an overly cheerful executive keeps ordering me to feel great by Alison Green on November 15, 2018 A reader writes: What’s the polite way to tell a coworker to stop ordering me to be happy? Recently, I had a very painful thing happen one morning before work. I cried on my way in, but by the time I got there I had cleaned myself up and looked normal, though I was still […] Read the full article →
my coworker gave my kid $20 and told him to keep it a secret by Alison Green on November 8, 2018 A reader writes: I have a predicament that I’m in and I’m not sure on how to approach the situation. Every day I have to pick up my son from school and bring him back to my job since they don’t provide after school care. This has all been approved by my boss. It’s been […] Read the full article →
how can I get my coworker to stop gossiping to me? by Alison Green on November 8, 2018 A reader writes: I work in a small office of five people. One of my coworkers holds a manager position, and is sort of a supervisor for everyone. She was here before me and is above me technically. She is constantly bad-mouthing and gossiping to me about the other employees, from personal (sometimes very personal) […] Read the full article →
I overshared with my office about a Tinder date and it didn’t work out by Alison Green on November 6, 2018 A reader writes: I screwed up. I work in an office of around 30 people, and a handful of us share the same job and are close. One happily married woman wanted a younger person’s perspective on Tinder. I had just joined and explained to her how it worked. She was wary about the sorts […] Read the full article →
I’m helping a peer with a project and she’s wasting a huge amount of my time by Alison Green on November 5, 2018 A reader writes: I have an awkward, low-stakes problem at work and I’d love your thoughts. I’m helping Lucinda with a project – something we need to do eventually, but it’s tedious and never urgent so it’s dragged on. Lucinda’s been here longer than me, and she’s bright and does really great work, but we […] Read the full article →
my coworker drops F-bombs all day long by Alison Green on October 31, 2018 A reader writes: My office has a loose, casual, wacky, mostly fun vibe. We’re in close quarters in one big room. Things can get raucous. Virtually all of us — including me — swear. We have a newish employee —I’ll call her Jill— and this is her first job out of college; she had zero […] Read the full article →
our intern won’t stop talking — but I can’t tell her I need to get back to work by Alison Green on October 30, 2018 A reader writes: You’ve answered versions of this question before, but this chatty coworker question is slightly different. I work at the front desk of a small nonprofit museum that has a rotating pool of volunteers. I started out as a volunteer, and still do a fair amount of volunteer work, so I’m kind of […] Read the full article →
I can’t keep helping my work BFF do her job by Alison Green on October 30, 2018 A reader writes: I started working as an executive assistant at a company I love this summer, and a couple of months later, another executive assistant – we can call her Tracy – started too. We are the only two executive assistants in the company, and a lot of our work intersects; although we assist […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps adjusting himself while we’re talking by Alison Green on October 22, 2018 A reader writes: I have a male employee who will adjust his balls (over top of his pants) during most conversations I have with him. It’s distracting, a bit uncomfortable, and I have no idea if I should have this conversation with him or if so, how I would approach this issue in a respectful […] Read the full article →
my coworker is rude and insubordinate by Alison Green on October 16, 2018 A reader writes: I am a manager in a unique position within my organization — I sit on the sales team, but work closely with all operations departments to coordinate requests from my clients. Essentially I straddle the line between sales and servicing, and work with almost everyone in my organization in some way. Luckily, […] Read the full article →