how do I stop my employees from giving me gifts? by Alison Green on December 12, 2022 A reader writes: My team has recently expanded. A couple days ago, one of the new employees gave me a book as a holiday gift. I have never given or received personal gifts at work and don’t want to start. How do I acknowledge the gift without encouraging repeat or treating my employees unequally? I […] Read the full article →
my employee gossiped about a conversation she eavesdropped on by Alison Green on December 8, 2022 A reader writes: I am the general manager of a large company. Recently I had a closed-door meeting in my office with our HR manager, Jenny, discussing the issues of the week, including disciplining a difficult employee and succession planning for Jenny’s unannounced new role in the company. When we exited the office, we noticed […] Read the full article →
my Twitter account has been hacked by Alison Green on December 6, 2022 FYI, my Twitter account has been hacked and I’ve been locked out of it. I’ve reported it to Twitter but their auto-message says it may take a few days for them to fix it. So far nothing weird has been tweeted from my account, but I assume spam links, etc. are coming so be warned […] Read the full article →
employee quit and deleted all his files by Alison Green on December 6, 2022 A reader writes: One of our employees just quit without notice and left us in a bind. He is part of a team that works collaboratively, but recently took on a new project and hadn’t gotten to cross-train any of his colleagues before he left. He came in after a vacation, turned in his badge […] Read the full article →
my boss loves planning an elaborate holiday extravaganza … we all hate it by Alison Green on December 5, 2022 A reader writes: We’re in a small office—about 15 people—scattered across the country, even though half are in one city and work from the main office. Those who work remotely come to the main office about once every six weeks, which works great because it allows for several days of in-person meetings, conversations, “whole office” […] Read the full article →
how can I write warmer emails? by Alison Green on December 1, 2022 A reader writes: What tips can you offer to “soften” the tone of business emails? I tend to be direct in real life interactions, possibly erring on the side of blunt. Putting niceties in emails to others feels like a waste of their time, but some feedback I’m getting is that I can come off […] Read the full article →
our holiday party is mandatory, but I don’t want to be around unmasked coworkers by Alison Green on November 30, 2022 A reader writes: My office is hybrid now, with each team in one day per week. I’m still being very vigilant about masking on the days that I’m in the office because my mom, who lives with me, is having chemo and is immunocompromised. So on the days I’m in the office, I’m careful to […] Read the full article →
ice-breakers don’t have to suck by Alison Green on November 29, 2022 In response to the recent post about excessive ice-breakers at work, Sarah Lichtenstein Walter shared the guide she created for her team about how to design good ice-breakers and what to avoid. I love it and am sharing it here with her permission. Sarah says, “My favorite of these is the favorite/least favorite work activities […] Read the full article →
the schedule for updates this year by Alison Green on November 28, 2022 A heads-up about update season: for the next few weeks I’ll be posting at midnight, 11 am, 12:30 pm, 2 pm, 3:30 pm, and 5 pm (all times are Eastern)* … as a minimum. There will sometimes be additional posts at random times throughout the afternoon as well! We have a lot of updates. Also, […] Read the full article →
how to tell an assistant, “just fix the problem!” by Alison Green on November 28, 2022 A reader writes: Soon after I started, I hired a new assistant, Amy. She’s been here a few months. It’s going okay but I’m trying to figure out which of the following things are worth trying to fix with her, and which are just personal quirks and to let it go. She excels in other […] Read the full article →