who’s in charge of making sure a scheduled meeting happens? by Alison Green on May 19, 2022 A reader writes: Since March of 2020, I’ve been permanently working from home and with the Covid cases in my county way down, I’ve started going back into the office once a month or so. A few months ago, I went in to have a scheduled meeting with my boss’s equal – -the director of […] Read the full article →
where are you now? (a call for updates) by Alison Green on May 19, 2022 It’s mid-year updates season! If you’ve had your question answered here in the past, please email me an update and let us know how your situation turned out. Did you take the advice? Did you not take the advice? What happened? How’s your situation now? (Don’t post your updates here though; email them to me.) […] Read the full article →
strangely dramatic responses to mundane office changes by Alison Green on May 19, 2022 Ever since the letter earlier this year about the office-wide meltdown over a new phone system with fewer speed dial buttons, I’ve been thinking about overly dramatic responses to relatively mundane changes at work. We’ve heard quite a few doozies over the years: • A couple years ago, I led revamping one of our workflows. […] Read the full article →
religious decor in a shared work space, yoga pants at a team-building event, and more by Alison Green on May 19, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Religious decor in a shared work space I share an office with the rest of my small team — one coworker and our supervisor. Due to the nature of our work, even when all three of us are working at the same time, we are […] Read the full article →
can I ask a company to speed up their hiring process? by Alison Green on May 18, 2022 A reader writes: I am interviewing with several companies, two of which I really like. Company A, I interviewed twice already, and they’ve been very responsive to my emails and thank-you notes. They also reached out to me without me emailing them first and told me there’s been a delay in hiring but they will […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps falling asleep in meetings by Alison Green on May 18, 2022 A reader writes: I have noticed that one employee tends to doze off at our weekly departmental meeting. I don’t believe she has any medical condition that would cause this, and I don’t see her dozing off at other times. But I’ve noticed the dozing off many times during these weekly meetings (usually held after […] Read the full article →
our boss is demanding a gift with an accounting of names and how much each person contributed by Alison Green on May 18, 2022 A reader writes: Our boss informed us that she’s leaving for a new position at another company. Hooray for the boss, and hooray for us because the boss was truly awful. Here’s where things get icky: the company is throwing her a farewell party. Everyone has been invited to make a financial contribution to a […] Read the full article →
can I ethically hire when the company is a mess, employers that want a reference from your current boss, and more by Alison Green on May 18, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Can I ethically hire when the company is a mess? I love(d) my job! Great executive leader, great team, great work. However, our beloved leader has departed and the replacement that has been hired is a tyrant. All kinds of red flags – executive assistants […] Read the full article →
how do I spot red flags in a job interview if I have no work experience? by Alison Green on May 17, 2022 A reader writes: I am a law student who just finished my first year, and I am applying to jobs for the summer. My one and only job was one that I started when I was 17 (I am 23 now) and was self-employed. Before this, I’ve only ever had one interview, and it was […] Read the full article →
my coworkers were fired … am I next? by Alison Green on May 17, 2022 A reader writes: For the last three months, I’ve worked at a small company doing a job I love. But there’s been some weirdness lately that makes me worry about my job. Here’s what’s going on: multiple people have been fired in a three-month period. They were all “not good fits” for various reasons that […] Read the full article →