Ask a Manager

You need an Ask a Manager book! Here’s what’s available: Ask a Manager: How to Navigate Clueless Colleagues, Lunch-Stealing Bosses, and the Rest of Your Life at Work In this book, published by Ballantine/Random House, I tackle more than 200 of the tough conversations you might need to have during your career and give you […]

I’m thrilled to welcome Michelle Silverthorn back to Ask a Manager to share her answers to some of readers’ toughest questions on race. Michelle’s new four-part interactive e-learning series, Inclusion LAUNCH — covering DEI fundamentals, unconscious bias, communicating across difference, and allyship at work –will be released later this summer. You can find out more […]

A reader writes: I manage a staff of about 15 people who work from various locations, so there are many members of my team who won’t see each other if it’s not intentional. For our team to function well, it’s important that we communicate and collaborate. To that end, we have standing meetings, regular professional […]

There’s now a new category in the sidebar: letters that make you say, “Wait, what?” It’s here: Wait, what?! It’s currently got 165 letters in there. Happy reading!

Fifteen years ago this past Saturday, I launched this site. I wasn’t sure if anyone would read it, but I thought I had a few months of posts in me (little did I know the letters you had in you). A decade and a half later, here are some highlights year by year. In 2007, […]

Do you know this site has a whole section of interviews with people with interesting jobs? Here’s the complete list: a former receptionist at a legal brothel a lab worker at the Arctic Circle an incredibly diplomatic person … or how to agreeably disagree a former professional matchmaker a prison librarian a children’s entertainer a […]

A reader writes: My three-year-old daughter has been going to the same in-home daycare provider since she was very young. Her daycare provider, let’s call her Amy, is very good at what she does, has 25 years of experience, and is well-respected in our community. We have always been happy with her as a professional. […]

A reader writes: I recently finished my second week at a new job, and I absolutely hate it. It was sold to me as an editorial writing role, and it’s turned out to be essentially admin and data entry, with most of my time spent on the phone trying to get information from people who […]

After last week’s letter from a medical practice manager struggling to hire staff and unable to pay more because of tightly regimented insurance company payments, I received this letter offering a different view that I wanted to share here. Hi LW #2, As a fellow small medical practice owner, I feel your pain. The feedback […]