when terrible work systems become sacred by Alison Green on October 17, 2024 I once worked for an organization where, years before, an IT person had created a database in an obscure coding language. He was long gone and no one knew how to make changes to it but the CEO loved it so we weren’t allowed to replace it, despite it being central to our work. Nearly […] Read the full article →
have you seen Halloween go wrong at work? by Alison Green on October 10, 2024 I’m writing a column for later this month about the ways Halloween at work can go wrong and want to hear your stories. Did your coworker get fired for refusing to remove his unicorn mask to get through security? Did your office put up decorations so grisly that they were traumatizing people? Did a coworker […] Read the full article →
my community was destroyed by the hurricane — how do I function at work? by Alison Green on October 8, 2024 Readers, can you help with this one? I had a question I’m hoping to get your or your readers’ input on. I live, and work remotely from, one of the Southern Appalachian communities that was most severely impacted by Hurricane Helene. I’m very lucky in that I’m safe, my people are safe, and I didn’t […] Read the full article →
the avenging COO, the salary fix, and other stories of wrongs being righted by Alison Green on October 7, 2024 Last week we talked about times you saw someone right someone else’s wrong. Here are 10 of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The COO My first job out of college was working at a large corporation as an executive admin. There were five of us admins who sat in the open space, outside of […] Read the full article →
let’s talk about times when someone righted someone else’s wrong by Alison Green on October 3, 2024 Today’s “ask the readers” is for my mom: let’s talk about times when someone righted someone’s else wrong (a favorite pastime of my mother). Maybe a colleague stood up to the office bully on behalf of a more junior colleague, or a new manager flagged a pay gap and got it fixed, or any other […] Read the full article →
the horrified new hires, the gift exchange revolt, and other times you pushed back as a group at work by Alison Green on September 19, 2024 Last week we talked about times when banding together as a group and speaking up at work resulted in change. Here are eight stories you shared. 1. The coordinated survey I work in a regional office of a global company. Every year, global HR sends out a staff survey, and I noticed that the leadership […] Read the full article →
how can I be a more gracious senior leader? by Alison Green on September 19, 2024 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I was recently attending a departmental meeting when I realized that — through a combination of steady promotions, organizational shakeups, and senior colleagues leaving over the years — I have somehow become the #3 ranked person in the department, both in terms of title and […] Read the full article →
let’s talk about times when speaking up as a group got something changed at work by Alison Green on September 12, 2024 We talk a lot here about times when you need to band together with coworkers to push back on something as a group — an unfair policy, a problematic process, or anything that you’ll have more luck changing if you speak up as a group rather than as an individual. (Here’s advice on how to […] Read the full article →
the pumpkin conspiracy, the illegitimate squirrel, and other office competitions gone bad by Alison Green on September 9, 2024 Last week we talked about office contests gone awry. Here are 13 of the funniest stories you shared. 1. The bugs Early in my career as a software engineer, the company wanted to improve the quality of the software products. They offered cash bonuses to the testing teams for finding bugs, and cash bonuses to […] Read the full article →
let’s discuss workplace contests gone awry by Alison Green on September 5, 2024 Workplace contests sometimes go off the rails in ways no ever intended. (Luckily for us!) Some examples that have been shared here in the past: •. “We had a hot sauce eating contest at work years ago that ended with the crowd demanding that the contestants stop before they got hurt (and passing the hat […] Read the full article →