Ask a Manager

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Should I not have invited an ex-coworker to a holiday lunch? This happened a couple years ago but has bothered me ever since. A well-loved employee of eight years left the company after a major change in leadership. A terrible change in leadership, which she […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee cries audibly whenever she gets a new assignment I am a lawyer at a small-ish law firm. We have five paralegals, of varying abilities. Our best and most senior paralegal is a bit of a cryer. It seems like it is part of her […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Interns stole alcohol at a work retreat I recently started a new role, and last week we had a three-day annual retreat with the whole organization (about 30 people). It was a great experience overall, but it ended on a sour note: on our last […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I was demoted and now can’t move back up I’ve been at my company for over a decade, and have a track record of being an asset to the company. A year ago, I mutually agreed to step down from a management position. The proposal […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworker keeps prying into my romantic life I’m a woman who’s not straight, and not out to anyone where I work. I’m in my mid 20s, and a coworker who has to be in at least her 60s is constantly making remarks about me having/getting […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Thongs at work The other day, while I was at a healthcare facility where they do both clinical visits and operations, I saw a female employee walking by me, wearing her perfectly-acceptable scrubs, who was clearly an operating room doctor or nurse. For whatever reason […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is this method for layoffs needlessly cruel? I am writing this email while sitting at my work computer even though I am off contract and not being paid for my time. My college announced a month ago that they will lay off half our workforce […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee never eats at work I added a new (and wonderful) person to the team I lead about six months ago. We share an open work space. Most folks eat lunch communally, but sometimes people pop out to buy something or go for a […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. An angry ex emailed my boss saying I’m a drug addict I had a great job as a systems analyst working remotely, but this job coincided with some drama in my personal life. I was dealing with a messy breakup with my ex-partner — I […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. We have to cook food to feed our very well-paid managers I work for a branch of government. The leadership team of another branch is having a meeting with the leadership team of our branch. The STAFF has been asked by our independently wealthy leadership […]