my anxious employee wants daily reassurance by Alison Green on September 5, 2024 A reader writes: I manage a small team, including one employee who joined us somewhat recently. This is her first time doing the kind of work that we do, and training from afar isn’t ideal (we work remotely), but she’s learning and progressing well. I give her positive feedback on her work, along with corrections […] Read the full article →
my employee exaggerates, gossips, and lied to get credit for a project she didn’t do by Alison Green on September 4, 2024 A reader writes: I work as a director at a medium-sized nonprofit, reporting directly to the chief development officer (CDO). I have a coordinator (Jane) who reports to me and takes care of most of the administrative work. In June we received a large campaign pledge from a very powerful national foundation. It was a […] Read the full article →
can I tell my intern she laughs too much? by Alison Green on August 28, 2024 A reader writes: I manage an intern who tends to respond with short bursts of laughter at incongruous times, like when I am explaining something to her or when I am giving her directions (and I’m not trying to be funny!). It can be pretty jarring. I noticed it during her interview, but chalked it […] Read the full article →
my employee cc’s me on too many emails by Alison Green on August 26, 2024 A reader writes: I’m a director of a busy company. I receive upward of 1,000 emails a day, with 75% of them for awareness only but necessary nonetheless. I have a report who manages a team of nine, all remotely. He copies me on everything — from meeting response notifications to emails to his employees […] Read the full article →
my employee is rude to colleagues — but some of them are rude to her too by Alison Green on August 14, 2024 A reader writes: I started at a new company a few months ago and, in getting acquainted with other staff, several people mentioned that they find one of my reports, Linda, a little abrasive. Basically, there was a lot of coded talk that she can be difficult/rude. Since we have started working together, I do […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps commenting on my looks by Alison Green on August 13, 2024 A reader writes: How can I best respond to an employee of mine about his frequent inappropriate comments about my body and looks? I’m worried about inadvertently devolving into “you think I’m hot” territory or drawing even more attention to my body, which makes me very, very uncomfortable. Some recent comments/actions include “You’re bringing sexy […] Read the full article →
how to respond to “jokes” about age and weight at work by Alison Green on August 12, 2024 A reader writes: I’m a manager with several supervisors under me. A supervisor was “teased” by one team member for being overweight and by a different one for being “old.” Prior to these comments, the supervisor had told me that she’s watching what she eats and is trying to lose weight. She’s about my age […] Read the full article →
my team has been stealing from the company by Alison Green on August 12, 2024 A reader writes: A few days ago, I discovered that at least seven people on my team have been stealing cash across different sites for months. It was deliberate and carefully coordinated and occurred almost daily. They took an average of $30-40 a day so I can’t see how the risk worked out financially after […] Read the full article →
my employee doesn’t read her email by Alison Green on August 7, 2024 A reader writes: I supervise a manager who is in most respects a great manager. She does an excellent job of coaching her team, but she has difficulty getting to all her emails in a timely manner. We’ve talked several times about the need to delegate and to review all emails within 24 hours, and […] Read the full article →
my employee refuses to reveal her online status by Alison Green on August 6, 2024 A reader writes: I manage a small customer-facing portion of a broader team. The 10 of us are responsible for being on the frontlines, understanding our customer needs, and responding to questions and new requests. Since the pandemic, our company has switched to using Slack as our primary mode of communication. While the company is […] Read the full article →