Ask a Manager

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Perks for remote employees only Our company works mostly remotely. Employees who live locally come in one day a week. A few departments’ employees are allowed to live elsewhere in the country (this rule does not apply to all departments). Several times a year, all […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee isn’t clearing decisions with me and argued with me at a staff meeting I am the executive director of a nonprofit, without any formal management training. I raised $1.5 million last year and we now have some new staff people, including a male […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker doesn’t want to report our boss for harassment Recently a coworker shared information with me about some pretty egregious sexual comments our mutual boss made. My personal feeling is that she needs to share this with HR and/or our company leadership team (we […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My mentee was fired for using a vulgar term I work in a regulated industry and there are specific education and license requirements to work here. My company has a mentorship program for those who are new to the industry. I am one of those […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I found weird “detox” propaganda in the office kitchen I work at a small nonprofit of under 30 employees and we share one small kitchen. Articles relevant to our field or other interesting items are often left in the center of the table for us […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My boss embarrassed me at a department meeting My company is being bought out for a larger organization. Our jobs will no longer exist in four months. We’ve been encouraged to review the job postings and apply to jobs for which we might qualify. I […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is swiping on a coworker on a dating app grounds for an HR meeting? Asking for a friend: They absent-mindedly swiped on a coworker in a dating app (whom they asked out once two years earlier). Said coworker was uncomfortable with that and went to […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I say something about past allegations against a colleague? I started a new position about six months ago, working with partner organizations across the state on community projects. On a recent call, I was surprised to see someone I’ll call Brad. I knew Brad […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Our board volunteer makes everyone’s jobs harder I was recently made the chair of the board for a local community service group. The board receives money each year to buy supplies for community service events, but being on the board is a volunteer position (no […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I apologize for my coworker’s behavior at a conference? Recently, I attended an industry conference hosted by an important client. People in my field from across the country attended for purposes of brainstorming and networking. I attended with a senior colleague from my company, […]