my dishonest employee blames technology when he messes up by Alison Green on November 6, 2024 A reader writes: How do I deal with an employee, Miles, who is dishonest but gets emotional and doubles down when confronted with technological proof? For instance, he’ll tell me he submitted a work product when the timestamps on shared documentation (which are visible to both of us) show that the work wasn’t completed by […] Read the full article →
my employee panics when we spend money by Alison Green on November 5, 2024 A reader writes: I have an employee who tries to save every penny of the organization’s money, at the expense of significant amounts of time. I’ve explained sticker price vs time costs multiple times, and yet any amount of money over about $50 sends him into an anxiety spiral where nothing I say makes an […] Read the full article →
how do I manage petty behavior between two employees who dislike each other? by Alison Green on November 5, 2024 A reader writes: Where is the line between what is and is not acceptable when talking about pettiness between coworkers? I’m dealing with two employees on the same team who simply do not like each other for a variety of reasons. Luckily, these two do not have to actually work together very often but sit […] Read the full article →
my boss thinks my employee is lying about having cancer by Alison Green on November 4, 2024 A reader writes: My operations manager, Burton, took me to one side on Friday to ask me whether I had seen any evidence that my employee, Belle, who had been off that week, really had cancer. I am now second-guessing every interaction and whether I have either been manipulated or been a horrible boss. Our […] Read the full article →
someone is always crying in our morning meetings by Alison Green on October 30, 2024 A reader writes: Can you help me deal with the amount of crying at work I’m dealing with at the moment? I manage a mid-size team of people who are all very caring and empathetic, and are through and through a great team. Every morning we have a meeting set up for the day. I’m […] Read the full article →
is it OK to ask my team to do working lunches? by Alison Green on October 29, 2024 A reader writes: I have a question about working lunches. I manage a small team, and I recently held a brainstorming session for some professional development ideas for next year that the whole team can participate in. One of the options I suggested is (company-sponsored) lunch and learns, where we watch a work-related webinar and […] Read the full article →
new manager’s team hates her — but she says they’re the problem by Alison Green on October 23, 2024 A reader writes: About a year and a half ago, I hired a person (Catelyn) with more than seven years of management experience to manage a long-standing team. I was aware that the transition had been rocky in parts, and I believe that I’ve been clear with everyone involved that Catelyn has authority to define […] Read the full article →
my employee takes credit for the whole team’s work by Alison Green on October 22, 2024 A reader writes: I’m a fairly experienced manager, but I’ve only been managing my current team for a few months. I’ve been in a couple meetings with one of my team members that I’ve asked her to take the lead on, and she reports out at every meeting. Twice now, as she’s reporting I’ve heard […] Read the full article →
my employee’s toddler screams in the background of work calls by Alison Green on October 9, 2024 A reader writes: I am a first-time manager of a virtual team, and one of my direct reports works from home 100% of the time. On a recent call, this employee was providing an overview of a new system and in the background, everyone on the project team could hear his three-year-old child screaming. It […] Read the full article →
employee is sending risqué photos of himself to his coworkers by Alison Green on October 7, 2024 A reader writes: My small company has a very laid-back culture — sometimes too laid-back. A lot of the employees are friends outside of work or follow each other on social media. A team of seven employees sits outside of my office in an open floor plan space. They often talk throughout the day and […] Read the full article →