I ran into my new boss in the apartment of my one-night stand by Alison Green on June 10, 2019 A reader writes: I recently engaged in some, um, consensual adult activity under the mutual understanding that it would be a temporary relationship at another person’s apartment. No work productivity was harmed in the making of this hookup. After a pleasant night, I walked out of a room to discover that, not only did the […] Read the full article →
my boss sent a chat message I wasn’t supposed to see — but it popped up on a shared screen by Alison Green on June 5, 2019 A reader writes: Something happened to me at work and I honestly have no clue what to do. My coworker (let’s call him Mark) and I have been equally working on a project for over a year, developing some software for our specific job function. My boss all of a sudden decided that he wanted […] Read the full article →
can I fix how my boss treats people? by Alison Green on June 4, 2019 A reader writes: I work for a small nonprofit membership organization and am supervised directly by the executive director. The ED meets with funders to advocate for our members, builds partnerships with other organizations to provide services to our clients, and is generally the “face” of the organization. The problem is, he’s kind of a […] Read the full article →
my boss emailed us a racist meme by Alison Green on June 3, 2019 A reader writes: I work at a branch office of a nonprofit (roughly 150 employees over 10 states). Today, my branch manager (vice president in the overall institution) sent an offensive and racist political meme to all employees at our site. I was shocked and disgusted, as were many of my front-line colleagues. My immediate […] Read the full article →
when should you expect your boss to apologize? by Alison Green on May 29, 2019 A reader writes: I’m working in a job that was oversold to me. (Yes, I did due diligence and talked to people who knew the organization before accepting it.) The hiring manager told me I’d have considerable creative freedom, but in reality I’ve been stuck with a lot of rote, mindless, procedural work. I get […] Read the full article →
my boss has romantic phone conversations that bother me because I’m single by Alison Green on May 27, 2019 I’m off for Memorial Day, so here’s an older post from the archives. This was originally published in 2012. A reader writes: Longtime reader, first time question asker! I work in a small, two-person office for a nonprofit, was was hired on only a little over 2 months ago. Before me, it was just my boss, the executive […] Read the full article →
my boss drinks and expects me to drive with him by Alison Green on May 14, 2019 A reader writes: I work for a tiny company — the two owners/managers are a married couple and then there’s me and one other employee who are admin. About once every six weeks, the owners take us out for a fancy lunch downtown. This is considered a perk and a treat but it is definitely […] Read the full article →
how can I back out of disagreements with my boss? by Alison Green on May 8, 2019 A reader writes: I am looking for phrases or approaches to gracefully back out of discussions/disagreements with my boss. My boss is someone who needs to “win” and has a very competitive mindset for pretty much everything. Inevitably items will come up where we disagree, and my boss has certain words and phrases which they […] Read the full article →
my boss trash-talks my coworker to me by Alison Green on May 8, 2019 A reader writes: I graduated college last May, and I am new to the corporate world, so your podcast has helped me learn how to deal with many workplace issues that I have encountered. However, I have a pretty big issue that has been bothering me for months regarding the dynamic of my job. I […] Read the full article →
my boss sends me work to do when I’m out sick by Alison Green on April 24, 2019 A reader asks: I work for the finance department of a nonprofit. Whenever I call/email in sick, I receive multiple emails from my boss (on my work email) asking me to complete tasks as though I am in the office — things like making lunch reservations, printing off documents for him, fixing something on his […] Read the full article →