when office potlucks and catered parties go wrong by Alison Green on November 7, 2024 As we approach to the season of office potlucks, catered parties, and other holiday meals with coworkers, let’s discuss the many ways in which they can go wrong — from alarming cuisine to cheap-ass rolls to riots over the chili cook-off to tantrums over insufficiently abundant shrimp. Please share your stories of potlucks, cooking competitions, […] Read the full article →
should you require video on during team meetings? by Alison Green on November 6, 2024 A reader writes: I manage a team of 15 that holds a Zoom meeting once per week. While they work independently most of the time, there are major projects where everyone has to be on the same page, and we get updates during these meetings. I’ve noticed that the people who turn their video off […] Read the full article →
is it OK to ask my team to do working lunches? by Alison Green on October 29, 2024 A reader writes: I have a question about working lunches. I manage a small team, and I recently held a brainstorming session for some professional development ideas for next year that the whole team can participate in. One of the options I suggested is (company-sponsored) lunch and learns, where we watch a work-related webinar and […] Read the full article →
Halloween at work can be a fright show by Alison Green on October 28, 2024 Pity your beleaguered colleagues in HR this week, because Halloween in offices can be frightening in all the wrong ways. You’d think workplace Halloween celebrations would be enjoyable: It’s a holiday centered around costumes and candy, after all. And many offices do manage to make Halloween a good time. Sometimes, though, things go awry. At […] Read the full article →
how do people handle highly visible workspaces? by Alison Green on October 24, 2024 A reader writes: This is a low-stakes question, but I’m curious if anyone else is bothered by open-office floor plans (or otherwise very visible work spaces) and if so, any tips on how to deal with feeling strangely “on display” at all times? I work a non-customer-facing office job. I haven’t worked a true customer […] Read the full article →
the bread bag files, the dead language, and other broken but sacred systems by Alison Green on October 22, 2024 Last week, we talked about broken systems that for some reason become sacred and cannot be changed. Here are some of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The bread bags I worked for a publication that had a bread-bag-based content management system. They were these waxy paper bags designed to hold a loaf of bread, […] Read the full article →
when terrible work systems become sacred by Alison Green on October 17, 2024 I once worked for an organization where, years before, an IT person had created a database in an obscure coding language. He was long gone and no one knew how to make changes to it but the CEO loved it so we weren’t allowed to replace it, despite it being central to our work. Nearly […] Read the full article →
our in-office employees are upset that they have to use more sick days than our remote workers by Alison Green on October 16, 2024 A reader writes: I’m the staff liaison to the board for updating the HR policies at a nonprofit where we’re transitioning to independence from our fiscal sponsor. We’re a small, mission-driven team, and while some roles could technically be remote, we all truly prefer to work on-site due to the collaborative nature of our work […] Read the full article →
my boss says we can’t call out sick any sooner than 2 hours before our shift by Alison Green on October 10, 2024 A reader writes: I work in retail. Today, a coworker was out, which prompted my boss to go over the policy for calling out sick. She explained that employees have to call out two hours before their shift starts, which seemed reasonable. However, she also said that we shouldn’t call out more than two hours […] Read the full article →
no one likes corporate team-building by Alison Green on September 23, 2024 A corporate “hiking retreat” made headlines last month when a participant was left stranded overnight on a 14,230-foot mountain. The employee was on a day-long “team-building” hike, and he was left behind after the rest of his colleagues made it down the mountain safely. Emergency responders found him stranded in a gully the next day. […] Read the full article →