should I tell my tantrum-throwing coworker that she’s sabotaging herself? by Alison Green on November 17, 2022 A reader writes: I work in a small team of half a dozen. Recently our lead left and another coworker stepped in to fill that lead position, which left her role open. We have one coworker, I’ll call her Jane, whose work is tangentially related to ours but she’s not in the same role but […] Read the full article →
Ask a Manager in the media by Alison Green on November 17, 2022 Here’s some coverage of Ask a Manager in the media recently: I talked with Bloomberg about the rocky start to the new New York City law requiring pay transparency in job ads — and told them that some employers’ attitudes toward the new law seem like “a deliberate f-you to the law, and thus to […] Read the full article →
how do I manage a “regular” job with a parallel career as a musician? by Alison Green on November 17, 2022 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I am a musician (classically trained soprano, to be specific) and I’m in my late twenties. I recently returned to school after several years out in the workforce, where I had singing gigs and a musical life which I tried to combine with various “regular” […] Read the full article →
my coworker prayed that I’ll return to Jesus, coworker went through my laptop bag, and more by Alison Green on November 17, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker prayed that I’ll return to Jesus I work in higher ed at a university that has roughly a 40% Jewish population. I have worked in my office for a little over four years. About a year ago, I converted to Judaism. I am […] Read the full article →
we’re supposed to do ice-breakers at every single meeting, even routine ones by Alison Green on November 16, 2022 A reader writes: I’m curious what you think about ice-breaker questions as openers for work meetings. I know the idea is to help people get to know another and to encourage everyone to speak up during a meeting. But at my current job they’ve felt overdone. We have an ice-breaker at the beginning of every […] Read the full article →
should I let someone who no-called no-showed come back to work? by Alison Green on November 16, 2022 A reader writes: The last two weeks have really made me question myself as a manager. Without getting into details, I had three of my staff of six quit within 10 days without notice. They’re for unrelated reasons, but we were already down one staff member so our schedule was devastated. One of the employees […] Read the full article →
my company will only give me a raise if I quit first by Alison Green on November 16, 2022 A reader writes: I work for a small company within a very niche field. The owner has been running it for decades and is an expert at this craft, and is in very high demand. The service the company offers is so specialized that the job takes about six months to a year of training, […] Read the full article →
I’m missing out on a lunch break because I’m vegetarian, coworker calls his girlfriend during projects, and more by Alison Green on November 16, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I’m missing out on a lunch break because I’m vegetarian Once a month my office has an all-hands meeting that ends around 11:30, then my team has our monthly team meeting at 1:00. Most of the time people on my team will go out for […] Read the full article →
I get angry when I’m praised for doing work I don’t like by Alison Green on November 15, 2022 A reader writes: Sometimes when receiving positive feedback, I feel irrationally angry about it. This is always when I’m doing a task I dislike. This, of course, causes problems at work when I’m doing a task I didn’t want to do in the first place and a supervisor tries to give me some encouragement. It’s […] Read the full article →
my boss won’t let me move to another state — but I’m remote by Alison Green on November 15, 2022 A reader writes: For eight years, I have been a fully remote employee. I am an outstanding employee, even winning Employee of the Year last year. After a year of great loss, I felt the need for a change of scenery and told the entire executive team that I was going to California to see […] Read the full article →