open thread – May 26-27, 2017 by Alison Green on May 26, 2017 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * If you submitted […] Read the full article →
should you tell an interviewee she has something in her teeth, employees are apathetic about company-wide meetings, and more by Alison Green on May 26, 2017 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should you tell an interviewee she has something in her teeth? Our team interviewed a candidate today who got a large clump of lipstick on her teeth about 15 minutes in. No one brought it up. We talked for about an hour and got a […] Read the full article →
can I knit during work meetings? by Alison Green on May 25, 2017 A reader writes: I work in a federal agency. I’ve been in my current position for about five years, but have recently taken on some responsibilities that require me to be in several all-day meetings per month, some with coworkers in my office, and some with colleagues from other state and federal agencies. I realized […] Read the full article →
4 updates from letter-writers by Alison Green on May 25, 2017 Here are four updates from people who had their letters published here recently. 1. Student worker’s inappropriate use of group texting (#2 at the link) I talked to my student manager about the situation and we decided to observe the tour guide during the big event we had the next weekend. She was a model […] Read the full article →
how can we get employees to follow our strict time-of-arrival policy? by Alison Green on May 25, 2017 A reader writes: I work at a nonprofit that operates in a very traditional office setting: business professional dress code, strict lunch hours, and a strict 9-5 day. In theory, this is done for efficiency and to allow employees to feel like they have more separation between their work and personal life. New staff tend […] Read the full article →
accepting a big favor from employees, taking time off when you’re a one-person department, and more by Alison Green on May 25, 2017 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I accept a huge favor from my new staff members? I’m a mid-level manager with a large, field-based team. I think I have a real camaraderie with the team, and upward feedback surveys show that as well. At most, I see each team member […] Read the full article →
my employee constantly talks about waiting for 5:00 and the weekend by Alison Green on May 24, 2017 In an interesting pairing with today’s earlier letter about responses to “how are you,” a reader writes: I have a direct report who has been with the company about five months. She is nice, smart, and easy to work with, but is not performing that well. It’s a tough job (recruiting), and I think she’s […] Read the full article →
how to deal with a loud coworker by Alison Green on May 24, 2017 A reader writes: I have been at my job for a month and a half. My coworker plays music at her desk, and I find it to be very annoying. I really wish she’d use headphones, or better yet, turn off the music, but I’m not sure how to ask her to do so. A […] Read the full article →
saying “how are you?” feels inauthentic to me by Alison Green on May 24, 2017 A reader writes: Am I being unprofessional/unfriendly if I don’t engage in the “how are you/fine how are you/fine” interactions at my office? It feels deeply inauthentic. “Fine” is never the best answer for how I’m feeling, and it feels painful to say when in actuality I’m going through a rough time. When I ask […] Read the full article →
my boss fired me and won’t let me return to visit friends, skipping my boss’s barbecue, and more by Alison Green on May 24, 2017 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. The boss who fired me doesn’t want me coming back to visit my friends I have an uncomfortable situation. Long story short, I was fired from my job at Big Corporation about a week ago (I understand their reasoning and disagreed with it but didn’t […] Read the full article →