Mortification Week: the hangover, the French onion soup, and other stories to cringe over by Alison Green on August 8, 2023 It’s Mortification Week at Ask a Manager and all week long we’ll be revisiting ways we’ve mortified ourselves at work. Here are 13 mortifying stories to kick off today. 1. The hangover The company I worked for had an annual 3 day “retreat” 4 hours out of the city. On the second night I drank […] Read the full article →
we’re getting no direction while our manager is sick, companies that escort fired employees out, and more by Alison Green on August 8, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. We’re getting no direction while our manager is sick For the past year, my boss has been dealing with a very serious health issue that has prevented them from coming into the office. That wasn’t too bad, since they were available online and by phone […] Read the full article →
Mortification Week: the accidental overture, the misplaced wink, and more by Alison Green on August 7, 2023 It’s Mortification Week at Ask a Manager and all week long we’ll be revisiting ways we’ve mortified ourselves at work. Here are 12 more mortifying stories to enjoy. 1. The accidental overture UGH back in the day, I had my work e-mail and home e-mail feed into the same e-mail client (yeah yeah, I know, […] Read the full article →
I accidentally ghosted a client by Alison Green on August 7, 2023 A reader asks: I recently took on a freelance web design project at an hourly rate. However, I ran into some issues that I hadn’t anticipated having to deal with, and my anxiety got the better of me after we had to cancel a meeting a few weeks ago, and I haven’t responded to any […] Read the full article →
Mortification Week: the terrible misunderstanding, the cat serenade, and other stories to cringe over by Alison Green on August 7, 2023 Welcome to Mortification Week, where we’ll be talking all week about how we’ve mortified ourselves at work. To start us off, here are 12 stories people have shared here (or submitted via email) about work moments they now cringe over. 1. The misunderstanding My now husband and I met as coworkers. When we started dating, […] Read the full article →
employee insists on working on vacation, rejecting resumes that include pronouns, and more by Alison Green on August 7, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee insists on working on vacation I have been the director of a small library staff for a little over a year. I have a good rapport with my team, and I am grateful for them. One of the people I supervise checks their […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – August 5-6, 2023 by Alison Green on August 4, 2023 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: The Appeal, by Janice Hallett. A murder mystery told entirely through emails and messages sent among the members of a local theater group […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on August 4, 2023 It’s your Friday good news! 1. “I’ve been waiting to send this! I’d been at my last job with basically zero company culture and growth potential for six years and was reading AAM to remind myself what good company culture did look like. Because of your advice, I didn’t get too invested in any one […] Read the full article →
open thread – August 4-5, 2023 by Alison Green on August 4, 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 →
manager is too close to an employee, is it OK to ask if coworkers have kids, and more by Alison Green on August 4, 2023 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Can I tell a manager that he’s too close to his employee? I oversee a group of employees broken up into smaller groups run by managers. One of them, “Jim,” manages “Sasha,” and four other people. Jim’s team sits in a separate building so I […] Read the full article →