is it bad for managers to sound frustrated or impatient? by Alison Green on September 16, 2019 A reader writes: I am relatively new to management and I have a question about a specific incident, which raises the issue of whether a good boss should ever show impatience. One of my direct reports, Jane, does a good job. I’ve given her a lot of (genuinely well-deserved) praise in public and private, and […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps correcting my work by Alison Green on September 4, 2019 A reader writes: I manage a team of eight, all of whom have worked for the company much longer than I have. One of my employees has developed the habit of editing documents that I hand out during team meetings. She uses a red pen and makes a show of doing so. These are not […] Read the full article →
I now manage the guy who hired me — and I’m afraid he might quit over it by Alison Green on September 4, 2019 A reader writes: I was recently promoted to a department director role, and while I’m very excited about my new responsibilities, I have a dilemma that I need some help with: one of my direct reports is my former boss who hired me into the company. Backstory: I’ve been here for eight years. I was […] Read the full article →
I saw my employee’s X-rated chat by Alison Green on August 20, 2019 A reader writes: Today, during a screensharing session with my new direct report, Barb, I saw something inappropriate on her screen and did not speak up. I was so dumbfounded that I quickly wrapped up and ended our call. I’m almost sure I saw her chat session with another person in the company with explicit […] Read the full article →
my employees’ juice cleanses are getting in the way of their work by Alison Green on August 14, 2019 A reader writes: I manage a team of five. (For context, we are all women and on friendly terms, and some of the women have closer friendships.) One of my staff, Hester, does some variation of a week-long juice cleanse or other liquid diet about once per year, and has for the four years she […] Read the full article →
my employee is way too helpful and accommodating by Alison Green on August 12, 2019 A reader writes: I’m a department head and team leader, and I currently manage about 25 people. I’m also fairly new to management, so I’m still learning the ropes of proper management and how to handle certain issues. I’m very lucky because my whole team works well together and there are no “bad seeds.” We […] Read the full article →
my new employee lied on his resume by Alison Green on August 12, 2019 A reader writes: I joined my current company last year and was recently promoted from my former position to managing another department. One of the team members in my new department expressed an interest in the role I was vacating. In the process of interviewing him for my old position, I discovered glaring errors on […] Read the full article →
is it true that nothing in a performance review can ever be a surprise? by Alison Green on August 8, 2019 This comes up here from time to time and I thought it was worth a post of its own: the idea that nothing in a performance evaluation should ever be a surprise. It’s right in theory, but it’s not that simple. It’s absolutely true that managers should be giving employees feedback throughout the year and […] Read the full article →
my new employee ran a background check on me and asked me about what he found by Alison Green on August 7, 2019 A reader writes: I started a new position recently and was promoted quickly to a management position. Great, I have a long supervisory background, looking forward to helping in a wider capacity. One of my direct reports is a very conscientious and ambitious young man named “Scott” who I have found pleasant to work with. […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps telling me his “expectations” of me by Alison Green on August 7, 2019 A reader writes: I’m a mid-level college administrator. One of my direct reports is positioning himself to move up in a couple of years (from department member to department head). He would still report to me, but the working relationship would be a little different. I need to work closely with department heads, and it […] Read the full article →