advice about your coworkers

Need advice about your coworkers? Here are answers to questions from dealing with a coworker who sings all day, to interrupters, to credit-stealers, and much more.

my coworker hangs out with my boss all day in our shared office

A reader writes: I work for a company of about 150 people but the department I work for consists of three people: Arya, who is my boss; Jon, who I supervise; and me. A separate coworker, Sansa, works for a different department, and there is no managerial overlap between departments. My team shares one large, […]

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my coworker turns everything into a doomsday scenario

A reader writes: I’ve got a coworker (“Janet”) in a different department who’s senior to me in terms of ranking, but not my boss (she’s peers with my boss). I work with her on various projects from time to time, but she has this tendency that if something goes wrong, or she thinks it goes […]

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my coworker tipped me

A reader writes: Recently I took care of some work-related writing for a coworker. It’s definitely his job as a manager (although he’s not *my* manager), but I knocked it out in half an hour and did a much better job than he would have. He made a joke about paying me, which I laughed […]

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my coworker is obsessed with us being happy all the time

A reader writes: My coworker, Lenora, is the oldest person in our office. She is generally friendly, cheerful, and a hard worker. However, despite her genuinely sweet nature, she is about to drive us all up the wall. In short, she wants us to be happy all of the time, and she has made it […]

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how do I deal with a lazy coworker?

A reader writes: I have a coworker who’s become too comfortable in her job; she knows she is retiring in several years and seems to have thrown in the towel. Her job is to greet visitors, but she sits at her desk with ear buds in and a scowl. Everyone now comes to me instead. […]

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