how do you balance two “big” jobs in a family? by Alison Green on July 20, 2023 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: How do you sensibly balance two “big” jobs in a relationship? My husband is an executive at a high-profile company, and I am the head of a small but very busy specialist department at my firm. Both our jobs are slightly flexible, but less and […] Read the full article →
conference gives the exact same speaker gift every year, someone replaced my note with a ruder note, and more by Alison Green on July 20, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Annual conference gives the exact same speaker gift every year — how do I decline? Every year I speak at a national conference in my industry. This is one of my favorite annual speaking events because I find the audience and their questions so insightful, […] Read the full article →
my new coworker’s annoying habits are driving me mad by Alison Green on July 19, 2023 A reader writes: I’m afraid I’m heading into bitch-eating-crackers stage with my colleague. I need to either manage him better, or maybe change my perspective/reaction to avoid that. I have a new colleague, Niles. He’s new to working in an office environment. He went back to school for his degree and is in his early […] Read the full article →
is it OK for my employee to do needlepoint in meetings? by Alison Green on July 19, 2023 A reader writes: I manage an engineer, Jane, who is doing an excellent job during the first six months in her new role on my team. Two weeks ago, I joined her for a technical meeting. As I walked into the conference room, she was working on a needlepoint project. I’ll admit I was initially […] Read the full article →
my employee is job-searching — should I tell my manager? by Alison Green on July 19, 2023 A reader writes: I was transferred to a new team a few months ago, along with a colleague who now reports to me, and given responsibility for the company’s capybara program (obviously, a fake name for anonymity). The team we’re now part of is great and supportive; our manager is great and has our backs. […] Read the full article →
an abusive volunteer is holding our website hostage, boss says it’s unprofessional not to start an email with a greeting, and more by Alison Green on July 19, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. An abusive volunteer is holding our website hostage I am the first vice president of a nonprofit. We’re all volunteers, including our webmaster, Fergus. Fergus built our website some number of years back, in a computer language he invented and hasn’t finished developing. Because of this, […] Read the full article →
how to professionally say “I told you so” by Alison Green on July 18, 2023 A reader writes: I work at a small-ish company in a creative industry that has a lot of issues with changing/inconsistent expectations and management that isn’t in the habit of really listening to employee feedback. My direct manager and grandboss also have a habit of saying one thing in team trainings and then doing the […] Read the full article →
the managers who feel personally betrayed when workers quit by Alison Green on July 18, 2023 Quitting a job is supposed to be business, not personal—but my inbox is full of letters from people whose managers are deeply aggrieved by their resignations, take it as a personal betrayal, and respond with either fury or despair. At Slate today, I wrote about these managers — and why this is just as bananas […] Read the full article →
my boss wants to hire us out for our “unique talents and skills” that have nothing to do with our jobs by Alison Green on July 18, 2023 A reader writes: I am self-employed. But I also have one teeny, tiny job (2-5 hours a week) working in a secretarial-adjacent position for another small business. It’s someone I’ve known and they have a great mission, and I work from home so I thought it would be some nice side money. I am highly […] Read the full article →
should I use our group chat when someone messes up, insisting on being called Ms. LastName, and more by Alison Green on July 18, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. When I’m managing remotely, should I use our group chat when someone messes up? I recently moved into a minor management role. I manage a small team, but the catch is that every position in the company is remote work. I have never even seen […] Read the full article →