weekend free-for-all – September 29-30, 2018 by Alison Green on September 29, 2018 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. (This one is truly no work and no school.) Book recommendation of the week: Conversations with Friends, by Sally Rooney. Two 20somethings befriend a slightly older couple, and things get messy but the banter is superb. * […] Read the full article →
open thread – September 28-29, 2018 by Alison Green on September 28, 2018 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 →
coworker asked me to pose topless, how do I stop people from offering condolences, and more by Alison Green on September 28, 2018 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker asked me to pose topless for an “anatomy textbook” I work part-time in a small sales office of about 10 people. About a month ago, one of my coworkers approached me about doing a project for his graduate program at a local university. […] Read the full article →
do internal candidates have a better chance at the job? by Alison Green on September 27, 2018 A reader writes: I am currently in the running for a fantastic job at a dream company. I was approached about the job by a recruiter. The feedback from the first face-to-face interview was that I was the strongest candidate and the company decided not to proceed with any of the other external applicants and, […] Read the full article →
my office contacts me all weekend long by Alison Green on September 27, 2018 A reader writes: I’m in the middle of the hierarchy at a very small company. Two people report to me, and I report to two people, but they trust me and I have a lot of autonomy and decision-making power. My two reports and I work a pretty standard schedule, with a few weekends and […] Read the full article →
let’s talk about functional workplaces by Alison Green on September 27, 2018 A reader writes: I was hoping you would ask the readers to describe what their functional workplace is like and examples of how it functioned in a good way. For examples, what happened at these functioning workplaces when… A supervisor was treating people badly A coworker was causing problems Someone was under-performing Someone in leadership didn’t communicate […] Read the full article →
can public support of a fired employee hurt them, my boss talks to me like I’m a baby, and more by Alison Green on September 27, 2018 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Can public support of a fired employee hurt that employee? I regularly attend shows at a local theater, and know many of the staff and performers there. Recently, the theater announced that their beloved creative director would be leaving. This appears to be a firing. […] Read the full article →
how do I keep people from using way too much of my boss’s time in meetings? by Alison Green on September 26, 2018 A reader writes: I’m a career executive assistant and pretty good at my job, but I struggle with keeping my boss’s calendar. I support high-level people, so I am inundated by requests for boss’s time, from internal and external folks. I can’t tell you how many people ask for “Just 10 minutes, REALLY!” who I […] Read the full article →
I don’t have enough work to keep me busy by Alison Green on September 26, 2018 This week on the Ask a Manager podcast, I talked to a guest who has too much downtime at work. Here’s the letter: I have never had a job without significant downtime. I make myself available for new assignments and readily volunteer to take on work from stressed colleagues. The problem is that there’s just […] Read the full article →
my team doesn’t ask managers to hang out with them by Alison Green on September 26, 2018 A reader writes: I have a small tight-knit team of eight people. The people that I’ve hired in the last two years socialize together quite a bit, which is great. The downside is they don’t invite me or the other managers; the junior members will hang out together and not invite the managers. The disappointing […] Read the full article →