update: my government manager is thwarting public record laws by emailing things to my personal email account by Alison Green on December 18, 2015 Remember the letter-writer who worked for a government agency subject to public records requests and whose manager’s manager was sending work emails to her personal Gmail account and asking that she respond only from her personal account, keeping it off the government servers? Here’s the update. I can’t remember if I mentioned this in the original letter […] Read the full article →
all my 2015 book recommendations by Alison Green on December 18, 2015 For most of 2015, I’ve made a weekly book recommendation when kicking off the weekend open thread. These aren’t work-related books; they’re just books I love and think everyone else should read. Sometimes they’re books that I’m in the middle of reading, and other times they’ve just long-standing favorites. A few people asked to have them […] Read the full article →
open thread – December 18, 2015 by Alison Green on December 18, 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 →
my boss made a pass at my coworker, asking to be invited to a work party, and more by Alison Green on December 18, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss made a pass at my coworker, who now wants to “take him down” I work for a small tech company with about 13 employees. We have a lot of organizational issues, and we’re in the middle of a major restructuring. This requires me […] Read the full article →
three more updates from letter-writers by Alison Green on December 17, 2015 Here are three updates from letter-writers who had their questions answered here this year. 1. My boss thinks he’s a mayan shaman His shamanistic tendencies were really getting to me, and I tried going through the board but that didn’t work. We couldn’t do much because, well, basically people are worried that he would dissolve […] Read the full article →
update: my insecure coworker keeps spying on me and trying to one-up me by Alison Green on December 17, 2015 Remember the letter-writer whose coworker kept forcing his way into her conversations, trying to one-up her in email, and spying on her computer while she was working? Here’s the update. I really appreciate your advice and perspectives from commenters on how best to deal with “Jake.” I did take your advice not to tell my […] Read the full article →
what your employees really want for the holidays by Alison Green on December 17, 2015 Hint: It’s not a company tote or a fruitcake. But how do you give gifts that employees actually want and will appreciate, especially when you have a large team with diverse personalities and interests? Here are four gifts your employees almost certainly want this year. 1. Meaningful time off where they can really disconnect. Too […] Read the full article →
what do job ads mean by “progressively responsible experience”? by Alison Green on December 17, 2015 A reader writes: Can you shed some light on the term “progressively responsible experience”? I see it in jobs ads all the time: “Minimum of 5-10 years of progressively responsible professional experience is required.” I get the idea that they want to see some sort of pattern of growth, but what does that actually need […] Read the full article →
manager rarely speaks to staff, asking a coworker to stop talking about his gun hobby, and more by Alison Green on December 17, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Asking a coworker to stop talking about his gun hobby I have a coworker who loves guns. We all know this (when you walk by his desk, he is likely on a gun message board) but chalk it up to a quirk. Today he and […] Read the full article →
update: I think I’m burning out — what should I do? by Alison Green on December 16, 2015 Remember the letter-writer who was burning out from a high-stress work situation that was making her exhausted and grumpy to the point that she was having trouble thinking clearly? Here’s the update. The short update is that a lot of things are better (and I’m no longer making jokes about running away to Tahiti), but […] Read the full article →