July 2014

how to gain respect as the new boss

Walking into an existing team as the new manager is tough. People are often wary of a new manager and will be scrutinizing your every word and action, as they try to figure out what to expect from you. If you’re the new boss, here are five things you can do to quickly gain the […]

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my boss won’t accept my resignation

A reader writes: I work in an office at a university, and came to the decision to finish my position at the end of this contract, rather than accepting the extension that had been offered to me. I wrote a letter of resignation and arranged a meeting with my direct supervisor to give it to […]

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how do I fire the most popular person in the office?

A reader writes: I need to fire our office manager. It’s a mix of issues, all related to attention to detail and organization. I’ve clearly warned her and put her on a performance improvement plan, which she hasn’t passed, so I’ve got my documentation in order. The problem is that she’s the most popular person […]

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update: when your boss is a raging alcoholic

Remember the letter-writer whose friend’s boss was a raging alcoholic — coming back from lunch drunk, driving home drunk, and generally being a menace to society and the workplace? Here’s the update. So the situation has a somewhat happy ending. The boss in question eventually got fired! It took a long time for this to happen, though. […]

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what to do when your team is missing deadlines

Most teams miss a deadline now and then. But if people on your team are regularly blowing deadlines, there’s a problem that you need to address – before it causes work to blow up too. Fixing a deadline problem means first figuring out what’s causing the problem. Here are six of the most common reasons […]

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