers at this time of year might be hoping that their employees are making new year’s resolutions to set clearer goals, work more efficiently, or stop spending so much work time hanging out on Facebook. But what about new year’s resolutions for the employers themselves? Here are eight resolutions for employers that could significantly improve […] Read the full article →
what are the ethics of applying for a job that a friend wants? by Alison Green on December 30, 2015 A reader writes: You’ve said before that no one can “steal” a job. But what about when you apply for an opening that you only know about because a colleague told you that he applied for it? I just finished a graduate program. I was older than most of my classmates by 10+ years. With […] Read the full article →
telling a coworker she has B.O., putting degrees in your email signature, and more by Alison Green on December 30, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Talking to a depressed coworker/friend about B.O. I have a very good friend who’s also a coworker (on another team from mine). I happen to know that she’s suffering from very bad depression, and I’m very proud of her for getting through it as well […] Read the full article →
update: my coworker is bitter that I got the permanent position he wanted by Alison Green on December 29, 2015 Remember the letter-writer whose condescending coworker turned bitter after our letter-writer was offered the permanent position that he wanted? Here’s the update. After I wrote to you, I was in a position for several weeks where I didn’t really have to interact with Tim – I had to go back to my old department whilst awaiting […] Read the full article →
4 workplace trends to watch in 2016 by Alison Green on December 29, 2015 Here are five workplace trends that we’re likely to see in 2016 that will heavily impact you as a manager and the way you run your team. 1. The dramatic expansion of remote work. It’s not news that companies are ever-more friendly to remote work, but look for a dramatic upswing in the practice in […] Read the full article →
my employee plays games and uses his phone during downtime by Alison Green on December 29, 2015 A reader writes: I have a business analyst on my team that spends a lot of his time working on very large spreadsheets, consolidating, and analyzing information. Due to the size and nature of the work, a lot of times he will need to set the spreadsheet to do a specific job and then will […] Read the full article →