open thread – February 10-11, 2023 by Alison Green on February 10, 2023 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to […] Read the full article →
my employees don’t want to talk in meetings, old boss is using me as a business lead, and more by Alison Green on February 10, 2023 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My employees don’t want to talk in meetings … but their jobs require it I manage a team of budget analysts who are the bridge between departments and our central budget office. Two team members have never been comfortable with public speaking, and one has […] Read the full article →
what’s up with this rude and entitled networker? by Alison Green on February 9, 2023 A reader writes: A friend of mine works in community development and occasionally comes across young people who she thinks would do well to learn more about my field. She recently asked permission to put me in touch with a college sophomore. Mine is a high paying, prestigious, and extremely interesting field that most college […] Read the full article →
my employee missed work after a night of drinking by Alison Green on February 9, 2023 A reader writes: An employee I manage called out today due to being hospitalized over the weekend for alcohol poisoning. They went out to celebrate their birthday over the weekend and overdid it on the partying. I realize this is out of work conduct; however, it is affecting the employee’s job because they couldn’t come […] Read the full article →
office coffee wars: share your stories by Alison Green on February 9, 2023 One of my favorite “ask the readers” posts ever was one five years ago about office coffee wars (or tea/milk/etc. wars). It produced some amazing stories, including these: “LastJob had a coffee club. I was not a member. There was one coffee maker. There were coffee wars over caffeinated vs. decaf coffee. Regular coffee vs. flavored […] Read the full article →
coworker misinterprets all my facial expressions, team is complaining about a coworker’s award, and more by Alison Green on February 9, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker misinterprets all my facial expressions Do you have any advice on how to keep your facial expressions completely neutral without looking/sounding robotic? I am a woman with a low tone voice and also am fairly quiet when I speak, so many people tell […] Read the full article →
I gave two weeks notice but got told to leave immediately by Alison Green on February 8, 2023 A reader writes: I quit my first job out of college yesterday. I really liked that job, I was great at it, and I was on good terms with my coworkers and boss. So when I got a job offer I wanted to take, I thought it would be the professional thing to give a […] Read the full article →
my employee has absolutely no attention to detail by Alison Green on February 8, 2023 A reader writes: One of the junior attorneys who works for me and I are pretty friendly. Jessie is a genuinely lovely person — friendly, kind, and we have a good working relationship. The one thing she struggles with is attention to detail. This comes out in two key ways — first, typos and misspellings […] Read the full article →
HR won’t do anything about a coworker who’s angry about my weight loss by Alison Green on February 8, 2023 A reader writes: I just came back to work after a month-long emergency medical leave. The tl:dr is that after a decade of medical gaslighting, a new doctor ordered an emergency MRI during a routine visit and discovered a mass in my abdomen. I was rushed into surgery within 24 hours. I ended up having […] Read the full article →
interviewer asked how I prepared for the interview, boss wants me to be “emotional and raw,” and more by Alison Green on February 8, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Interviewer asked me how I prepared for the interview I had my first job interview in close to a decade the other day. It was an initial phone call. The interviewer asked me a few questions that initially caught me off guard. One was, “So […] Read the full article →