December 2019

update: I hired a friend and it’s not going well

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Remember the letter-writer who had hired a friend and it was going badly? Here’s the update. It was really clear from Alison’s advice that either Mike had to […]

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vote for the worst boss of 2019

It’s time to vote on the worst boss of the year! We’ll crown the worst boss of the year later this week, based on your votes … so please vote below. (Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. EST Wednesday night.) Who was the worst boss of 2019?

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updates: the trash-talking boss, the excessive thanker, and more

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. My boss trash-talks all my coworkers At first, this didn’t get any better. And I realized the issue was systemic—at […]

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update: interviewing while missing several front teeth

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past.  Remember the letter-writer in 2018 who had to interview while missing several front teeth because he was in the middle of extensive dental work? (#2 at the link) […]

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weekend free-for-all – December 14-15, 2019

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 no work and no school.) Book recommendation of the week: Us, by David Nicholls. Hoping to save his marriage, the somewhat uptight and rigid Douglas Petersen embarks on a month-long tour of Europe with his […]

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updates: the bad coworker, the food police, and more

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are five updates from past letter-writers. 1. My coworker is bad at her job, and I’m unofficially in charge of her I got a lot of advice […]

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managing an employee who’s often out sick

A reader writes: I have an employee who for the last six months has been out sick about 1-2 days a week on average, due to chronic illness. This is affecting performance, and others have had to shoulder a lot of the burden: missed deadlines, poor quality work, and an overall significant decrease in productivity. […]

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open thread – December 13-14, 2019

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 […]

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