March 2017

my boss wants me to pick up my coworker’s slack

A reader writes: I work at a company that faced serious downsizing a year ago. I became the head of a newly-formed department, and my old position was dissolved and split among several staff members. One coworker has consistently avoided the part of her job that used to be mine, which means that suppliers keep […]

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my coworkers seem to wish I were my predecessor

A reader writes: I’ve been in an academic department for almost nine years now: four years as undergrad, three years as grad student and instructor, and the last two I have been the administrative support person. I took the job two years ago when the previous admin, “Delilah,” was still working here and I trained […]

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I work with a mansplainer

A reader writes: I’ve been at my company for five years, in various roles with increasing responsibility. A few months ago, I was promoted to train the rest of a team that I was formerly a member of, with responsibility for both onboarding and continuing education (we’re in a medical field where there is a […]

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how can I be a good manager to an employee who barely speaks to me?

A reader writes: I manage two wonderful employees who share an office next to mine. One of my employees (we’ll call him Neelix) is very outgoing and friendly. We have some similar views on life (politics, child-rearing, etc) and talk easily and often. My other employee (we’ll call her B’Elanna) is wonderful at her job […]

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why your boss won’t give you a raise

If you’re wondering why you can’t seem to get a raise – and maybe feeling frustrated and demoralized – it’s worth looking at why your salary hasn’t been raised. In many cases, understanding why your paycheck has stagnated can help you figure out the path to increasing it. Here are seven of the most common reasons […]

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how can I get my freelancers to turn in their work on time?

A reader writes: I manage 15-20 part-time, remote freelancers, and my role is also part-time freelance. Let’s say our end-client sells access to a recipe database; my job is to find great recipe writers, teach them how to develop recipes according to our house standards, and then get them creating recipes for us on a […]

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