my boss told me that I smell by Alison Green on October 6, 2020 A reader writes: I recently started a position and my boss just called me in for a meeting that was really embarrassing: My boss told me that someone in the office had told them I had body odor. My boss told me that this wasn’t something they had noticed, so maybe it was just an […] Read the full article →
how do I draw the line on political conversations at work? by Alison Green on October 6, 2020 A reader writes: I’m the lead for a small team that has brief daily morning “standup meetings” – usually around 5-10 minutes of checking in and updating one another about what we’re working on that day. During the pandemic we’ve been mostly remote, so these take place via video chat and have, predictably, gotten a […] Read the full article →
my coworker told everyone we’re married … we’re not even dating by Alison Green on October 6, 2020 A reader writes: Last year, I left on a leave of absence for a few months to take care of my elderly parents. Then I returned to work. Apparently during that time, one of my coworkers began telling people we were married … not as in “work wife,” as in legally married, and everyone believed […] Read the full article →
I saw a coworker’s husband naked on Zoom – should I say anything? by Alison Green on September 28, 2020 A reader writes: So … the other day we had a full day Zoom meeting/training (~12 people from our company, including the boss and the trainer from outside the company). During the lunch break, the Zoom was still going on, but we were encouraged to go eat, stretch, etc. I turned off my camera and […] Read the full article →
my coworker screams awful things at her kids during video calls by Alison Green on September 22, 2020 A reader writes: I have been with my organization for a few years, but I recently switched to a new department about four months ago. Every morning we have a Zoom call to discuss upcoming tasks and current status on projects and sometimes our supervisor will assign tasks. The meeting can only be 30 minutes […] Read the full article →
how to set boundaries with a very chatty coworker by Alison Green on September 16, 2020 A reader writes: I work with a dedicated and conscientious person. We have the same title and role and interact a lot for our jobs. I like her but she is extremely chatty. She is clueless as to how it impacts me and our joint workload and it’s starting to wear on me. A typical […] Read the full article →
when should I tell my friend I applied for a job she wants? by Alison Green on September 15, 2020 A reader writes: I made a very unlikely friend at work about four years ago — a coworker who got a job instead of me. She and I have similar responsibilities but in different parts of the organization. We bonded over the work we have in common and have gotten very close. Over the years, […] Read the full article →
our office nurse thinks Covid is a hoax by Alison Green on September 15, 2020 A reader writes: I work in an education-related nonprofit. There are plenty of dysfunctional things that happen at our place of business, but I cannot figure out how to approach this. We have a nurse who comes in once a week to maintain immunization records and make sure we have good processes for medication administration […] Read the full article →
my coworker keeps hijacking our meetings by Alison Green on September 9, 2020 A reader writes: I am a department head at a small financial firm. Recently I began hosting weekly meetings for our 25-person business team, which comprises other department heads and their teams. For the first couple of weeks, things were going smoothly, but recently one department head has been hijacking every meeting. He shows up […] Read the full article →
my coworker keeps pressuring me to get pregnant by Alison Green on September 8, 2020 A reader writes: I started a new job this year. Jobs in my field are notoriously difficult to come by even during non-coronavirus times, but I’ve found myself sure that I’ve made a mistake in taking this position because of two coworkers, who I’ll call Anna and Lauren. Both Anna and Lauren are pregnant and […] Read the full article →