is it rude to read in the car on work trips? by Alison Green on May 16, 2024 A reader writes: For my job, I often travel five to eight hours in a car to get to a destination. I have been a field scientist and now work for a five-state program so I have hundreds of hours of experience of driving with coworkers. An unspoken rule seems to be you talk to […] Read the full article →
can I discuss NSFW shows at work? by Alison Green on May 14, 2024 A reader writes: In this age of streaming, it seems like every show I watch is very, very R-rated. I feel a little uncomfortable talking about these shows during normal coworker chit-chat about what everyone has been watching lately. I wondering how best to navigate these conversations. Here are two specific examples that I felt […] Read the full article →
is working from an armchair hurting my credibility? by Alison Green on April 30, 2024 A reader writes: Since starting my first work-from-home job last year, I’ve noticed the unexpected perk that being able to work from an armchair, recliner, or my couch has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced chronic pain from an old injury because I’m able to support my body in ways that a desk chair doesn’t allow. My concern is […] Read the full article →
I feel overwhelming guilt about taking time off work by Alison Green on April 23, 2024 A reader writes: I genuinely don’t understand how folks deal with the overwhelming guilt of taking time off work. I’ve had this problem since I started working right out of college, and it’s persisted through multiple job and industry changes and multiple PTO policies — from seven days to unlimited — in my over 15 […] Read the full article →
an employee showed up for a video training while lounging in bed and smoking by Alison Green on April 22, 2024 A reader writes: I work in a low-level supervisory role for a social service agency. Most of our employees work remotely and are issued desktop computers with a monitor and camera. The majority of these remote employees do not need to be on camera to complete daily tasks; however, when meetings or training sessions occur, […] Read the full article →
mistakes at work: a round-up by Alison Green on April 10, 2024 Here’s a round-up of posts about mistakes at work. what to do when you make a mistake at work you made a mistake at work — now what? how do I recover from a huge, fireable mistake at work? how do I handle a serious mistake on my self-evaluation? how big of a deal are […] Read the full article →
can I bring a friend-with-benefits back to my hotel on a work trip? by Alison Green on February 22, 2024 A reader writes: Next month, I’ll be attending a professional conference with several of my coworkers. This will be my first work trip. I have a friend-with-benefits who lives in the city that the conference is being hosted in. Would it be inappropriate for me to invite her to stay with me at my hotel? […] Read the full article →
how to give constructive criticism at work by Alison Green on February 20, 2024 If you’re like a lot of people, having to tell someone their work isn’t good enough can feel awkward, even when the feedback is necessary and constructive — and even if you’re a manager whose job it is to have those conversations. But if you approach it in the right way, asking for changes to […] Read the full article →
is it insensitive to be excited for snow at work? by Alison Green on February 15, 2024 A reader writes: I love winter weather and snow, always have. I live in a large city in the northern hemisphere, so it’s good I like winter since, you know, it’s a solid 4-5 months of my year. Due to global warming, though, our winter has been increasingly warmer and wetter, which drives up my […] Read the full article →
I work from home and can’t focus by Alison Green on February 6, 2024 A reader writes: I graduated in 2018 and began a job where officially I’m a freelancer but in reality 99% of my work comes from one person. I record my hours and bill my client for them, and we have an unofficial agreement that I will make myself available to work X number of hours […] Read the full article →