Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I manage a manager who dislikes his new, qualified employee I run a small nonprofit. I’m less than six months into the position and have inherited some HR challenges. One of the directors I manage, Dave, is, frankly, a terrible manager. He only manages three […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is it unprofessional to ask to change desks because you don’t like someone? Two years ago I started a job as an engineer at my current company and was assigned a mentor, “Rob.” My cubicle is directly adjacent to his. For various reasons related to […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker constantly derails meetings I have a coworker, Mary, who does not know how to stay on topic or when to stop talking. It’s like she thinks a meeting is a time to discuss everything and anything tangentially related to a person’s position in […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. How to tell an employee his pants are too revealing I need some guidance! We have a new high school teacher who wears pants that show the imprint of his penis. Several students have gone to the principal to share this information. We recently had […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss wants to ask interviewees how to transport an elephant I have recently moved teams into a slightly more senior management role. We have just received approval to recruit two new staff and I am responsible for all leading the recruitment process. This is […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Manager is always scratching his chest inside his shirt I am a recent transfer to my current office, 10 years with my company, and I have an issue with a manager. “Mark” wears his shirt with the top three buttons undone and he is rarely […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How can I help an awkward new employee connect better with coworkers? I am a senior team member. Reporting to me are Bill (mid-level — seven years of experience), and three people at the junior level (one to three years of experience). Bill is the […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How can I ask out our general manager? How do I get ahold of someone who works in the offices where I work to ask them out? Her position is GM. I’m intending to ask her if she’d like to go for a coffee or […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My new boss wrote a poem about our team … but only some of us My company has an annual team-building outing, which is traditionally the occasion for higher management to express their gratitude to the employees. At least, that was what I was picking […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Manager says I have to come in even though my doctor says to stay home My company has just increased the number of days we’re expected to be in office. We were fully remote for two years during the pandemic, so the shift to hybrid […]