can I flat-out refuse to do a project? by Alison Green on August 3, 2020 A reader writes: I’ve been away from office life for a while, so I’m not sure if this is a problem of me not understanding the hierarchy or what. Here’s the issue: I work in a field that is heavily deadline-based — think government contracting and you’ll be in the right ballpark. Once in a […] Read the full article →
my boss hired his girlfriend and we are imploding by Alison Green on August 3, 2020 A reader writes: I work at a dysfunctional workplace. I will call us a media development company. It’s a high-stakes time in our work and tempers are very short. My boss, Ron, hired his girlfriend, Zelda. By “hired,” I mean that she works for free in exchange for him supporting her with food, rent, and […] Read the full article →
should I tell future managers about my ADHD? by Alison Green on July 27, 2020 A reader writes: Growing up as a child, I constantly struggled to focus. In school I understood the work, but because I lacked focus and could not hold my attention in the classroom. Every parent-teacher meeting was the same: “Your son is so intelligent and can achieve so much, but he is so disruptive and […] Read the full article →
my manager makes us do mental-health surveys every day by Alison Green on July 22, 2020 A reader writes: Recently, my boss started attending personal therapy (she shared this information with me unprovoked) and shortly after starting her sessions she discovered Brene Brown. Her interest in Brene has moved from simply showing a video during a group meeting to having us all read through one of her books. My concern comes […] Read the full article →
should I tell my boss about my anxieties from past dysfunctional jobs? by Alison Green on July 20, 2020 A reader writes: I worked for a professional services firm for 10+ years, finally leaving a couple years ago. I’ll spare you the nuances, but there were relatively frequent terminations. For perspective, my department that generally had 5-8 people had 11 terminations in a 7-year span. For those of us who were generally well performing, […] Read the full article →
my boss is discriminating against my pregnant employee by Alison Green on July 15, 2020 A reader writes: We have a colleague who has just left to spend a year working remotely (well, we’re all working remotely now!) so he and his wife can live near her family for a year. We needed to split his role into two anyway, so we hired someone, “Jane,” to take over his day-to-day […] Read the full article →
my boss sent a friend to spy on me at my house by Alison Green on July 6, 2020 A reader writes: I work for a very large company and am working from home. When I spoke to my manager on the phone recently, she hinted about whether I was watching TV while working. I told her I can’t watch TV while I work because it’s too distracting, but I listen to podcasts for […] Read the full article →
my boss asked me if she should fire my coworker and then threw me under the bus by Alison Green on July 1, 2020 A reader writes: My boss, Jane, is unhappy with my coworker’s performance and asked me in a one-on-one meeting if she should fire this coworker (we’ll call her Sarah). I hold no authority over Sarah, though we frequently work together on projects, and I have been the main person training and giving feedback to her […] Read the full article →
my boss asked me to reflect on my conflicts with coworkers and I don’t want to by Alison Green on July 1, 2020 A reader writes: I’ve worked for four years in a research laboratory and my supervisor is an associate professor. Her husband is a professor and a director of the research group (and that’s how she easily got her position). As part of standard procedure, the university requires all employees to complete what is called a […] Read the full article →
my boss stole my resume and is applying for the same jobs as me by Alison Green on June 30, 2020 A reader writes: I have been working as a contractor since late 2019, for what was to be a temp to perm position. After about a month, I realized I received the bait and switch regarding what I was hired to do as opposed to what I actually was tasked with doing. So I’ve been […] Read the full article →