what to do when everyone on my team is experiencing a personal life crisis by Alison Green on April 4, 2024 A reader writes: I work in a small office of three people – a director, myself (assistant director), and a coordinator. We are Human Resources and provide support to a workplace of around 350 employees who are in constant need of support for a variety of issues. We pride ourselves on being a great company […] Read the full article →
my boss keeps bringing her sick child to work by Alison Green on April 3, 2024 A reader writes: My boss keeps bringing her sick child to work because she can’t send them to school or daycare since they won’t accept sick children. While I understand that it’s hard to find someone to look after them, especially when both parents are working, I get sick every time I’m at work with […] Read the full article →
employee came to work dressed as Jesus by Alison Green on April 1, 2024 A reader writes: I work at an up-and-coming, techy, mid-range e-comm company that’s always felt very inclusive, fun, and positive. Most employees are male and between the ages of 25-35, and are prone to ribbing and bets — “grow out your mullet for a year for $1,500,” that type of thing. One of our employees […] Read the full article →
my company has no reporting structure and no training by Alison Green on March 28, 2024 A reader writes: I work for a professional services company that currently has no real reporting structure and it’s driving me insane. The company is relatively new and for the first few years, it was about five people who all functioned as one team: my boss, Malcolm; his second-in-command, Wash; and several junior staff working […] Read the full article →
should our office kick everyone out at 5 pm? by Alison Green on March 27, 2024 A reader writes: I would like to ask you and your readers about a discussion my organization had about working late. I don’t work in the office late. I have worked late at home occasionally, but I do not stay in the office longer than close of business. Some team members do though, to a […] Read the full article →
the surprising agony of office coffee culture by Alison Green on March 25, 2024 You would think supplying employees with coffee would be a relatively straightforward task and yet … sometimes it’s anything but. At Slate today, I wrote about office coffee wars — from workplaces with intense bureaucratic in-fighting over coffee supplies, to meetings that get hijacked to debate coffee issues, to outrage when people bring in their […] Read the full article →
employee uses the bathroom stall with the door wide open by Alison Green on March 25, 2024 A reader writes: I have (what I think is) an outlandish question for you, but I promise it’s true. It comes from my coworker’s spouse. At her place of employment, they have found it difficult to retain anyone in the administrative assistant position. It sounds like there was a lot of turnover in that role, […] Read the full article →
my satellite team resents that we don’t get the perks offered at our headquarters by Alison Green on March 19, 2024 A reader writes: I manage a small team (less than 10) in a small city that is a three-hour drive from the company’s main site and headquarters, which is in a large urban area. Due to nature of our work, all my employees need to be on-site, but I try to be liberal with letting […] Read the full article →
how do people take months off from work to film a reality TV show? by Alison Green on March 13, 2024 A reader writes: I’m watching my country’s Big Brother, and I’ve noticed the employment ranges of the contestants tend to be either “gig economy” (bartender, delivery) which, to not denigrate how important those positions are, is less likely to come with the psychological attachment to the job as someone who’s worked up their career ladder […] Read the full article →
there’s nothing I can do about my nightmare workload … right? by Alison Green on March 13, 2024 A reader writes: I’m in a rough spot at work. When I started nearly two years ago, this was a six-person company: two owners and four staff. One staff member, who split a workload with me, moved away a few months later. They posted his position immediately, but nobody from the first wave of applicants […] Read the full article →