an employee I fired is spreading lies to the rest of my team by Alison Green on October 4, 2023 A reader writes: I’m a relatively seasoned public sector (local government) manager going through a difficult situation. Long story short, I fired my assistant director, Malcolm, because he wasn’t performing at the necessary level. Our agency has a year-long probationary period and once it passes, it is very difficult to release someone. As the time […] Read the full article →
my team member has too many ideas and can’t prioritize by Alison Green on October 4, 2023 A reader writes: One of my team members is responsible for figuring out how we can manufacture new designs and making sure our old designs are still durable. And he’s great at it — he’s super-smart and keeps on top of the latest technology. He’s so great at this, in fact, that every month or […] Read the full article →
I manage a horrible micromanager by Alison Green on October 2, 2023 A reader writes: I am having great difficulty with one of the managers who I manage, “Fern.” Fern leads a team of 16 people. Her tactics have led to poor morale and wasting time. Nearly every time a team member makes a mistake, she assumes it’s indicative of a larger problem and re-training/new processes ensue. […] Read the full article →
an employee 2 levels down refused to meet with me by Alison Green on September 27, 2023 A reader writes: I am a division director at a large organization. I have three direct reports who collectively oversee about 30 staff, at levels ranging from entry-level, hourly office admins to seasoned managers earning six-figure salaries. Every year, I meet once one-on-one with everyone who is not on my leadership team just to check […] Read the full article →
should I tell my employee she needs to give a clearer “no” to a client who’s interested in her? by Alison Green on September 27, 2023 A reader writes: I own a fitness studio, and one of my instructors is a senior in college, Emma. For several weeks, she only had one client for an early morning class that she teaches, a guy I’ll call Ryan. I know this client; he’s a nice guy in his early 20’s and a bit […] Read the full article →
why don’t we do a better job of training managers? by Alison Green on September 26, 2023 Why don’t we do a better job of training managers? How effectively a team is managed has a huge impact on what results it achieves … so it’s bizarre that we routinely throw people into management roles without any training whatsoever or with training that’s woefully insufficient. At Slate today, I wrote about why it’s […] Read the full article →
my employee says he’s “already thought of” every suggestion I make by Alison Green on September 25, 2023 A reader writes: I’ve got an odd situation happening with a male staff member on my team. I’m his boss and a woman. We are similar in age (I’m a couple of years older), and he has more experience in specific areas of his work than I do, and I have more expertise in other […] Read the full article →
my team keeps complaining about someone I don’t manage by Alison Green on September 20, 2023 A reader writes: I direct a department that’s on a different floor than the rest of our office. A portion of my team’s workflow has to go through an administrative person in another department, Jane, who reports to another department director. Jane is new — she started six months ago — and she seems overwhelmed. […] Read the full article →
my employee demands to know where I am at all times by Alison Green on September 13, 2023 A reader writes: I started a new management role three months ago and am managing a small team. One of my staff was under-performing when I started, and one of my directives was to get them on a coaching plan, which I have. As a result, they have made complaints that I’m out to get […] Read the full article →
my employee says she has “pregnancy brain” by Alison Green on September 12, 2023 A reader writes: My lead administrative assistant, who is normally fantastic, is pregnant. In the past few weeks, she has made some very significant errors, two of which in particular have ended up causing a good bit of drama, increasing workload for others in my department, and also costing our organization a not-insignificant chunk of […] Read the full article →