Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My company won’t do anything about our horrible coworker I have a very problematic coworker, Alex, but everyone, including HR, seem to be unable to fire them. And when I say problematic, I mean it. Earlier this year Alex outed me at work as gay […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. New employee writes overly casual emails I’m a millennial and work for state government, where I supervise a new Gen Z employee. Their approach to email communication with members of the public is much less formal than I was taught/how I write and, in my […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Does my manager want to match outfits with me? I know this is almost definitely a joke, but it’s a reoccurring and oddly specific one. I’ve been at my current office job for about a year and a half. When I was a few months […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker said his boss kneed him in the groin This is a bit of a doozy, and now I’m worried that I might have screwed things up. My partner works in security, and has a coworker we’ll call Fergus. He also has a boss, […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworker says she loves shoplifting I’ve been angsting over a coworker interaction that I just let go by. I am the oldest and most domesticated person in my workplace, but I try hard not to give off “work mom” vibes. Maybe I have been too […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker won’t stop talking about how young I am I’m 27 and working at an international nonprofit (very touchy-feely) that’s fully remote. I’ve been here three years and I think I do fairly good work. I was recently visiting a city where one of […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My company plans to lay off my employee who’s having chemo I have recently learned my company will be doing layoffs, and one of my direct reports is on the list. This dedicated employee, beloved by our team, has been undergoing chemotherapy for many months […]

A reader writes: I have been experiencing secondary infertility for the last year and nine months. I have gone through two rounds of IVF since last October, which has meant a lot more time away from work than usual for monitoring appointments, surgical recovery, etc. I supervise a small team of people at work, and […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My mother-in-law manages my sister-in-law and covers up her drunk driving I am at a complete loss. My mother-in-law (Sally), sister-in-law (Karen), and I work for an AirBnB cleaning management company. Sally is a manager and Karen is a supervisor. Karen is currently on probation […]

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. How do I motivate someone who doesn’t bother to do his work? I recently started a new role with four employees who have already been in their roles for a while. I previously worked with this group sometimes, but without any of them reporting to […]